School of Informatics

NSS launch for Informatics final year students

The National Student Survey opened for the University of Edinburgh students on 5th February.

To mark the occasion Informatics final year students were invited to have some pizza and take the opportunity to talk about their issues.

Prof Jane Hillston and students on Level 9 of Appleton Tower
Prof Jane Hillston and students

The event

The event took place in the brand new social and study space on level 9 of the Appleton Tower. It has recently been handed over to Informatics final year students for their sole use. The space has probably the best views in the city, but our students appreciate that it’s private and quiet (apart from the occasional door entry alarm malfunction – we are working on fixing it!).

Level 9 of Appleton Tower
Level 9 of Appleton Tower

We are listening

But level 9 is not the only thing we offer to our students. We listen to their issues every week at the Informatics Staff and Student Representatives meetings, and then follow them on the ISSR blog. We have recently appointed two student support officers to deal with not just routine queries, but also to advice and support. We are accessible: Neil Heatley (Head of Support Services) and Stuart Anderson (Director of Teaching) can be contacted directly if required. In 2017, with the help of CompSoc, we organised a breakfast for students and staff – and are planning more.

Photos of the NSS event
Photos from the NSS event

We also do the fun stuff such as Informatics merchandise: hoodies and Informatics Lego figurines! Students can follow us on Twitter, check updates in the Facebook group and on Instagram.

We appreciate students telling us what they think, so we know what to focus our efforts on. But it’s also important for us to know when we are getting things right.

Useful links

National Student Survey (NSS)

NSS 2018 (video)

Informatics Staff and Student Reps meeting blog

Diverse, Equal, Inclusive