My name and role:
Charon Gates – Faculty Rep for Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies
Can you give some information about your role?
We have over 38,000 students in the WELS Faculty, split across three schools – Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport; Languages and Applied Linguistics; and Health, Wellbeing and Social Care. I see my role as giving all our students a voice in all matters concerning them, and to champion student voice across the Faculty and wider OU.
What made you want to be part of our Student Leadership Team?
- To champion student voice across the Faculty of WELS and the wider OU.
- To work as part of a team to ensure all our students achieve their best academic outcomes.
- To continue to support Mel Green (central academic) with her work on 'Understanding me as a Learner', a one-page student profile on how students learn and wish to be supported.
What are you hoping to achieve in the 2026–2028 term?
- To get better support for our underrepresented groups of students and forces veterans to narrow the awarding gaps that exist.
- To raise the profile of all the work Open SU does across the OU.
- To work on the implementation of the new OU EDI strategy.
- To encourage greater student voice across the OU.
Tell us some fun facts about yourself!
- I knew George Michael when I lived in London.
- I love football and Formula 1 and try never to miss a match or Grand Prix.
- I have three cats – two are named after the footballer David Silva. They are called Merlin and Silva.
And finally – what do you love about the OU?
Having been asked to leave school at the age of 15 (I was not a good student), I returned to study at 50 years old at college. I started my undergrad studies at the age of 52, and graduated my Masters of Education in Inclusive Practice when I was 61. I could never have achieved this at a brick-built university as I have no formal school qualifications. The OU has given me the support to believe in myself.
Through studying with the OU, I have had the opportunity to have a small involvement in a research project which has just been published, and I am currently co-writing a book on neuroaffirming practices across all educational ages.
How to contact me:
Email me
Please note that a handful of Open SU staff team members have access to this mailbox.