Beyond Your Course: How you can change your University Advanced Course Rep Training

1. Beyond Your Course: How you can change your University Advanced Course Rep Training Lisa Burton and Richard Buckley

2. Session Objectives • To consider the importance of having the student voice at the heart of decision-making • To understand the structures in place for ensuring that the student voice is heard • To explore the key methods of assuring and enhancing educational quality that are employed in the University, and the role that Course Reps can play in promoting them • To identify some student-led initiatives for improving educational quality and the support on offer from the Students’ Union and your School Reps

3. Contents • The big issues: identifying common areas of concern • Feeding in • How well do you know your School? • Break

4. Contents • Making it flow: why your voice matters • Partnership works: some case studies • The Northumbria Student Learning Values • Debrief / any questions?

5. The big issues Can you name: • 3 issues that are specific to your Course? • 3 issues that are specific to your School? • 3 issues that affect students across the University? • 3 issues that affect students that are specific to your type of course (i.e. placement-based, large numbers, professional body requirements) What opportunities do you have to resolve issues that affect students across the School?

6. The big issues • How about issues that are local (i.e. course-specific) in nature, but affect students across Northumbria? • E.g. assessment feedback, learning resources, timetabling

7. The big issues- feeding in

8. The big issues- feeding in Think about the last time you attended a Staff Student Liaison Committee or Course Committee meeting. These are your main opportunities to feed back to staff directly – but how effective are they? In your group, draw a picture of what’s going through your mind in the meeting. What can you do as a Course Rep to make these meetings more effective?

9. How well do youknow your School? Do you know: • Your School Reps? • When the next Course Rep Forum is? • How many Divisions there are in your School? • Any Course Reps on other programmes? • The Associate Deans for Learning and Teaching / Student Affairs? • The Dean of your School?

10. Course Reps’ views and concerns School VIA Staff-Student Liaison Committee Students’ Union VIA Course Rep Forum / School Reps University VIA School Reps? Students’ Union? Learning and Teaching Committee Student Affairs / Wellbeing Forum School Office / Registry How well do youknow your School?

11. Making it flow:why your voice matters The Students’ Union exists to represent your views and hold the University to account, and the University’s management organises support services for students which should be responsive to students’ needs. But: • How well connected is the Students’ Union in this structure? • How well connected is University management in this structure? • When feedback from Course Rep meetings is relayed to the School and the University by academics, how can the Students’ Union track progress and hold academics to account without a more direct link?

12. Making it flow:why your voice matters “When we developed our Strategic Plan 2006-11, we identified students as having a key interest in the safeguarding of academic standards and in the continuous improvement of quality management” - Quality Assurance Agency Approaches to Student Engagement Paper

13. Making it flow:why your voice matters School Reps: • Have direct input at School Learning and Teaching Committee and Student Affairs Committee, taken in part from Course Rep Forums • Have direct input at University Learning and Teaching Enhancement Groups on a variety of specialised areas • Have direct access to Students’ Union VP Academic Affairs, ensuring that Union campaigns are informed by current experience • Receive full training and support in the role from the Students’ Union • Are paid £300 per year for their efforts!

14. Case study 1:National Student Survey • Co-ordinated by Ipsos-Mori, the National Student Survey offers final-year students across the country the opportunity to have their final say on their programme of study • But with so many module and course evaluations to fill out across the average 3 year university career, many students feel disillusioned by the prospect of yet another survey • Last year, Northumbria scored worse than expected and achieved a below-par response rate • In response, the University commissioned the Students’ Union to launch the Not Another Ticking Survey campaign to highlight the importance of the survey – which can impact on Northumbria’s national standing (and the value of a Northumbria degree!) • School Reps promoted the survey through lecture hits and the Students’ Union made the most of existing student networks to drive response rates • The result: Northumbria is currently well ahead of national average in response rate!

15. Case study 2:Northumbria Student Learning Values • Numerous University documents are held by Academic Registry which outline the minimum standards students can expect from the University in a variety of areas – including induction, support and assessment feedback • But these documents are inaccessible to the average student (and academic) and are often treated as yet another piece of bureaucracy, overlooked for the sake of expediency • The solution: the Students’ Union teamed up with Academic Registry to produce a simple, double-sided statement containing: • 10 things that students can expect of the University and their course • 10 things that the University and academics can expect of students • The document, for the first time, offers complete clarity over e.g. how long you should have to wait for your assignments to be marked!

16. Case study 3:Learning and Teaching Awardsand Applauding and Promoting Teaching Awards • Even when they’re effective, student feedback structures often result in the communication of more negative views than positive • To combat this, Academic Registry and the Students’ Union have formulated two awards schemes to encourage students to contribute in a positive way to learning and teaching • The Learning and Teaching Awards offer a top prize of £1000 for innovative ideas on how to improve the learning experience – previous winning ideas include core induction contacts on a keyring • The Applauding and Promoting Teaching Awards offer two £1000 prizes for teachers nominated by students – the students who nominate the winners (and the Course Rep who signs the nomination) also win £50 of Eldon Square vouchers • Closing dates: Applauding and Promoting Teaching Awards – this Friday and Learning and Teaching Awards – April 25th

17. Northumbria StudentLearning Values Have a look at the document and discuss the following questions: • Do the Learning Values seem reasonable on the staff side? • Do they seem reasonable on the student side? • Do these reflect the reality for most staff and students on your programme? • Do the Learning Values go far enough? What more would you like to see on them? • How can the University and the Students’ Union more effectively build the Learning Values into the learning experience for everyone?

18. Further questionsfor reflection • Is it the job of the Course Rep to try to influence whole policies in the University? Or should Course Reps just stick to local issues? • How far can a student who’s never taught comment on teaching strategies in general? • Are students expecting too much of teachers who are only human, or do students have the right to expect more because of the tuition fees that you pay?

19. Those sessionobjectives again… • To consider the importance of having the student voice at the heart of decision-making • To understand the structures in place for ensuring that the student voice is heard • To explore the key methods of assuring and enhancing educational quality that are employed in the University, and the role that Course Reps can play in promoting them • To identify some student-led initiatives for improving educational quality and the support on offer from the Students’ Union and your School Reps

20. Any questions?