At City, I am the Senior Student Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Officer, although across my time I've also been the Student Equality and Diversity Officer and the Acting Student EDI Manager/Student Voice Manager. I am based within the Student Voice team, a small but mighty team in the Education and Student Strategy Support Unit, part of the Student and Academic Services Directorate at City.
As Senior Student EDI Officer, I work closely with staff, students and our Students' Union on projects and activities to promote and enhance EDI for students (and sometimes staff) at City. I also work closely with the EDI team based in Human Resources, who focus on EDI for staff. I manage, lead and support projects relating to enhancing the student experience, and in particular, understanding and supporting the experience of students who fall into one or more equality groups (sometimes called Liberation groups), such as Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students, students of faith or Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (LGBTQ) students.
In my role, I have managed a project on the experience of commuting students, where we analysed sector research and consulted with City students and staff to make recommendations to improve the commuter experience at City. I am also managing an ongoing project to understand and address degree-awarding gaps experienced by particular student groups (including BAME students and students with disabilities), with a focus on inclusive learning, teaching and assessment practices at the University. Earlier in 2020, I worked with staff and the Students' Union to develop and approve a new Student Harassment and Bullying Policy and Student Sexual Misconduct Policy for City.
Currently, I am working as part of City's Race Equality Charter Self-Assessment Team (RECSAT), which steers our application to the Advance HE Race Equality Charter for higher education, to run and write-up a short series of one-to-one interviews with students around race equality. I am also managing the Student Project Ambassador Scheme, where we employ a diverse pool of City students to either undertake paid project work in support of the student experience, or to provide their input or feedback on projects designed to enhance the student experience.
If you would like to learn more about EDI for students at City, you can find more information on the Student Hub or you can contact me directly."
Jack Kilker
Senior Student Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer