Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At University Studies, we are committed to creating an environment where everyone is able to thrive and fulfill their goals. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is vital for our community of students and staff. It is our aim to provide an inclusive working and learning environment where everyone in the College community is fully respected and supported.

This page and the documents within contain information about how equality and diversity is managed at West Suffolk College and how we aim to meet our duties arising under the Equality Act 2010.

What is Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)?

Equality is about making sure individuals or groups are treated fairly and equally and no less favourably, specific to their needs, including areas of race, gender, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation and age. By promoting equality, we can remove discrimination in all of these areas. Bullying, harassment and victimisation are also considered as equality and diversity issues.

Diversity means recognising, valuing and taking account of peoples' different backgrounds, knowledge, skills, needs and experiences – to contribute and realise their full potential by promoting an inclusive culture for all staff and students.

Inclusion involves insuring that everybody, regardless of their individual characteristics, is included to the same degree. It is the practice of delivering equal access to opportunities and resources for those who might be at a greater risk of being excluded or marginalised.

Harassment and Bullying

At University Studies, we have a zero tolerance approach to bullying and harassment, including sexual misconduct.

What do we mean by bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct?

Bullying constitutes offensive or harmful behavior intended to upset , threaten or injure the recipient. This could be physical or psychological.

Harassment is specifically defined under the Equality Act 2010 as: related to a relevant protected characteristic, sexual harassment or less favourable treatment of a student because they submit to or reject sexual harassment.

If you feel that you have experienced bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct, visit our Policies page to view our Student Disciplinary Procedure.

Acessiblity

Our student support services offer a range of support and guidance for those with disabilities, health conditions or mental health needs. For further guidance, please contact universitystudiessupport@easterneducationgroup.ac.uk.

We also pride ourselves on having a very accessible campus, with all of our classrooms on the ground floor.

We actively encourage feedback on accessibility as we aim to make University Studies as inclusive as possible. If you have any comments of suggestions, please get in touch via universitystudiessupport@easterneducationgroup.ac.uk.

EDI Talks

In order to share our EDI vision with our students, we organise regular guest speakers who deliver short talks on their specialist subjects. These are held in the presentation space and are open for all students to attend free of charge.

In the past we have been honoured to welcome a range of speakers including:

  • Stop and Search Event - Guest speakers Stuart Lawrence, Phanuel Mutumburi and Franstine Jones MBE educated students on inequality in the criminal justice system.

  • Deaf Awareness Week - We were joined by Christine Steward from Sensing Change who talked about accommodating those with sight and hearing loss.

  • Neurodiversity Celebration Week - We hosted local training provider, ThreeEggs who discussed what Neurodiversity is and how workplaces can aim to be more inclusive.