The second Student Sustainability Council session took place on 13 December 2022 in a hybrid format. The session focused on embedding sustainability values and education in UCL Careers. Weronika Benning, Business Development Manager at UCL Careers, was a special guest of the Council, presenting the work of the department and leading the feedback groupwork.
Key discussion points
The history of UCL Careers engagement with Sustainability Council has revolved around the theme of collaborating with contentious companies, particularly from the oil and gas sector. The aim of this Council meeting was to refine specific discussion points and provide constructive feedback based on general conversations started in last year's Council.
An important discussion starter was the fact that Careers role is to educate students and guide them in their professional journey, rather than arbitrate on which companies should be advertised to students. There are a lot of challenges around excluding certain employers from the listings and it need not have the intended outcome. Please see minutes below for detailed response to this question.
The student councillors tackled the following discussion points proposed by Weronika:
- Careers education: How to better educate students about contentious companies, especially at big events like Careers Fairs?
- MyUCLCareers, the online portal for UCL students: what value-based questions for employers should be included and how holistic should they be?
- Ethical careers policy: what kind of principles or basic agreements should underpin the policy for employers to participate in Careers events, internship programmes, and other local points of engagement beyond the jobs portal?
Students responded with a comprehensive list of recommendations and observations included in the minutes below. The student feedback will inform the next UCL Careers planning meeting. The progress of this meeting will be reported back to the Council with scope for further discussion.
Meeting minutes
Next Council meetings
In line with students' priorities voted on in the first Council, the remaining meetings will be themed as follows. The theme of communication will be woven into all meetings, with relevance to the main theme.
- Tuesday 24 January - Education
- Tuesday 21 February - Waste