Provide voucher incentives other than Amazon, and encourage the university to follow this
Lucy Matthews submitted on
Thursday 29th February 2024
Complete
We are regularly asked to complete feedback forms and surveys with a chance to win Amazon vouchers, however Amazon is an extremely unethical company which I do not think the university or union should be financially supporting via the purchase of these vouchers. Furthermore, for the many of us who avoid Amazon, it removes the incentive to complete surveys etc. Many research studies (psychological, healthcare sciences, etc) also provide Amazon vouchers - SUSU should lobby the uni to find alternatives to Amazon vouchers.
Responses
Here, you can view the complete set of official responses from the sabbatical officers regarding this submission.
Rebecca Would replied on
Monday 24th Jun 2024 4:00pm
Hi,
Thanks again for this YMC, and apologies for my delay in responding. I took this concern to the VP Education and Student Experience at the University after confirming SUSU don't use Amazon vouchers as incentives, and it was confirmed to me that central university teams and professional services also aren't using them. The next step for the university is to talk to the faculties so we can stop using Amazon vouchers as incentives across the university and replace these with alternative vouchers.
If you have specific examples where this is happening or continues to happen next year please email them to me at vpeddem@soton.ac.uk, however I am going to close this for now as it is being looked at.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please email me.
Many thanks,
Rebecca
Rebecca Would replied on
Thursday 21st Mar 2024 10:05am
Hi,
Thank you very much for submitting this YMC. SUSU doesn't use Amazon vouchers as incentives ourselves, and we will lobby the university to not use Amazon vouchers as well. I will leave this open for now so we can update you after speaking to relevant areas at the university. If you have any questions please get in contact with me by emailing vpeddem@soton.ac.uk
Many thanks,
Rebecca (she/her)
VP Education and Democracy
Actions
Forwarded to Vice President Education and Democracy
Friday 1st Mar 2024 9:43am
Comments
Let's keep this space positive and respectful! Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions, but please remember to keep the conversation friendly and avoid any offensive comments.
I have tried to do this before - the university use Amazon because students are likely not to be signed up for UniWorkforce which is how students would normally get paid for work.