Student Update: Jisc survey results, assessments, extensions and hardship funding

Please be aware that this information was shared with students by email and correct at the time of sending. For the latest Covid-19 guidance, please visit our coronavirus webpages: www.wlv.ac.uk/coronavirus. If you are a student who has a query or needs support, please log a helpcall with ASK@WLV in e:Vision (www.wlv.ac.uk/evision).

I hope you are all keeping safe and well during the national lockdown.

This week's student update will cover: 

• The feedback you gave us through the Jisc Digital Insights survey  
• A reminder about assignments to be submitted in March 
• Extensions for semester 2 assessments 
• Additional hardship funding available 
• Support for students  

Jisc Digital Insights survey results and actions 

Thank you to everyone who completed the Jisc Digital Insights survey, your feedback is extremely valuable to us and will help us plan for the future.   

We have learnt from your feedback that:  

• 69% of you rated your engagement level with the 'live' online sessions as good or excellent.  
• 68% of you rated the quality of online and digital learning on your course as good, excellent or best imaginable.  
• 67% of you agreed that your online learning environment was safe and secure.   
• 51% of you said that poor Wi-Fi had been a problem for your learning. 
• 44% of you agreed that your online learning environment was well-designed 
• 41% of you agreed that your online materials had been engaging and motivating 

Your free text comments told us that many of you enjoy the flexibility that online learning brings and that we should continue with this where possible. Nevertheless, some students told us that they prefer face to face teaching and cannot wait to get back onto campus.   

We are now looking at how we can use your feedback to make any further improvements over the remainder of this year. We will also use the survey results to inform the development of our learning and teaching longer term, for example, ensuring that Canvas is used consistently across different modules and how we develop the laptop loan scheme we have introduced during the pandemic.   

Reassessments to be submitted in March and April  

If you have reassessments to complete from semester 1, you should note that a submission portal and the due date will be shown in Canvas for that module shortly.  

The due date shown will reflect when you must submit the assignment and students are reminded that it is not optional as to whether you submit the work – failure to do so will result in a 0 and non-submission recorded for the assessment.  

If you have any questions about your assignment, please speak to your personal tutor or module leader.  

Requesting an extension for your assignments 

In response to the pandemic and the current national lockdown, the University is continuing to support students through its trust-based approach to deadline extensions and extenuating circumstances. It is however important to remember that extensions are only possible for first submissions, and are not permitted on reassessments.  

As communicated in our student update last week, if you are struggling to submit an assignment by the deadline, you can apply for an extension of up to one week in e:Vision. If one additional week is not sufficient, you should contact your module leader to discuss whether a further extension is possible.  

Please note that an extension for longer than one week will be for exceptional cases only and at the discretion of your module tutor.  

If you feel that an extension will not be sufficient to enable you to complete the assignment, you may want to consider requesting a deferral to the next assessment period in July through the extenuating circumstances process.  

It is important to consider that you may create challenges for yourself in the future with a build-up of work to be submitted by deferring your assessment. You are strongly encouraged to discuss this with your personal tutor, academic coach or module leader before making this decision. 

Pandemic hardship fund 

The Government has announced this week a further £50 million that will be distributed to students suffering hardship as a result of the pandemic. This is being distributed directly by universities and £716,000 has been allocated to students at the University of Wolverhampton. 

The funding is available to all students experiencing financial hardship and can be used, for example, to help you to pay rent or bills, to buy food or to get IT equipment or wifi access that you need for your studies. 

• Log into e:Vison and go to your Student Home Page 
• Select My Finance and then Scholarships and Bursaries 
• Select Dennis Turner Hardship Fund 

If you need support with the application process, you can email the Funding team at money@wlv.ac.uk (include your student number in the email subject). Please also check the Hardship Fund webpages.

Support for students 

The pandemic has created and exacerbated many challenges for us all, and we have a range of services to support your wellbeing during this time. All of our students can access online mental health and wellbeing support 24/7 through Togetherall – an online community monitored by trained clinicians. In addition to this, our own dedicated Mental Health and Wellbeing Service offers one-to-one support and can signpost you to additional support services. 

Find out more about the student support services available to you here: www.wlv.ac.uk/support 

Stay up to date with the latest information  

Please keep checking your University emails and reading these updates. We are committed to keeping students up to date. We do this by email, on our social media channels (Instagram, Twitter and Facebook) and the University Student News webpage.  

Visit our dedicated Covid-19 webpages for information on how you can stay safe and help protect our University community during the pandemic.  

Thank you, and stay safe.  

Professor Julia Clarke  
Deputy Vice-Chancellor