If you ran the University, what would you keep and what would you change?
What is Speak Week?
Speak Week is an annual campaign run by the Students’ Union, where we give all students the opportunity to provide feedback on the changes that they want to see at Cardiff University. This is your chance to make your voice heard on the issues that really matter to you by answering our question: if you ran the University, what would you keep and what would you change?
Our Sabbatical Officers will be joined by student volunteers who will be reaching out to as many students as possible, encouraging meaningful discussion, and asking for recommendations for change. The feedback we receive every year is reviewed, analysed, and used to inform future campaigns and discussions with senior staff in the university and Students' Union.
When is Speak Week?
This year, Speak Week takes place twice!
Our first Speak Week will be taking place between Monday 21st – Friday 25th November 2022. During this week, our team of Sabbatical Officers, Student Academic Representatives and Student Voice staff will be across campus encouraging as many students as possible to provide feedback about their experience.
During our second Speak Week, which will take place between Monday 30th January - Friday 3rd February 2022, the most prevalent themes that arose through these comments will be tackled through focus groups with students, so we can gain more qualitative feedback about each issue.
Our focus groups will see discussion based on the Cost of Living Crisis, and the Impact of Strike Action. Register to take part in our paid focus groups here.
What happens to your feedback?
All comments received during Speak Week will be analysed by our elected officers, and a Speak Week report will be written. This report will inform campaigns and priorities for the elected officers over the year, and will support the officers in lobbying the university for positive change.
In Speak Week 2021, we collected over 5,400 cards from students, equating to over 9,000 comments. This is a huge amount of feedback and you gave us some brilliant ideas, such as improving academic resources, timetabling and library facilities.
These are just a few examples of what Speak Week has done for students in previous years:
- The ASSL opening hours were extended to 24 hours.
- Wi-Fi coverage around campus has been improved.
- Card payments for University Catering became available around campus.
- Exam timetables published two week earlier than before.
You can read the full Speak Week report for 2022/23 here.
Here are some other ways to have your voice heard!
For any questions about Speak Week, contact the Student Voice team through StudentReps@cardiff.ac.uk.