Student Engagement at Birmingham Graduate School

Student Reps

At the beginning of each new intake, students are invited to nominate themselves as a student representative for their particular cohort.

Once this is done the nominees have the opportunity to make a presentation to the rest of the cohort, detailing their ability to carry out this duty and once this is complete all students of the cohort will elect their preferred two nominees into this post.

The role of a student rep is to represent their cohort to directly influence their own and their peers experience at BGS, by having a say in the academic experience.

As part of this role the rep is required to attend rep meetings, where the Dean of BGS and representatives from various departments within the school come together to discuss and address any issued and suggest possible opportunities for improvement.

Student reps are also responsible for input into the social experience of their peers and as such will be members of the Student Events Committee.

Social Events Committee
 
The social events committee consisting of student representatives and staff of BGS organises and coordinates student social events.
 
At BGS we believe the social aspect of attending the school adds value to a student’s overall experience. Therefore we have a committee to ensure this aspect is fulfilled.
 
Once every three months, the committee organises a social event for all students and the ideas for these events come directly from the student reps who ‘sound out’ the student body before planning it.

As well as these activities we have an annual Christmas party and a minimum of one academic visit per annum. The academic visits will usually be to a leading company within a specific sector of industry.

What kind of activities does the social event committee organise??

Subject to demand, BGS organises outward bound weekends for students.

This is a weekend of trekking, abseiling, mountain climbing, white water rafting or simply be involved with others enjoying the Welsh countryside.

This would be done through the Outward Bound Trust’s, where it is their philosophy that a person’s character and confidence is developed by meeting personal, social (eg. leadership and cooperation) and physical challenges. The whole experience will make you realise that you are capable of far more than you ever realised.

The cost of the weekend is kept to a minimum and includes all equipment needed and home-cooked food. This is a wonderful chance to enjoy a life transforming experience.

In addition to these weekends away in Wales, BGS organises day excursions to a more local Outdoor Activity Centre in Worcestershire. As in the case of the OBT Weekend, periodically, students are given full details including the cost of these trips and are invited to ‘sign up’ for the trips.

Head of Social Events Committee: Fiona Richardson (BGS Staff)
Social Events Committee Member: Sonia Younis (BGS Staff)

Sports Teams
 
We at BGS are always ready to support sports teams within the school. Often we get budding cricketers or tennis players and we are able to approach local providers of sports facilities to get preferential rates on hire as well as the possibility (where reasonably practicable) for BGS to supply sports kits.

We are also able to approach other institutions with the possibility of arranging matches.