Did you take part in last year’s NSS or our all-student survey in October 2022?

We’re pleased to announce that our central services teams have listened to your feedback and have been working hard to make changes and updates as a direct result of your student voice. Check out the updates below.

Want to know what your academic department is doing as a result of your feedback? Look out for this info in future lectures or in your student inbox very soon.

Catering 

  • We’re currently reviewing our menus based on student feedback for term two
  • Prices are being reviewed to ensure there is always a value meal option available 
  • The University is committed to offering vegan and vegetarian options – and we’ll always have at least one vegan and vegetarian option on the menu. However, we’re always keen to hear your suggestions about what else we could do. 
  • We’ve introduced more cost of living initiatives for term two

Communications

  • We’ll continue to update our Student Shout Out platform to ensure all student news, events and opportunities are located in one place
  • We’re working with colleagues to ensure we’re regularly sharing content from all sites – and producing site-specific emails where necessary 
  • All University events are now pulled from the Shout Out platform into the new University mobile app which means it’s now easier than ever to see what’s happening at the University 
  • We’ll work with departments and faculties to try and improve their local communications 

Chester Students’ Union (CSU)

  • We’re recruiting a new student-facing team at for Exton Park, UCW, UCB and UCS to support local activity. 
  • We’re launching a new front end of website in March 2023 to coincide with the launch of elections week. This will be easier to navigate and more user-friendly.  
  • We’re involved in remodelling the CSU space at Shrewsbury to ensure better use of the campus areas and accessibility to CSU. 
  • We’re in the process of launching a new Student Council. The Council will include rep roles for PG students, those who study and work and different sites among others – which will ensure a better representation of the student voice. 

Learning and Information Services (LIS)

  • We released a brand-new UoC mobile app in January. This has solved many of the current issues with attendance monitoring and timetabling 
  • We intend to roll out a new WiFi-6 network across most teaching and communal areas through 2023-2024. WiFi-6 will give a faster and more stable connection, especially in areas where there are many people connecting at once.  
  • We’re currently reviewing signage at Seaborne Library at Exton Park. The new signage will be a combination of both digital and print provision. We will then look to standardise signage across all the other LIS Spaces. 
  • We’ll continue to run regular LIS AV drop-in workshops for academics to improve their familiarity with technology in our teaching rooms. 
  • We’ll review current printing costs at both MFDs and Print Unit.  
  • We’ll continue to liaise closely with lecturers to ensure we provide a breadth of learning resources across curriculum needs. Our digital-first approach to procuring resources remains a key focus to enable flexibility to access resources anytime, anywhere. For print books,  we also provide an in-transit service to move print books to the University library most convenient for you to collect from. 

Sport and Active Lifestyle

  • We have just laid a brand-new outdoor basketball court at Exton Park fit to use throughout the year. This can be found behind our 3G football pitch and is available anytime. 
  • We are aware some of the changing/shower facilities are not fit for purpose. We’re working with teams across the University to see how this can be improved. 
  • We can offer bespoke help and support for professional athletes, including allowing coaches on site to help you train. Please get in touch for more information – Athleticsunion@chester.ac.uk
  • Unfortunately there is no professional system in UK University sport to allow us to help students to turn pro however, we do have strong links with local clubs who may have semi-professional contracts available for high level performers. We also have strong links with all sports National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and can signpost any student interested in following a professional contract with them. If students are of a very high standard in their sport (National or International) we do offer an elite athlete sports scholarship package which may support students financially. To apply for a sports scholarship see our website. 
  • Students now have access to gym facilities at a number of our sites – Exton Park, Queen’s Park, University Centre Shrewsbury, Warrington Youth Zone and University Centre Birkenhead. 

Student Services

  • We now run a Parent Support Network for all students which can provide help and support to new parents. 
  • We continue to raise concerns with the appropriate staff within Estates and Facilities and to work towards a disability-friendly campus. 
  • All our support services, including Wellbeing and Mental Health, are available to all students, along with our 24/7 Student Assistance Programme. 
  • Our Student Assistance Programme offers an anonymous service, with feedback to the University only in cases where there are significant risks to the student or others. 
  • We will be running additional events for students with mental health conditions in 2023. 

Timetabling

We launched a new mobile app in January 2023 which delivers: 

  • Improved visualisation of the timetable 
  • Improved check in 

We’ve released a new Timetabling Policy and Guidance for the 2023/2024 academic year. Key points for students include: 

  • Travel between campuses in one day will be avoided where possible in favour of grouping together activities on a specific campus. 
  • All students will be given a half hour break between 11.30am and 2.30pm 
  • Students travelling between Creative Campus, Kingsway and Exton Park will be given a minimum of half an hour and ideally one hour travel time. Students travelling between Exton Park and other Chester locations will be given a minimum of one hour travel time. 
  • The University aspires to deliver a timetable that is optimised for its students and therefore will aim to timetable as much as possible within “priority hours” of 9am to 6pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9am to 1pm on Wednesdays and 9am to 4pm on Fridays 
  • Changes to the timetable after publication to students will be made in exceptional circumstances only and kept to an absolute minimum. 

You can find the full policy here.  

Travel and Transport

  • Travel booklets and up to date information for University Centre Warrington and University Centre Birkenhead can be found on PASS. Our website also contains further information.
  • We are currently reviewing all University travel and transport facilities available as part of our commitment to working to reduce our carbon emissions in line with our Sustainability Strategy.  
  • We are working in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council to explore the provision of sustainable travel options in relation to journeys and demand. The provision of a shuttle bus between University sites is one of a range of options being considered. 
  • We are working in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council to explore the provision of bus services near to University sites and how we can incentivise their use, including the greater promotion of the Park and Ride and explore potential for amended routes where there is demand.
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