Student Voice Summit Australia
Written by Maria Manthos
Photo Credit: Maria Manthos
Today, students had ALL the power! Roles were reversed at the Student Voice Australia Summit, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) where over 100 students from 26 different institutions across Australia joined together to celebrate and challenge what it means to be a student in a changing world.
Here are my top 3 insights from today (choosing only three was VERY difficult!):
INSIGHT 1 Celebrating examples of students being successful in making change
I love being a SAP because I feel that I can improve the university experience for future students. Today, I got to sit in a room filled with students with the same passion! This was not only empowering it made me realise how students all over Australia are harnessing their power to enact change!
INSIGHT 2 Seeing diversity in the room
Ashley and I got to spend time work-shopping with students from all over the country (even Darwin!). This made me realise how institutions are really DIFFERENT from each other. Previously, I thought that universities had the same structure with the same goals but actually, each university is just as unique as the students that enrol there. This got me thinking about what Western Sydney University's goals are and how our role as SAPs can help drive these goals.
INSIGHT 3 Barriers = more work to do
That thing that nobody wants to talk about, yes, CHALLENGES. We spoke about some key challenges for students, like training, getting paid and experiencing resistance when trying to initiate partnerships. More work to do on these...