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title: Change Agents Network Conference Student Panel

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# Change Agents Network Conference Student Panel 
#### Hosted by University College London

*Ammara Vaid*

### The Conference
The Change Agents Network (CAN) is an annual conference hosted by University College London (UCL) that brings together staff and students from UK colleges to discuss and share their experiences and projects in staff-sudent partnership. Both staff and students act as delegates on panels in the conference with each panel focusing on a different aspects of this partnership being focused on.

Abbie King, the organiser of CAN at UCL, reached out to the Learning Lab to learn more about how a similar resource may be created at UCL. 

### The Student Panel
I was invited to speak on the Student Panel and share my perspectives on how- in my capacity as a LLUF and as a student who has visited the Learning Lab- the spaces and networks offered by the Learning Lab are essential to the holistic development of college students. 

The panel featured a number of students from universities across the UK and a few in the US and focused on topics like:

- Support for students before starting university
- Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of students
- Dismantling methods of teaching and learning that are rooted in colonialism and discriminatory prejudices 
- Activities and resources that help students build skills, networks and communities and the tools to access this
- Developing clear postgraduate pathways

### What I learned 
What was really interesting were how different the experiences put forward by panellists were which I felt spoke to the variety of challenges that still exist in collegiate environments. Students spoke about issues like access to resources and tools- something that was especially prevalent during the transition to online learning at the start of the pandemic, representation of marginalised communities in instructors and syllabi and the necessity of recognising students as a whole person rather than just by their role as an academic learner. At Harvard and because of spaces like the Learning Lab, we are priviledged enough to not be burdened by issues like access to tools and equipment. The unique structure of the Lab allows for students-focused learning that is more suited to their needs. However, I think a lot of work needs to be done to create a decolonised and inclusive learning enviroment that provides a holistic and equal experience to all students and staff that exist in these academic spaces. I think that significant, infrastructlural changes like these begin with revolutionary learning spaces like the Learning Labs.  


