Swansea University has been recognised for its excellence in diversity and inclusion during the pandemic, winning a silver award in the 2021 Whatuni Student Choice Awards.
The annual awards, now in their eighth year, highlight the work done by institutions to support their students, and celebrate resilience, innovation and diversity within higher education. Uniquely, the nominees and winners are selected by students themselves, and judged by a specially chosen panel made up of prospective and current university students.
This year’s awards were made up of four categories:
- Student Support
- Excellence in Digital Innovation
- Enhanced Graduate Outcomes
- Diversity and Inclusion
As well as claiming second place in the Diversity and Inclusion category, Swansea University was also shortlisted in the Excellence in Digital Innovation.
Swansea received a silver award in the Diversity and Inclusion category after impressing the judges with its commitment to fostering a safe and inclusive environment that improves diversity, and many of its initiatives, including:
- Establishing a Race Inclusion Students Advisory Committee
- Working with an Advance HE practitioner to design solutions to enhance the experience of minority ethnic and overseas students at University
- Creating a forum for students with disabilities
- Forming a trans and non-binary support group for students
Professor Martin Stringer, pro-vice-chancellor for education said: “We’re delighted that Swansea’s commitment to embedding equality and diversity has been recognised in this way.
“We pride ourselves on being an open, safe and inclusive university, and, as outlined in the 2020 Swansea University Strategic Equality Plan, our aim is to continue to build on this and achieve excellence in equality, diversity and inclusion in all that we do. More can, and will be done, and doing so will not only result in better environments for staff and students but will also support cultural change across the University and beyond.”
Visit the WhatUni website for more information about the 2021 Whatuni Student Choice Awards.