Meet the Advisors

What was for you the most rewarding element of being a member of the ECO Strategic Advisory Board?

The most rewarding aspect for me was being given the responsibility in representing the views of all my fellow students in the advisory board.  Offering my views and knowledge about all aspects of the student journey, from coming into UEA, our time on the course and eventually leaving.  I could see that I was a valuable contribution to the discussions of the Advisory Board and my viewpoints were taken on and converted into real outcomes for the school.  Being able to help steer the school towards a better future was very rewarding as I could see my contributions being put into action.  It’s safe to say that I also gained many skills through this role, such as better communication, active listening, discussion and debate, and rapport building.  It was great to have links to the members of the school’s advisory board as they were all incredibly interesting people to get to know, with a wealth of knowledge, and each with unique links to the field of Economics – which I loved hearing about.  Having such a diversity of opinion and thought was great to hear and experience.

How do you perceive the School changed over the year while you served on the Board?

I think the school is very well run having the advisory board support it.  Nevertheless, the school experienced much positive change during my year on the advisory board.  Building on the recovery from Covid, the school looked to the future and gave students more opportunity – in terms of new courses, enhanced learning styles, a stronger community and more opportunity.  The new events and collaborations within the school made the course of the year fun and exciting

What was for you the most rewarding element of being a member of the ECO Strategic Advisory Board?

The most rewarding element of being on the board has been the opportunities to talk to students about their future careers – particularly in encouraging students to consider less “traditional” career paths. All of the students I’ve spoken to have been so engaged and eager to learn, and many have been in contact on Linkedin since meeting them. I feel very proud to be an alumna of ECO and I enjoy doing something small to give something back.

How do you perceive the School changed over the last x-years while you served on the Board?

I haven’t served on the board for long but I have definitely seen a change in the school since I graduated in 2016. I think a lot of this has been down to Covid and the changes to learning that came with it – although things have largely gone back to normal, it seems students’ experiences and attitudes are still seeing an impact. There seems to be a smaller minority of really driven and engaged students than there were during my time at UEA, as shown by the low attendance at some of the careers events. The main thing that hasn’t changed (and is, in my opinion, the School’s biggest strength) is the commitment from staff and the ethos of the school. 

What initiatives of the School are you most excited to see developing in the next few years?

I’m excited to see how the school will be broadening their access to a wider pool of potential students from more diverse backgrounds. There has already been a lot of work done on this but think there is lots of potential to grow.

What was for you the most rewarding element of being a member of the ECO Strategic Advisory Board?

This was my first experience of what it is like running and administering a university department and I have found it genuinely interesting to learn about the (considerable) challenges and in a small way contribute.  I did in addition enjoy my mentoring experience – one forgets how even simple and – to you – obvious things can make a very considerable difference.   I was pleased to be able to arrange for a crypto hedge fund manager to talk on the finance course.

How do you perceive the School changed over the last x-years while you served on the Board?

I’m not sure whether the School has changed over the last five years or whether I have just realised more about what it is doing.   But it seems to me that there is a lot of work being done – sandwich courses, mentoring, careers advice – to work on the employability of the School’s students.    I do though feel here is a way to go – sadly today’s students need to be aware from year 1 of how their decisions and actions will impact their employability.   As I said recently I think the mentoring program – or at least my contribution to it – could have been more substantial.

What initiatives of the School you are most excited to see developing in the next few years?

I’m keen to see the things I mentioned in #2 develop further.

The most rewarding part of being on the board was the ability to represent the students and make sure that with every decision made, they are considered. As I’ve said before, the school makes that job very easy for me as they do it anyway without me needing to push for it. Seeing that the board has that kind of environment is great as it means this is going to continue to happen, going forward.

While I’ve only been on the board a short time, I think looking at the past 2 years when I’ve been involved with the school, beyond being a student, I’ve seen a lot of consistency in the things that matter. These have been turbulent times to say the least and the school’s priorities have had to change with these new developments (first the pandemic, now the university’s financial situation), but despite these unavoidable changes, the school has continued to always consider the students’ needs and how their decisions would affect students. While your question asks about how the school has changed, from the perspective of student representation I think it’s more important how despite how the school has changed, it continues to prioritise students.

I think the mentioning of the mentor scheme being developed in some way, even if just through more board members getting involved, is something I’d be excited to see happening as this is something that has shown itself to be beneficial to students and so expanding and/or improving on it could only be for the better.

What was for you the most rewarding element of being a member of the ECO Strategic Advisory Board?

The period I have sat on the board has been one of unprecedented upheaval. Seeing how the School has reacted to these challenges has been inspiring; being able to say ‘well done’ has been rewarding.

How do you perceive the School changed over the last x-years while you served on the Board?

From Covid-19, through the collapse in foreign student numbers to the UEA’s current financial uncertainty, the school has responded well to a series of unexpected challenges, evolving quickly to reflect each change to its environment. The pity is that the university as a whole was less fleet of foot!

I have found taking part in these meetings so far to be helpful in understanding the school and students, as well as the needs of the employers and their expectations of ECO graduates. Getting more insight from Board members into the sectors that recruit ECO graduates and the experience from university into employment in this area is useful context for me when working with students. I also really benefit from hearing from students when they present in the meetings, for example last academic year the placement students presented on their experiences, and this year we heard from first year students about their transition into university and perceptions of ECO before and once they started. Clearly this is also fantastic experience for them to get used to presenting in front of a group, so a valuable opportunity for the school to offer them.

One of the most rewarding elements of being a member of the ECO Strategic Advisory Board was supporting the school in hosting a visit and talk from Michael Saunders, Bank of England and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee.  Despite the tight timelines it was fantastic to see the engagement of the school both staff and students and the wider academic and business community.

Over the past five years the school has supported students to broaden their horizons – provided increased opportunities for students to network with alumni, the advisory board and businesses.  Staff to have been supported to explore the development of new courses and opportunity to raise their profile through engaging with a range of networks including the Financial Industry Group. 

The current challenges faced by UEA require the school to continue to increase their visibility showcasing their research, innovation and graduate success.   Specific initiatives I would like to see developed in the next few years include – a highly regarded programme of CPD, increased engagement with external organisations perhaps including Knowledge Transfer Partnerships.

What was for you the most rewarding element of being a member of the ECO Strategic Advisory Board?

Being able to represent the student body and make an actual impact on your own and your peers academic path. For instance, it was so rewarding to see programming modules being discussed and conceptualised, while on the Strategic Advisory Board and then actually having been able to take such modules in my final year at UEA. So representing the student body on the board is really a rewarding role and allows one to affect one’s peers immediate academic experience.

How do you perceive the School changed over the year while you served on the Board

Through that, I think the school clearly demonstrated, that student voices are heard. And more so how these are a vital and valued input for the School’s strategic development. I am convinced that as a student at ECO you truly can shape your own academic experience.

What was for you the most rewarding element of being a member of the ECO Strategic Advisory Board?

As a relatively new member to the board, I have enjoyed the exposure to current and recent students and to be able to answer their questions relating to career opportunities and broader questions. As part of this, being able to discuss which parts of the curriculum may have the most relevance in the workplace has also been enlightening and enjoyable.

How do you perceive the School changed over the last x-years while you served on the Board?

It is a short period to see a trend, but I can say it seems to be a group of dedicated academics who are keen to continue to promote the School and with a vision for a medium term growth in its reputation amongst the sector.

What initiatives of the School you are most excited to see developing in the next few years?

Continued commitment to Behavioural Economics and with the backdrop of inflation and ‘normalised rates’ the output of research and the general topic of Economics should be in much higher demand.

What was for you the most rewarding element of being a member of the ECO Strategic Advisory Board?

I’ve enjoyed the different ways we’ve been able to understand and support students studying economics  – for example, hearing about placement experiences, supporting practice interviews or even a presentation for a group of students on how recruitment works in my sector. Students are interested in the different careers we’ve had, and I hope the advice has been useful.

How do you perceive the School changed over the last x-years while you served on the Board?

It has been great to see the interest in employability develop and constantly evolve. It is clear the staff in the School are determined to keep making it better – from the growth of placements to thinking about, and taking advice on, content of courses.

What initiatives of the School you are most excited to see developing in the next few years?

I’m looking forward to seeing courses and research impact continue to develop. Supporting the school as it thinks about its course mix for students and how it makes sure the wider policy community gets to see the fascinating research staff produce are two interesting areas for the next few years.