Embedded Files
Running Projects can be a key way to help build your community through helping to address highlighted needs, providing student-built support resources and potentially making positive changes to your department, school or college. Take a look through this page for some ideas and guidance around differen projects you could consider as well as some reflections from students who have already run projects.
Projects & Campaigns
Projects & Campaigns
Projects and Campaigns usually come from discussion and ideas from your committee/community. Things that members have noticed are missing and/or issues with disproportionately affect disabled students. Projects & campaigns provide an opportunity to address these.
While wider community members can suggest ideas and contribute to these projects, it's most likely they will be run and implements by committee/organising group members. As members are working in voluntary capacity, here are some things to keep in mind:
Projects work best when it's something your interested in and passionate about. As a volunteer, you should be working on things you want to work on.
Projects are longer term committements and may take some time to set up. Remember your studies and well-being take priority, so work on a project may stop and start and that's okay - you'll get there eventually. We've had campaigns that have taken a year and more to set up and finish.
A project can be run by one person or many - it depends on interest. If many people are involved it's helpful to designate a lead on the project to oversee everything.
Even if you really want to work on a project you're interested in, it can be hard to find time. Organising a dedicated time for yourself or with a group to work on the project can help - we call these 'Power Hours' in the Psychology Disability Committee.
Example Projects & Campaigns
Example Projects & Campaigns
Listed are some projects & campaigns that have been or are running in our DISCO communitites already or are ideas we'd like to do:
Accessible Toilet Campaign: Address issues found within accessible toilets
Departmental Video Tour: Video tour of a department created for new students with disability in mind
Disability FAQs: A list of common questions disabled students have about accessing support within the University and their department.
Physical Spaces: Finding accessible physical spaces for student to use to connect.
Address Lab Stress: Creating resources and signposting to help students deal with potentially stressful lab sessions.
Anxiety around joining events and groups: Creating resources and building support to events to help support those with anxiety around this.
Additional Reflections
Additional Reflections
Reflections from PET
Reflections from PET
Accessible Spaces
Accessible Spaces
In the School of PET, we noticed that there weren't many community spaces, and the ones we do have are not known about. This launched my first project to help make these common spaces fit-for-purpose and also just to introduce students to them! I have met with the building manager and ran a student consultation on what is most wanted and needed in these spaces, in order to make effective and useful changes with the limited budget that we have. Hopefully we'll see the impact soon, but the takeaways from this project would be to look at what your department lacks, and to find a way to address it.
Reflections from Psychology
Reflections from Psychology
In the Psychology Disability Committee, the projects we’ve had are:
Chronic pain project,
Accessible bathroom project,
‘Pulse’ survey,
Accessible department tour video,
Blog posts,
Website.
‘Projects’ as we’ve used it just means long-term shared endeavours, the things that take ages and can be pushed back, when more pressing tasks come up.
General advice for running projects:
Work on passion: if you do have a committee, prepared to support your student group, allow people to suggest projects that reflect their interests. You’re much more likely to get something substantial out of that.
Consider disability: this may sound like a silly consideration, for a disabled students group, but it’s important - your committee members are likely disabled, and their disabilities are likely to affect how they work. Ensure that there is room for discussion, and that people feel comfortable to advocate for their own needs (e.g. “I’d really like to do this project, but I know I will have flare ups, so it will take a while”).
Let them take a while: most projects will end up taking longer than a year - that is okay. Just keep track of the projects in achievable chunks.
Be ambitious and realistic: note all of your ideas, and don’t try too many at a time.
Toolkit Navigation
Toolkit Navigation
Page updated
Report abuse