COURSE REPS HANDBOOK 2021/22
#ReadyToRep
WELCOME!
#ReadyToRep
Hi there, Congratulations on being elected as a course rep! You are now in a position to represent the voices of students on your course and create positive, lasting change! Course reps are an essential link between students and staff, ensuring the university takes into account the views of students, and that they receive the best possible education.
Course Rep Responsibilities: To gather feedback from fellow students on the quality of learning on their course • To discuss issues raised with staff members . • Attend staff/student meetings, put forward the views of the students they represent and complete the Course Rep Meeting form on the SU website: www. brightonsu.com/coursereps • To feedback to fellow students on the outcome of meetings • To liaise with the Students’ Union - keeping them informed of relevant issues and seeking support if needed. • To treat the role responsibly and be prepared to represent the views of the majority of students even if the rep does not personally hold the same view. The Student Voice team are here to support you in being the best rep you can be! We organise training, monthly awards, feedback mechanisms, and other exciting opportunities for you to participate in and make the best of your time as a rep! We’ll be keeping in touch every month via the course rep newsletter, which will get emailed to you, and will be full of helpful advice, as well as key information and events for you to attend. For any queries, contact your Engagement Team at coursereps@brighton.ac.uk You can also contact Jenniver Girgawi your Education Officer who is your lead officer contact for everything to do with course reps! Email her at BSUEducationOfficer@ brighton.ac.uk
MEET JENNIVER! YOUR EDUCATION OFFICER Hi, I am Jenniver your Education Officer for this academic year. I have recently graduated from the Brighton Business School with a degree in Law. I am looking forward to meeting all the new course REPS and engaging with you and listening to your feedback and concerns. I look forward to seeing you work closely with the student union for us to help you and your course mates have the best university experience. Being a course REP is such a rewarding experience as it builds up your confidence in communicating with staff, you are essentially the voice of the students. Being a course REP for two years whilst studying my degree I believe it has increased my employability skills and has helped me in becoming a sabbatical officer. A lot of change has happened in my course by providing feedback students provided me with, your lecturers and course leaders want to make sure they are delivering the course to meet your needs.
VISIT THE WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION: Be sure to keep an eye on our website all year round to gain access to all the training materials and resources available for course reps.
Who You’ll Regularly Be Working With. • •
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The students you represent In order to find out their views. Other Course Reps To work together on issues that might be effecting more than one course, and share ideas. Staff in your school To put across students ideas.
How to Create Effective Change. As an elected representative, you have the power to create the learning environment that meets the needs of you and your cohort. Here are some top tips on how to be an effective representative for your students: 1. Make sure your students know you exist! In order to represent the needs of your cohort, they need to know who you are, what your role is, and how they can contact you. Why not make a Facebook page, or hold regular drop ins with your students. To make sure students know who you are, you can now collect your course rep hoodie from your campus office! 2. Remember yours is the most important voice in the room- you are the expert on being a student, and you are mandated to represent the student voice. Your lecturers and course leaders want to hear what you have to say. 3. Be persistent - making changes is not always quick and easy. Stick with it, and you’ll find that things will fall into place. 4. Make sure you’re inclusive of everyone’s experiences. Try to reach out to those students who might not usually get a chance to be heard.
How the University Committee Work
Reward and Recognition. The Students’ Union offers a number of incentives for students who become course reps, these are:
Course Rep Hoodies Course Reps will be able to collect their hoodies from Students’ Union campus offices. This is new for this academic year and will help you.
Vouchers Course Reps will be able to collect one £10 voucher for a Love 2 Shop voucher. Information about what needs to be done in order to receive these is detailed on the next page.
Union Awards We host an annual award ceremony to celebrate the hard work of students, staff members and volunteers at the University. These awards include the Course Rep of the Year award, as well as other awards recognising innovative and inspirational teaching. Information on the nomination process for these awards will appear on our website, brightonsu.com, from around the start of the Spring term.
What You’ll Gain as a Course Rep Alongside being able to represent the voices of students on your course and make a lasting positive impact, you’ll gain a number of other skills. These are all identified by the Uni as useful for employability and are transferable to other areas of your academic, personal and working life.
Skills to be gained: Resource Gathering Communicating with a range of students and staff members will increase your confidence levels and develop skills in working with with a variety of individuals.
Networking Skills You’ll gain confidence and skills in your approach to networking, developing how you communicate with different individuals; both students and staff members, and ensuring you get views across.
Written and Verbal Communication As a Course Rep you will develop skills with both written and verbal communication. This will involve verbally discussing ideas and sharing them, alongside writing up key information and responding in a written manner.
Organisational Skills Organisational skills will be gained and developed through the year as you manage your time, collect student feedback and attend Student Staff Forums.
Making Things Happen Course Reps are in place to gather feedback from fellow students on the quality of learning on their course – this will involve problem solving and discussing ideas on how to tackle issues and create a positive lasting impact.
Online Training It’s essential that all course reps complete the online training sessions in order to prepare you for your new role. Online training will be interactive and engaging and the sessions will ensure that you are ready to start representing your fellow course students. Online training sessions can be found through this link:
brightonsu.com/studentvoice/resources Collecting Your £10 Vouchers
Alongside completing online training there are a number of other requirements necessary to complete in order to gain your voucher per semester. These are: Semester 1 • Complete the online Course Rep training sessions • Collect your course rep hoodie • Collect your student handbook • Start collecting feedback from students and attend your 1st Student Staff Forum • Complete the Course Rep Feedback Form Semester 2 • Collect feedback from students • Attend your 2nd Student Staff Forum • Complete the Course Rep Feedback Form • Complete the end of year Course Rep survey Once you've completed these tasks, we will email you your Love2Shop voucher code.
Steps to Consider After Your Online Training... Once you’ve completed your online training, you will be ready to start representing the voices of students on your course. Below are some ideas of what you can do to make the most out of your new role.
Introduce Yourself It’s important that your fellow students know who you are and understand your role. Make yourself known to people on your course by wearing your Course Rep hoodie or perhaps making yourself known at the start of a lecture.
Send An Email Sending a blanket email to your fellow students is a great way to initiate conversation and share your contact details.
Use Social Media One way of creating conversation could be through the use of social media pages – for example, setting up a Facebook group for students to share their views and potential issues could be quite useful.
Use Social Media Start preparing for your first Student Staff Forum by collecting student feedback and making a note of the views expressed by your fellow students.
Your Personal Checklist Below is a checklist you can use to make sure you are ready and prepared to start your role as a Course Rep!
- Complete your online training - Collect your student Course Rep handbook - Collect your Course Rep hoodie □- Introduce yourself to your fellow students - Send an email introducing yourself and share your details - Set up a Facebook or WhatsApp page to initiate conversation - Start collecting feedback from students - Prepare for your first Student Staff Forum by introducing yourself to the Course Leader and School Office and asking for the Student Staff Forum dates
What To Do Next: We’re really excited to work with you in coming year, and to see all the wonderful things you achieve as a Course Rep! Don’t forget to collect your very own Course Rep hoodie from your campus office, and sign a copy of the course rep agreement. The most important thing is that you have fun, and get the most out of your time representing your course. Good luck, and don’t forget to get in touch with the Student Voice Team with any questions!
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For more info contact: The Engagement Team coursereps@brighton.ac.uk 01273 642891 brightonsu.com