Hey, Meg here, your Academic Experience Officer!

Like many of you, I am returning for a second year at Leeds Beckett, albeit in a slightly different way! Trust me though, I understand what it is like to be settling into a new year, having been a student myself before commencing this role. You may have already seen me floating around on campus, so if you do see me, come and say hi! 

I am so excited to welcome new and returning students to what I hope is going to be an exciting and productive year, and hope that you have the opportunity to achieve your goals both academic and personal. However, if you ever have an academic issue you need to discuss, or just want to chat, I’ve got you!  

My role is to represent your academic and course-based interests; which in fun and non-nerdy terms means it’s my job to make sure that you have a good experience on your course, that you can share feedback, and I also work with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure you are represented by your peers within the course, the course team and wider university.

My top tips to kick-starting the academic year are: 

• Write down or put the key dates including deadlines in a calendar or diary to ensure you don’t miss anything  

• Get to know your course rep or become familiar with the role if you are elected as one  

• If you feel able to get involved with discussions in seminars definitely do this as they are there to support your learning  

• If you are unsure of anything do not be afraid to ask for clarification in a way that works well for you  
   

It’s my job to ensure that you can thrive academically and have the right support around you, alongside representing you across different levels of the university.

I was elected by you to help give you what you told me you need, so this year for one of my objectives I’m working on connecting you to your peers and other staff from across different disciplines, so stay tuned for updates on how I’m helping to achieve this! 

If one objective wasn’t enough, I’m also working to enhance accessibility within academia. It’s my goal to ensure all students have access to the materials they require for their course.  

As your Academic Experience Officer I'm a busy bee, but I strive to ensure what I'm working on helps to build a better experience for you whilst here at Leeds Beckett, so do get in touch if you want to know more! 

I also have additional needs and want to tell you that anything is possible. Despite challenges, I try each day to represent you to the best of my abilities, and I have a range of special interests that help me to do this and manage my condition.

These are *drum roll please…* Matilda, Taskmaster, and trying all the latest snacks, so be sure to ask me about these too and I would love to know what your interests are! 

Finally, I want to take the opportunity to wish you the best of luck for the year ahead and I hope to meet as many of you as possible!

If you want to chat or know more about my work, you can contact me any time on m.darroch@leedsbeckett.ac.uk. 

Happy Learning!  

Meg x