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 may also run campaigns or projects that celebrate diversity or highlight diverse student voices. Sign up to be involved as a Network volunteer here.
Semester One Network Meeting Dates
25th October, 22nd November, 24th January, 13:00 – 13:30 via Microsoft Teams. Please email ussu.vpvoice@surrey.ac.uk if you would like to attend!
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 safe and welcoming place for all students from all backgrounds.
We recognise that every individual has a variety of experiences and characteristics that feed into their personal identity, and the Student Equality Network aims to recognise, highlight, and celebrate intersectional differences in a positive way. 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 from low income backgrounds
Who Oversees The Student Equality Network?
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.
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 hosting events, consulting on key issues and campaigns, and helping the Network to break down barriers at University. Throughout the year, as a Network volunteer, you’ll also be invited to take part in our monthly meetings where you’ll get a chance to share your views with the VP Voice.
If the Network interests you and you’d like to find out more information please sign up here, and a member of the team will be in touch: Click here
Disability and Accessibility at surrey student group
Any student can also join our Disability and Accessibility at Surrey student group, open to any student. This group meets monthly on the last Thursday of each month at 10am, 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. You don’t need to be a Student Equality Network volunteer to join this group, but if you’re passionate about these issues, we’d love for you to join the Network too!
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.
Read our 2020 BAME Student Experience Report and Recommendations here
