COURSE REPS HANDBOOK 2018/19
#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 Dan and Grainne, your Student Voice Coordinators at coursereps@brighton.ac.uk You can also contact Parker Robinson- your Vice President Academic Experience who is your lead officer contact for everything to do with course reps! Email him at P.J.Robinson@brighton.ac.uk
Who You’ll Regularly Be Working With. • •
•
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 Works. Decisions at the university are made via a committee structure that is made up of senior management, academics, support staff, and students! The most important ones for you will be your schools course boards, which you will attend to feed in information from students and feedback information to your course.
What happens, and where it happens: Student Consultation This is where you have informal chats with students on your course about any issues they’re having, and what they want fed in to course leaders. You should try and consult with students before any course board. Course Board This is where you bring course specific issues, and information from your cohort. This is a good place to make change at a local level. School Boards/Academic Scrutiny Committee If there are issues that arise on a number of courses, they can come to the school board via the school reps, and be actioned at a higher level. This is a good place to liaise with other reps in your area.
Academic Board
School Board
Course Board
Student Consultation
Academic Board This is where all the highest level academic decisions get made. Your sabbatical officers sit on this committee, and if something needs changing at an institutional level, this is where it would go.
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.
Rep of the Month Award Rep of the Month is awarded to Course or School Academic Reps who have improved the learning experience on their Course or in their School. Winners receive Winners receive the coveted Rep of the Month Mug, a £20 voucher and a certificate confirming their award. They will also be invited to our annual awards to collect their certificate and are automatically entered for the Rep of the Year Award. This is a peer nominated award, but we encourage staff to contact students about the award when they feel reps have done something they feel is worthy of nomination. Students can nominate their rep here: www.brightonsu.com/changethings/coursereps/repofthemonth/
Union Awards The Students’ Union 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 March 2019.
Course Rep Reward Scheme The course rep reward scheme is a way of the student union rewarding you for all the great work you do as a student rep! The reward scheme is split into four levels, good, very good, great, and exceptional. To achieve an award, you need to complete any two of the three actions for each level.
GOOD AWARD
HOW TO SUBMIT EVIDENCE Attend a course Rep Training Session Get all the information you need to be an effective rep! You can find the dates for these in this handbook.
Scan your card or sign in at the beginning of the session.
Collect your notebook and hoodie. These will help you look the part! You can collect them from your campus office
Sign off the volunteer agreement at the campus office
Tweet or post on Instagram using the hashtag #ReadyToRep Let your cohort know what you’re up to!
Take a screenshot and upload it via the evidence form on the website
VERY GOOD AWARD
HOW TO SUBMIT EVIDENCE Resolve and issue on your course Collect feedback from students, feed this in at your course board, and chase up on the progress.
Upload the notes from your conversations with students, the minutes from the course boards, and the email chains to the website via the form.
Attend a course rep meeting and complete the form on the SU website
Complete the form on our website to confirm which meeting you attended, along with the date and time.
Nominate a person or a society for a monthly award Show them if you’ve been inspired by something they’ve done!
You can nominate students or societies through the union website
GREAT AWARD
HOW TO SUBMIT EVIDENCE Attend an additional training session These are training sessions covering specific aspects of the Course Rep role, and will run throughout the year. Keep an eye out for them in the monthly Course Rep Newsletter and on our website.
Scan your card or sign in at the beginning of the session.
Attend two or more course rep meetings Show us your commitment to the role by continuing to attend meetings throughout the year.
Complete the form on our website to confirm which meeting you attended, along with the date and time
Be nominated for a rep of the month award We will know that you have been We will know that you have been nominated by looking at the list of nominated by looking at the list of nominations submitted nominations submitted
EXCEPTIONAL AWARD
HOW TO SUBMIT EVIDENCE Attend the Course Rep Conference The Course Rep Conference runs annual in February. Keep an eye on the Course Rep Newsletter, Social Media and our website for more information about when/where the conference is taking place.
We’ll know that you have attended a training session from the sign in sheet
Win a Rep of the Month award
We will know that you have won, as we are giving the award
Be nominated for the Course Rep of the Year award
We will know that you have been nominated by looking at the list of nominations submitted
When reps have completed any two actions for an award they will need to provide some evidence of what they’ve done, either by submitting it directly to the student voice team, or by completing an easy form on the website which can be found here: www.brightonsu.com/changethings/coursereps/courserephub/ Each award comes with a £10 voucher for the Students’ Union outlets as a prize for completing it. At the end of the year you’ll also be able to collect a certificate which outlines your achievements.
Course Rep Training Dates. You should try to attend one of the sessions detailed on the list below. If you cannot attend any of the dates, email coursereps@brighton.ac.uk and let us know. You can sign up for training online at through website: www.brightonsu.com/changethings/coursereps/courserephub/
Date
22/10/2018 23/10/2018 24/10/2018 25/10/2018 26/10/2018 30/10/2018 31/10/2018 01/11/2018 05/11/2018 06/11/2018 06/11/2018 08/11/2018 09/11/2018 13/11/2018 13/11/2018 14/11/2018 14/11/2018 15/11/2018 16/11/2018 20/11/2018 21/11/2018 22/11/2018 23/11/2018 26/11/2018 27/11/2018 28/11/2018 29/11/2018
Day
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Monday Tuesday Tuesday Thursday Friday Tuesday Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Time Campus 17:00 17:00 12:00 12:00 12:00 17:00 17:00 12:00 12:00 12:00 17:00 12:00 12:00 12:00 17:00 12:00 17:00 17:00 12:00 17:00 17:00 12:00 17:00 17:00 17:00 12:00 17:00
Moulsecoomb Falmer Moulsecoomb Eastbourne Moulsecoomb Moulsecoomb Grand Parade Moulsecoomb Moulsecoomb Eastbourne Grand Parade Grand Parade Moulsecoomb Moulsecoomb Grand Parade Eastbourne Falmer Moulsecoomb Eastbourne Eastbourne Moulsecoomb Falmer Moulsecoomb Falmer Moulsecoomb Grand Parade Moulsecoomb
Room
Watts 401 The Checkland Building C122 Huxley 407 Aldro G5 Watts 510 Huxley 407 Main Building 202 Huxley 407 Cockcroft 808 Westlain House 212 Main Building 204 Main Building 202 Cockcroft 808 Huxley 407 Main Building 204 Aldro 122 Mayfield House 102 Huxley 406 Hillbrow 117 Hillbrow 203 Huxley 406 The Checkland Building E512 Huxley 406 Bevendean House BE105 Huxley 406 Edward Street 102 Huxley 406
Why Not Set Some Goals for the Year. Use this space to set out three things you’d like to achieve in your year as a course rep. You can refer to these over the course of your term, and tick them off at the end!
1 2 3 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 any questions!
#ReadyToRep
#ReadyToRep
For more info contact: Student Voice Coordinators Dan Simmonds Grainne Gahan coursereps@brighton.ac.uk 01273 642891 brightonsu.com