Excellent Service Award - best support for students
This award celebrates individuals or teams who go the extra mile to deliver a top quality service to students.
Shortlisted nominees
Please click the links below to learn more about the shortlisted nominees:
- Emma Birch, Education and Student Experience
- FX Plus Timetabling Team
- Patricia Barber, Education and Student Experience
Emma Birch
Senior Student and Education Services Assistant (MBA), Business School, Education and Student Experience
Emma was nominated because:
- Students from around the world commended Emma’s service during the MBA selection, interview, and enrolment process.
- She provides a high level of service to a demanding cohort of students with 17 different nationalities.
- Students are exceptionally pleased with her prompt responses and attitude towards their wellbeing. Her nominators explicitly stated she was the reason they decided to study at Exeter.
Key quote from a nominator:
"I have applied to several different postgraduate programs all over the world and interacted with a range of programmatic staff. Most of these staff interactions were stiff, unhelpful and not professional. In the whole world [Emma] has stood out above all others. Her prompt and courteous responses were part of the reason I chose to come to the University of Exeter."
Falmouth Exeter Plus Timetabling Team
Rachel Bray, Lisa Butler, Rosie Lea, and Vanessa Templeton, FX Plus
The Falmouth Exeter Plus Timetabling team were nominated because:
- The team timetable teaching for two universities (Falmouth and Exeter) with very different priorities and cultures, responding to lots of requests and conflicting demands on a daily basis.
- Academic and Professional Services colleagues commended their professional, friendly approach, and creative solutions which directly benefit students at both universities.
- The team go above and beyond to ensure a shared and growing campus continues to be used efficiently by staff and students, often working with people to understand their needs.
Key quote from a nominator:
"With new rooms coming online as well as increasingly complicated configurations of staff, students, and modules, timetabling at the Penryn campus has been an epic undertaking this year. Vanessa and her team have provided outstanding service in the face of these extraordinary demands and have dealt with all our enquiries with grace, good humour and efficiency."
Trish Barber
Administrative Assistant (Programme Support), Drama, Education and Student Experience
Trish was nominated because:
- She supports undergraduate and postgraduate students both formally and informally (by listening to and guiding students with advice and help).
- She is a valuable source of support for students both for organisational support, for advice on changing modules, and a variety of other pastoral issues.
- She is a part time administrator within the Drama department who works effectively with colleagues to ensure the needs and concerns of students are well met. She alerts module tutors and personal tutors to issues, and has been a significant help in designing and delivering courses.
Key quotes from nominators:
"She has been a mentor, enabler, and sage counsel for over 450 students - each of whom she knows."
"Drawing on her accumulated knowledge, Trish offers support that goes beyond her immediate responsibilities. During a demanding period prior to Exam Boards in June she quietly shouldered a new workload that came her way and did it with a generous demeanour that made the difficult weeks manageable for everyone. She is more than an administrator, she is central to the buoyancy of the department, providing daily the bridge that links the degree programmes to the people who are studying or teaching on them."
