On Tuesday 11 November, we held our first Open Forum and what a brilliant first event it was. 

If you didn’t know: Open Forum is our new series of town hall-styled meetings where students can gather and tell us how they really feel about anything to do with life at University of Roehampton. These meetings will take place on the second Tuesday of every month and are welcome to everyone. 

Now - what happened in Open Forum No.1: 

We gathered in the Portrait Room in Grove House with some refreshments and free pizza (thank you Domino’s).     

Plenty of topics were brought to the discussion by students who attended, and here’s a breakdown what was spoken about.  

RSU Freshdesk:  

1. Students were satisfied with the introduction of the Freshdesk by RSU and the rate at which their enquiries are responded to. 

Accommodation & Maintenance:  

1. Some positive feedback on the improvement in timings of maintenance requests compared to previous times. However, still some complaints too. (RSU President informed them about the Service Level Agreement (SLA) which would help students understand the timeframe and priorities allocated to different maintenance requests.) 

2. Students requested that the SLA document should be made available to them, so they could manage their expectations when making requests. They’d also like constant updates from Maintenance on the progress of their requests. 

Catering on Campus: 

1. Students want information on what is being served in the canteens daily. (Elior's representative promised they would incorporate this in the new screen displays recently installed across canteens.)

2. First year students suggested cooking guidelines and group grocery shopping – (Elior rep promised they would do some cooking videos and share on their Instagram page.) 

Library: 

1. Demands for more open hours for library, especially on weekends and earlier open hours on weekdays. 

2. Students would like more events happening in front of and inside library. (RSU has recently held a Poster Sale outside the library and plan for more pop-up events to be held there too.) 

Centralised Info Page:  

1. Students would like a centralised page on the University website where they can get information from multiple departments across the University. There are too many accounts to follow on Instagram to know what's going on. (RSU will also take this into consideration when working on the RSU website redesign.) 

Other: 

1. Comments about price of items at the Digby Shop being too expensive. A suggestion of African dishes to be introduced too.  

2. Students would like more privacy in Library study rooms (curtains or blinds were suggested). 

3. Complaints about rising price of university accommodation.  

4. Students would like a more stable timetable – some have had frequent changes to timetable and it is confusing.  

5. Students need clear and frequent communication on any changes being made by University and timetabling. 

6. WiFi connection on campus is inconsistent and needs to improve. 

7. Students think more collaborations between Societies and Sports clubs would benefit the Roehampton community.  

A big thank you to everyone who attended our first Open Forum. We really do value all your feedback. 

If you missed out this time, don’t worry! Keep an eye on our website and social media for our next Open Forum event. They are free to attend and open to all students!