The new academic year, critical IT changes, student app update and free language courses

Read a message from Claire Morgan, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education and Student Experience sent to undergraduate and postgraduate taught students on 21 September.

Dear student,

I hope that you have enjoyed a relaxing summer break.

The new academic year is nearly here and with some of you already on campus and others making your way to us, I extend a warm welcome to all of you and wish you all the very best for the year ahead.

As your Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience I will be in contact with you throughout the year to provide updates on important topics that impact your academic and wider student life.

Prepare for critical IT changes

You’ll already know how important it is to keep yourself and your data safe online, and to help keep your university account secure our IT systems are changing.

From 26 September onwards, you will only be able to access some university IT systems if you have completed multi-factor authentication (MFA). If you need any help with this, please contact our IT team.

New features in the Student App

Our Student App was introduced last year to help you find useful information about the university and your course, check where you need to be, plan your day and receive relevant notifications.

Guided by your feedback, we’ve been working hard to update our app, which now allows you to check in for your Student Life appointments at both the Centre for Student Life and Cardigan House. If you don’t already have the app, I’d encourage you to download it as soon as possible. If you know how we can make the app even more useful, follow the ‘give feedback’ link on the app’s homepage.

Apply for free language courses

If you are keen to learn a new language or develop your expertise in an existing one, our Languages for All programme gives you the chance to improve your linguistic skills alongside your studies. Courses are currently offered in nine languages and you can learn in a way that suits you, through weekly classes, intensive sessions or independent learning. Sign up for a free course before 23 September.

Our community commitment

I’m sure you would all agree it’s really important we all treat one another with respect, courtesy and consideration, keeping our campus safe for everyone. Our community commitment asks you to keep this in mind during your time here, making sure our campus is welcoming, inclusive and safe for all our students and staff.

My next email will be in early October, but in the meantime look out for Student News and other updates, and if you have any questions please do contact Student Connect.

Best wishes,

Claire Morgan
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education and Student Experience