Programme and Subject Leaders’ Conference Students’ Union Showcase

1. Programme and Subject Leaders’ Conference Students’ Union Showcase Lisa Burton – VP Education and Welfare Richard Buckley – Representation and Democracy Co-ordinator

2. What does theStudents’ Union do? • Advice – on appeals, complaints etc • Representation – training and guiding representatives • Campaigns – to raise awareness and to achieve change • Activities – opportunities to get involved and gain transferrable skills • Entertainments and Commercial Services - meeting the diverse needs of a diverse student body

3. Why studentrepresentation matters • QAA guidelines – minimum standard • Impact of tuition fees on students’ relationships with HEI’s • Emphasis on quality of experience • Accountability of service provider • Engaging students with their learning • Student-staff dialogue – challenging traditional student-staff divide

4. What student representation looks like (to the SU) 950 Course Reps (at least 1 per course per year) Student-Staff Liaison Committee 20 School Reps (2-3 per School) and 9 PGR School Reps School AD Learning and Teaching Students’ Union School AD Student Affairs VP Education and Welfare

5. What student representation looks like (to the SU) • In this model, if issues are not resolved locally (at the Student-Staff Liaison Committee level), they move ‘up the chain’ • This is potentially burdensome for everyone involved and risks cutting academic staff out of the loop until it reaches the top • It is therefore in everyone’s interests for issues to be resolved locally, before they commute from ‘issues’ to ‘problems’ • While this model does offer a clear chain of accountability on the student representative and Students’ Union side, it doesn’t exactly represent ‘dialogue’ and ‘partnership’!

6. What student representation looks like (to academics) • Do you think this model accurately reflects what happens when an issue arises? • How can you stay on top of issues raised on your programme by students? • How can you get to know the Course Reps that you work with and build up a constructive relationship, built on the principles of ‘dialogue’ and ‘partnership’?

7. How else does the SU supportlearning and teaching? Resources for Course Reps In 2007/08, the Students’ Union has trained 240 Course Reps (including advanced training), hosted a flagship Course Rep Conference in St James Park for 150 Reps and distributed 300 copies of the Course Rep Handbook. Course Reps are also free to drop into the Students’ Union Advice and Representation Centre for advice and guidance from the Representation and Democracy Co-ordinator.

8. How else does the SU supportlearning and teaching? Resources for Course Reps School Reps and the VP Education and Welfare are also on hand for Course Reps for guidance. By keeping a logbook of their activities and dedicating 30 hours to the role, Course Reps can also be awarded the Northumbria Plus+ award – as 16 were in 2008.

9. How else does the SU supportlearning and teaching? Awards The Students’ Union works closely with Academic Registry’s Learning and Teaching Support team to deliver the Learning and Teaching Awards and the Applauding and Promoting Teaching Awards Student Prize. - Congratulations to David Chantry (School of Design) and Rinke Vinkenoog (School of Applied Sciences) who were declared the APT Student Prize winners at the SU Annual Awards on Thursday!

10. How else does the SU supportlearning and teaching? National Student Survey The Students’ Union took the lead in promoting the National Student Survey through the ‘Not Another Ticking Survey’ campaign and by training School Reps to deliver lecture hits, helping to achieve a record response rate in 2008.

11. How else does the SU supportlearning and teaching? Campaigns Plagiarism Awareness 24 Hour Library Assessment Feedback

12. How else does the SU supportlearning and teaching?

13. Final thoughts onco-operation How the Students’ Union can help you: • Improve Course Rep performance through training and guidance • Encourage Course Reps to resolve issues locally • Champion best practice in student representation How you can help the Students’ Union: • Make sure that your Course Reps attend training and, if not, collect a Course Rep Handbook • Encourage Course Reps to get involved – L&T Awards, Northumbria Plus+, School Rep-led Course Rep Forums… • Provide detailed info on your Course Reps to the SU, including up-to-date telephone numbers and monitoring data (where possible) • Spend some time getting to know your Course Reps – it will pay off in terms of constructive feedback!

14. Final thoughts onco-operation In summer, the SU will be publishing our Best Practice Guide for Course Reps. If you haven’t yet completed the Course Rep Questionnaire, please do as soon as possible and return it to the Advice and Representation Centre, Students’ Union. Your responses will help the Union benchmark student representation across the University and will feed directly into the Best Practice Guide.

15. Any questions? Lisa Burton – VP Education and Welfare lisa.burton@unn.ac.uk Ext 3703 Richard Buckley – Representation and Democracy Co-ordinator richard.buckley@unn.ac.uk Ext 3195