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Luna was elected as Post Graduate Taught Faculty Rep for Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Social & Historical Sciences in the academic year 2023-24 and was a Faculty Rep Award winner at the 2024 Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Education Awards.

 represent students across an entire Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Faculty and are members of one of the Union's key decision-making bodies, .Ìý

Here she tells us more about her experience.

Tell us a bit about your responsibilities being a Student Rep and what motivated you to become one?

As faculty rep my job was to coordinate the department reps and make sure that they knew where they could go to resolve concerns from their cohorts. If there were any trends of issues/suggestions across the department, we would raise these in the Faculty Teaching committee, where we would be supported to make positive change.

What was your favourite part of being a Student Rep?

I loved getting to know everyone on different levels of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø, from students to staff to the teaching and learning team. Working together across specialties was a really rewarding part of the job that made me appreciate everyone and what they do.

What was your most proudest project/initiative you’ve worked on?

My proudest initiative would be the course rep election reform. Students across departments were expressing inconsistencies in how they were elected as course rep, either without an election or with a lack of information beforehand. Working with the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍøU we created a document that provides guidance on elections, which every course convenor will have and will guide them through the process of student rep elections. This will increase visibility, respect and understanding for the role, and as a result mean that everyone knows who their student rep is, who can then better represent their fellow students.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in being a rep?

Go for it! It is a great way to get involved with the university and meet people across the department/faculty. The role is really yours to make it, you can do what your students need from you, or you can really go above and beyond and leave behind a legacy.

Tell us about the valuable skills you’ve learnt becoming a student rep and what takeaways do you have?

I have learnt the true importance not only of listening, but making people feel heard. If people have issues, it is not enough to just go and solve them. You need to recognise that it was an issue and get back to them with the outcome, providing potential next steps. As a course rep it is important to listen first. Don't listen so that you know what to respond, truly listen to understand and empathise with their issues.

Are there any shoutouts/things you want to specifically mentioned about your student rep journey?

Throughout the year I worked very closely with Manya Gupta, the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Social and Historical Sciences Undergraduate Faculty Rep. We kept each other accountable and supported each other when we had heavy workloads, and working with her meant that I had a good time all year. I also would like to shoutout Cathy Elliott, she was a fantastic mentor and always encouraged us to make an impact. She is such a positive and wonderful person, and whoever works with her next will be lucky to learn from her.

What is your wishlist for the future?

I want to keep working for an international organisation and make a positive impact on those who are unable to stand up for themselves. I would like to live in different countries and experience great things both personally and professionally.