{"id":1612,"date":"2021-04-27T09:52:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T08:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/itl\/?p=1612"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T09:30:09","slug":"whats-it-like-to-be-a-student-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/itl\/2021\/04\/27\/whats-it-like-to-be-a-student-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"“What’s it like to be a Student Partner?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Sanja\u00a0Karilanova\"<\/span><\/span><\/strong>Sanja\u00a0Karilanova\u00a0is a Student Partner Intern (SPI) and has been part of our Online Blended Learning (OBL) cohort this year.\u00a0 Over the 2020\/21 academic year this cohort of\u00a0SPIs have worked in partnership with staff, undertaking activities such as reviewing academic content and supporting transcription and subtitling projects across the University.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/h6>\n
What is a Student Partner?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h6>\n

I have been working as a Student Partner for three months now.\u00a0 The title of the role is quite\u00a0vague, so whenever I tell my friends\u00a0about it,\u00a0they always ask me\u00a0what it means\u00a0and what\u00a0I\u00a0am\u00a0actually doing.\u00a0Student Partners within\u00a0different\u00a0Faculties have different responsibilities,\u00a0depending on the needs of the departments within that\u00a0Faculty.\u00a0\u00a0I am a Student Partner within the Faculty of Science and Engineering,\u00a0and\u00a0my main responsibility is to\u00a0review lectures\u00a0or\u00a0seminars and\u00a0provide\u00a0feedback, which\u00a0would be the short answer I would always give to my friends.\u00a0 Some of\u00a0them\u00a0would be happy with that answer,\u00a0but the\u00a0curious ones would\u00a0go even further,\u00a0asking me:\u00a0Well\u00a0how do you do that?\u00a0 Do you work alone?\u00a0 What do you gain out of it?\u00a0 In the rest of this post I will answer those questions.<\/p>\n

Firstly,\u00a0<\/b>h<\/b>ow\u00a0<\/b>do\u00a0<\/b>I review lectures\/seminars<\/b>?<\/b><\/h6>\n

I put myself in the shoes of the students\u00a0who\u00a0would listen to the\u00a0lecture.\u00a0 I take a blank\u00a0piece of\u00a0paper and split it\u00a0in half with a line.\u00a0 While listening to the lecture,\u00a0on\u00a0one\u00a0side\u00a0of the paper\u00a0I write\u00a0a list of\u00a0things\u00a0that stood out and impressed me\u00a0while\u00a0on the other\u00a0side\u00a0I write\u00a0a list of\u00a0things that I think\u00a0could\u00a0be improved.\u00a0 At the end of the lecture\/seminar, once I have my lists,\u00a0I begin\u00a0composing an email\u00a0to the lecturer who gave that lecture.\u00a0 In the email\u00a0I don\u2019t just\u00a0copy and paste the lists,\u00a0but\u00a0I\u00a0also write why I\u00a0liked the things I liked, and why I think there\u2019s room for improvement\u00a0as well as\u00a0my\u00a0suggestions on\u00a0how to do that.\u00a0 Of course,\u00a0most of the time\u00a0I don\u2019t really understand the material presented in the lectures\/seminars\u00a0because\u00a0the lectures are from various courses within the FSE,\u00a0but\u00a0so far that has only helped me by making me even more objective.<\/p>\n

Secondly, who do I work with?<\/b><\/h6>\n

At the beginning of my role I had a two-week long training\u00a0programme\u00a0where\u00a0I\u00a0met the other Student Partners.\u00a0 We managed to create a very healthy and supporting atmosphere and were\/are in constant contact via group-chats and\u00a0Zoom meetings.\u00a0 I also work with staff from the\u00a0Student Partner Programme\u00a0who are the people who make the connection between us,\u00a0the\u00a0Student\u00a0Partners,\u00a0and staff partners\u00a0from the\u00a0University.\u00a0 Chloe\u00a0Salins, who is\u00a0a\u00a0Student Engagement Graduate Officer, was actually the person who suggested\u00a0this post and helped me\u00a0write it.<\/p>\n

What have I gained?<\/b><\/h6>\n

Throughout reviewing\u00a0lectures\u00a0and seminars\u00a0from\u00a0various\u00a0courses,\u00a0even though I was focused\u00a0solely on the quality of the video, I\u00a0did\u00a0pick up some knowledge.\u00a0 For example,\u00a0when reviewing seminars on Disaster\u00a0Management\u00a0I learned that many\u00a0disasters that I considered to be natural\u00a0disasters\u00a0are\u00a0human-made\u00a0disasters.\u00a0 Hence,\u00a0I did learn quite a few bits from various fields\u00a0that helped\u00a0me become a\u00a0more rounded person.\u00a0 Furthermore, by being in\u00a0constant\u00a0communication with many lecturers\u00a0via emails and Zoom meetings,\u00a0I managed to\u00a0improve my networking skills and connect with\u00a0them.\u00a0 This also helped me\u00a0realise\u00a0how approachable lecturers are,\u00a0and how happy they are to hear our thoughts.\u00a0 This is something that,\u00a0even after\u00a0three\u00a0years of studying\u00a0at Manchester, it took me\u00a0becoming a\u00a0Student Partner to\u00a0realise.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/h6>\n

The global pandemic\u00a0has\u00a0definitely\u00a0impacted every\u00a0single\u00a0aspect of our lives.\u00a0 It has been very\u00a0difficult\u00a0year for both the\u00a0students\u00a0and\u00a0the University.\u00a0 The transition to blended learning was challenging for everyone.\u00a0 Being\u00a0a\u00a0Student Partner\u00a0does make me feel\u00a0that I have\u00a0made a small\u00a0contribution\u00a0towards\u00a0making that transition easier.\u00a0 I would like to encourage everyone to try and contribute\u00a0too.\u00a0 Even filling out the feedback\u00a0surveys\u00a0for\u00a0modules\u00a0can go a long way,\u00a0and\u00a0helps\u00a0more than we think\u00a0it does.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you are interested in learning more about\u00a0<\/b>our\u00a0<\/b>Student Partner Internships,\u00a0<\/b>please\u00a0<\/b>see\u00a0<\/b>the<\/b>\u00a0<\/b>Student Partners Programme pages<\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n

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Related<\/h1>\n

Related posts:<\/h3>
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From idle time to relationship building<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
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Building Science Belonging: Using Foldscope Outreach to Enrich Primary Teaching and Learning<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a>
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Is it more of a LEAP or a jump? A Student Partner\u2019s experience of applying for Advance HE fellowship<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

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Contact Us<\/h4>\n

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+44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n

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Find Us<\/h4>\n

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The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester
M13 9PL
UK<\/a><\/p>\n

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Connect With Us<\/h4>\n

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