The Student Equality Network is a group of students who are passionate about promoting equality at Surrey who help ensure the Union is well-informed about the experiences of the different groups who make up our diverse student community. The Network holds monthly meetings where volunteers can share their views and help shape how the Union supports students through their time at university, and also run campaigns or projects that celebrate diversity or highlight diverse student voices. Sign up to be involved as a Network volunteer here.
The Voice Zone is the Zone at the Union for students who have something to say, and we oversee the Student Equality Network because we feel passionately about the issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion. The long term aim of the Network is to be self-managing, with its own leadership structure.
Semester One Network Meetings
13:00 – 13:45 | First Wednesday of every month | Join here |
Please email ussu.vpvoice@surrey.ac.uk if you would like to suggest any topics of discussion for the Network meetings, and join our Equality Network team here.
Who can join the Student Equality Network?
Any student can volunteer to join the Network and join up with like-minded students passionate about issues of equality and inclusion impacting students in Higher Education. There are no requirements to sign up other than wanting to help make Surrey a welcoming place for all students from all backgrounds. The Student Equality Network aims to recognise, highlight, and celebrate intersectional differences in a positive way, and we therefore want to have a wide range of students involved in the Network to ensure we hear from a diverse set of student voices. You may be most keen to get involved if you identify with any of the below communities:
- Women
- LGBT+ students
- Students with visible and invisible disabilities or illnesses (physical and mental)
- Students from ethnic minority groups
- International students
- Care experienced and estranged students
- Mature students
- Students who are first-in-family to attend University
What does volunteering for the network involve?
As a Student Equality Network volunteer, you would meet a wide range of students and work as part of a team working to tackle barriers to equality of opportunity at University. Throughout the year, as a Network volunteer, you’ll be invited to take part in our monthly meetings where you’ll get a chance to share your views with the VP Voice and relevant University staff. You’ll also have opportunities to contribute to Union and University projects and campaigns to improve equality at Surrey, and may also be consulted on various issues to hear about your own lived experience as a student.
We also run some tailored sub-groups to discuss particular issues facing specific groups of students at the University in more detail, including Disabled & Neurodiverse students, and International Students, which you can read more about below!
Disability and Accessibility at Surrey Student Group
Any student can also join our Disability and Accessibility at Surrey Student Group. This group meets monthly on the last Thursday of each month at 10:00, and is an opportunity for students to discuss issues of accessibility with the Union and with University staff including staff from the Chief Students’ Officer office and from the University Estates team. If you would like to join this group, please contact ussu.vpvoice@surrey.ac.uk or join our team here.
International Student Working Group
Any student can also join our International Student Working Group. This group meets monthly on the second Wednesday of each month at 13:00, and is an opportunity for students to discuss issues impacting our International Student population with the Union and with University staff including staff from the International Student Advice Team. If you would like to join this group, please contact ussu.vpvoice@surrey.ac.uk or join our team here.
Current Volunteers – Log your Volunteering hours!
For our current Equality Network volunteers, please remember to log your volunteering hours for any time spent attending meetings to ensure you get the most out of your time as a volunteer. Logging your hours on Surrey Volunteering will enable you to have a full record of the time you’ve spent volunteering whilst at Surrey that you can show to employers. Sign up to Surrey Volunteering here, or contact ussu.vpvoice@surrey.ac.uk to find out more.
Previous Projects
Inclusive Education Project
The Voice Zone has been working closely with the University for the past two years on introducing more inclusive education practices at Surrey. This has included the VP Voice setting up a working group which met regularly with the aim to highlight the importance of amplifying voices from different cultures in the curriculum to help tackle the BAME attainment gap. Here is a summary of some of the inclusive education work that has taken place over the past two years:
- The Library ran its 4th year of the Student Curator Project which aims to amplify voices we don’t usually hear in education.
- Worked on the Race Equality Charter application which has now been submitted.
- Analysed data given in the OSCAR Report highlighting areas of education that could be improved.
- Launched undergraduate summer internships in each faculty, some focusing on educational development and EDI resource creation.
- Introduced the Inclusive Education and Teaching Project with the goal to create an Inclusive Education Toolkit which can be used to help design courses and assessments.
- Recording a podcast to discuss and raise awareness of inclusive education.
Black, Asian, and minority ethnic student experience research & report
In 2020, we researched and authored a Student Experience Report including a number of recommendations to improve the student experience at Surrey for Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic students. Read our 2020 BAME Student Experience Report and Recommendations here
