Covid-19 and its impact on students’ perception of their roles as Student Ambassadors and/or Course Representatives.
Abstract
Relationships between universities and their students are complex, but opportunities for active involvement of students in a variety of roles are available. Two of these, Course Representatives (CR) and Student Ambassadors (SA), are explored in this study to better understand student perceptions of these roles, and explore whether and how they have changed in response to the pandemic within a large and diverse post-92 HE institution. Qualitative and quantitative data were gathered using online questionnaires and individual interviews. This data reveals that both groups identified their key responsibility as communications, the main benefit being enhanced social interaction. Both also described the difficulties of juggling multiple commitments and a strong sense of belonging to their institution. The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected both roles, resulting in communication difficulties for the CR and reduced working opportunities as well as communication problems for SA. Given the move to blended learning approaches in most institutions and the potential for disengagement of students as a result, especially new students who have not yet formed attachments, the SA and CR roles will become more critical to help retain current students and attract new applicants. Understanding how best these roles may be utilised both at a time of a global pandemic and beyond is an important issue for HEIs.
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