Student Rep Coordinator handbook 17/18

Student Rep Coordinator Handbook 17/18

Student Rep Coordinator Handbook 16/17 | 2.

Contents 3.

Thank You!

4.

Key Dates

5.

What are your key responsibilities?

6.

The role of a Student Academic Rep

7.

The role of Chair and Secretary

9.

Elections and Appointments

10. Supporting Student Academic Representatives 11. Where should the student feedback go?

13. Opportunities available to Student Academic Reps

Introduction by Professor Amanda Coffey Cardiff University is really proud of the strong partnership it has with the student body. We have a long tradition of student representation at the University, as one of the ways we work with and for our students.

The Academic Representation system means that students from every programme in every school can have a say in how their education and wider student experience can be enhanced.

Student Academic Representation Coordinators have a key role in ensuring that the student rep system is an effective mechanism for listening to our students, and for working with them to improve experiences of studying at Cardiff University. Coordinators also ensure that the Rep system is appropriately tuned for each School and across our full range of programmes. Thank you for taking on such a vital role.

PROF. AMANDA COFFEY Pro-Vice Chancellor Student Experience and Academic Standards

Thank you!

The work you will do this year will help embolden and empower the student voice at Cardiff University. For this effort we wanted to say a big thank you, whether you have been a Student Rep Coordinator for a number of years, or if you have just taken up the role.

Since August 2014 the Student Voice Team at Cardiff University Students’ Union have managed the Student Academic Representation structure across the University. In this time there have been considerable advances in engagement whether that’s in the quantity of induction talks, the number of student reps trained or the amount of feedback collected from Speak Week.

But none of these things would have happened without our dedicated student volunteers, or without our strong partnership with the Student Engagement Team. Furthermore these achievements would not have happened without the wider support of Cardiff University and the commitment of all the hardworking Student Rep Coordinators.

Postgraduate and Heath Park Executives, Rep Pools and Quality Assurances processes – you will receive additional information about these opportunities in the weeks and months ahead.

This handbook aims to cover the key things you need to know as an SRC, ranging from the requirements of your role, the students’ role, and key dates for this academic year. Your help is crucial as an SRC, from the election of representatives to ensuring that we receive the Student Staff Panel minutes.

If you have any questions at any point, please contact us at: studentreps@Cardiff.ac.uk Thank you again and please do keep in touch.

The Student Engagement Team Cardiff University The Student Voice Team Cardiff University Students’ Union

In May 2017 we celebrated the annual Enriching Student Life Awards (ESLAs), which recognised the hard work of students and staff who had helped improve the student experience here at Cardiff University. In 2017/18 we look to further promote the awards, having a far stronger campaign drive to get students and staff involved.

This year our aim is to increase engagement and understanding of the Student Academic Rep structure across the University. The Student Voice Team will be using a Rep Goals system to help Student Reps understand their role and encourage them to exceed the minimum requirements laid out before them.

Together we can ensure that our Student Academic Reps are delivering for their peers, are being effective in their role and are engaging appropriately with University structures.

The Student Voice Team will be looking for committed volunteers to join the Education,

TOM TATCHELL – CHEMISTRY

Student Rep Coordinator of the Year Enriching Student Life Awards

Student Rep Coordinator Handbook 17/18 | 3.

key dates Elections Window 1: 9th – 20th October 2017 Training Window 1: 16th October – 3rd November 2017 Election and Training must be arranged with the Student Voice Team via studentreps@Cardiff.ac.uk. Elections can be run via cardiffstudents.com, if you would like to do this please contact the Student Voice Team a minimum of three weeks before voting opens.

Rep Conference: 28th October 2017 This year we will be running a Rep Conference with various different interactive training sessions to help Student Reps get the best out of their role.

Rep Details Deadline: 27th October 2017 We expect to receive complete records of all your Student Academic Reps by this date.

Records must include the School, course, whether they are UG, PGT or PGR, their email address and Student Number. These contact details are essential to ensure we can keep in contact throughout the academic year.

Chair and Secretary Training: 23rd October - 3rd November 2017 The Student Voice Team will be offering comprehensive training for Chair and Secretaries, in how to run and record Student Staff Panels, and how to manage minutes effectively.

Speak Week 5th – 9th February 2018 Speak Week is the Students’ Union’s annual campaign to gather feedback from students.

Last year over 2,910 Speak Week cards were completed! This could not have happened without the dedication of our volunteers and the cooperation we had with colleagues across the University. Your School can run a Speak Week in your locality, or alternatively you can help recruit volunteers to get involved elsewhere.

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Elections Window 2: 5th – 9th February 2018 Training Window 2: 5th – 16th March 2018 Elections Window 3: 16th April – 20th April 2018 Training Window 3: 23rd April – 27th April 2018 College Forums College Forums bring together all Student Staff Panel Chairs at an Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught level to discuss matters that cannot be resolved at a School level.

The meetings are organised by the Students’ Union and are attended by key University staff including the Pro Vice Chancellor for Student Experience and Academic Standards, the College Dean as well as representatives from IT and Libraries.

College Forum for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: 29th November – 15:00 – 17:00 1st February 2018 – 13:00 – 15:00 21st March 2018 – 13:00-15:00 College Forum for Biomedical and Life Sciences: 29th November – 12:30 – 14:30 1st February – 15:30 – 17:30 14th March 2018 – 13:00 – 15:00 College Forum for Physical Sciences and Engineering: 28th November – 13:00 - 15:00 30th January 2018 – 15:30 - 17:30 14th March 2018 – 15:30 - 17:30 PGRR (Postgraduate Research Representative) Forum The PGRR Forum is open to all Postgraduate Research (PGR) students to attend. Like the College equivalent, PGR’s can bring to these meetings issues which have not been resolved at a School level. The meeting is organised by the Students’ Union.

22nd November 2017 - 13:00-15.00 24th January 2018 – 13:00-15:00 21st March 2018 – 15:30-17:30 6th June 2018 - 13:00-15:00

What Are Your Key Responsibilities?

SRCs act as the central point for the organisation of the Student Representative system within Schools.

Without the role of the SRC, Cardiff as an institution would not be able to effectively co-ordinate the 1,000+ Student Academic Representatives. The specific role and responsibilities are detailed below, but if you are new to being a SRC and want to know more please email studentreps@Cardiff.ac.uk to arrange a meeting or for any other support.

The key responsibilities are: • Appointment and Election • Student Staff Panel Meetings • Training • Publicity Appointment and Election As an SRC, it is your role to co-ordinate the appointment and election of Student Academic Reps, more information on this follows in the booklet.

It is also your responsibility to send the names of Student Academic Reps and the School Chairs to the Student Voice Team studentreps@Cardiff.ac.uk by 27th October.

Student Staff Panel Meetings You are responsible for ensuring that all Student Staff Panels take place by co-ordinating the arrangements for them, including arranging meetings and the appointment of panel Chairs and Secretaries. We would expect you to work with the students to help to identify agenda points for the meetings and ensuring that reps are put on the appropriate committees within the School. We also ask for all minutes to be sent to the Student Voice Team.

Training The University and the Students’ Union aim to provide comprehensive training for Student Academic Representatives. This training is delivered during the Autumn Semester and includes:

• An outline of the roles, responsibilities and expectations of reps.

• The types of issues which reps may come across and how they should handle them.

• How reps should collect and communicate evidence from students.

• Conduct of meetings (with particular emphasis on Student Staff Panels).

Following this, as an SRC your responsibilities are: • To be aware of the content of training delivered annually by the Students’ Union and the University.

• To refer to the Student Academic Rep Handbook in supporting the role and development of Student Academic Representatives.

• To arrange a training session for Student Academic Representatives through the Student Voice Team as soon as possible.

If the training timeframes on page 4 do not work for your students please email studentreps@Cardiff.ac.uk Publicity As SRCs, it is expected that you co-ordinate the publicising of the rep system within your School.

This can be achieved by arranging the Student Voice Team to come into your School to talk to your students, ordering posters provided by the Students’ Union, promoting the role through the student handbooks and directing students to the Student Voice pages here: cardiffstudents.com/ studentvoice.

The Students’ Union can also have designed special notice boards and feedback boxes that can help promote the Rep system, please do get in touch if you’d like a conversation about how these notice boards could be used within your school.

• An overview of how the representative system operates in schools and the University.

Student Rep Coordinator Handbook 17/18 | 5.

The Role of a Student Academic Rep Cardiff University Students’ Union and Cardiff University work in partnership to ensure that the student voice is heard and taken seriously at every level. As a Student Academic Representative, they play a vital role in this by attending Student Staff Panels in Schools, and acting as a link between members of staff and fellow students. It’s their job to tell the School and University what students like and things that could be improved at Cardiff University. Through this we can continue to do the things they like and improve the student experience.

Why is their role so important?

They are one of over a thousand Student Academic Representatives at Cardiff University, representing over 28,000 Cardiff Students in total. As a representative, their role is to ensure that all students know what a Student Academic Representative is and know how to make use of the system.

What’s expected of them?

As a Student Academic Representative, they will play a vital role in representing the student body by attending their Student Staff Panels and communicating with the Students’ Union on other academic issues, acting as the link between them and their peers.

From seeking student feedback, they can pass this information on to members of staff, either through informal meetings or during a Student Staff Panel. Through this role, students have direct input into their area of study and can improve their overall student experience.

Their main responsibilities are to: • Represent the views and opinions of their fellow students.

• Help make decisions to improve both the academic and wider student experience of students in their School.

• Signpost students to the various support and advice services available to them.

• Develop the skills and knowledge to support their role.

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The Role of Chair and Secretary When are Chair and Secretary appointed?

The appointment of a Chair and Secretary should be agreed at the first Student Staff Panel meeting of the academic session.

A Student Academic Rep should always take the post of SSP Chair, as with all chairs it is expected that the individual remain neutral throughout the meetings.

It is preferable that a student takes up the role of SSP Secretary to ensure that the meetings are student-led. Once the minutes of the meetings are completed they should be circulated to the members of the Student Staff Panel and also the Student Voice Team at: studentreps@Cardiff.ac.uk Chairs of SSPs are expected to attend the College Forums. There are three College Forums per year per College. Chairs are expected to feedback what information they have been provided at the Forum and if the issues they brought to the meeting are being acted upon.

Once the Chair and Secretary are appointed SRCs should ensure that the names of School Chairs are communicated to the Student Voice Team as soon as the first SSP has taken place and the election for the Chair has been held, preferably by 27th October.

Following the appointment of a School Chair and Secretary being made, the Student Voice Team will contact them to provide additional training for their role which is scheduled for the week commencing 23rd October. The chairs will also be invited to termly College Forums the dates of which can be found on page 4 of this document.

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The Role of Chair and Secretary The Role of the Chair

The Role of the Secretary

Before the meeting: • Collect agenda items from Student Academic Reps.

• Agree an agenda with the supporting member of staff at least 5 days in advance of the meeting.

Before the meeting: • Book a room for the meeting.

• Make sure all members of the Panel are aware of the date and venue of the meeting.

• Circulate the agenda once it has been approved by the student chair.

During the meeting: • Bring the meeting to order and regulate the conduct of the meeting.

• Feedback to the Panel about the College Forum.

• Follow the agenda and regulate the amount of time spent on each item, leading the panel towards a decision.

• Ensure that agreed actions are assigned to a named person and implemented within an appropriate timescale.

After the meeting: • Check all minutes are a correct record of the meeting prior to circulation.

• Send a pro forma or a short report to the Student Voice Team.

• Attend the College Forums.

• Attend any meetings the School requests.

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During the meeting: • Make brief notes of discussions including key decisions and actions agreed by the Panel, the person responsible for the action and the deadline.

After the meeting: • Draft the minutes as soon as possible following the meeting. Once the minutes have been agreed by the chair and a supporting member of staff, circulate all minutes to the Panel within ten working days of the meeting.

• Make the minutes available to all students by placing them on notice boards / Learning Central.

Elections and Appointments Responsibilities of Schools: • To make clear to students the processes for nomination, election and appointment of Student Academic Representatives.

• To ensure that election and appointment processes are carried out annually and are transparent, timely and accessible.

It is important that all Student Academic Representatives are appointed through a democratic election process that takes place annually. Existing Student Academic Representatives can continue as reps in the following academic session but an opportunity must be provided on an annual basis to enable other candidates to put themselves forward for election.

Holding Elections One of the easiest methods to conduct elections is via email. Candidates for the position could be asked to write a short paragraph on why they wish to become a rep which could then be emailed out to the cohort with them replying with their vote. Alternatively, schools could set up a simple online survey for the elections process, for example by using Bristol Online Surveys (BOS). You can also have the option of running elections via the Cardiff Students’ Union website. The website can host whole school elections. For more information please contact studentreps@Cardiff.ac.uk How Many Representatives Should the School have?

To ensure that all groups of students within each School are represented, each programme within the School should have at least one Student Academic Representative for each year of study. It is at the School’s discretion to decide on the annual number of postgraduate research but there should be a minimum of two per School. Some schools may decide to appoint all PGR students onto their appropriate internal student consultative committees. For larger year groups, we recommend at least one representative per 30 students.

All Student Academic Representatives should be elected by 20th October. This ensures that reps can be trained prior to their first Student Staff Panel.

SRCs should notify the Student Voice Team of the names of Student Academic Representatives using the pro-forma (to be circulated in advance by Registry and Academic Services) no later than 27th October.

If you have any questions or require assistance with the election of representatives, contact the Student Voice Team on studentreps@Cardiff.ac.uk

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Supporting Student Academic Representatives • An electronic or physical noticeboard, including information about Student Staff Panels (SSPs).

• An area on Learning Central (or equivalent), to include an archive of SSP minutes, key contacts, etc.

• Access to relevant lists of student email addresses (though noting that use of these lists

by Student Academic Reps should be confined to rep business only – see section on Data Protection, below).

• Time for occasional ‘shout outs’ at the beginning or end of lectures.

• Ensuring that a time slot is arranged with the Student Voice Team to come and train the Student Academic Representatives prior to their first SSP.

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Schools can facilitate communication between representatives and the student body through the provision of the following basic resources:

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• Placing photographs of Student Academic Reps on School noticeboards or on Learning Central can help to raise the profile of reps.

• Student Academic Reps can send an email with useful information for their cohort to SRCs, who can circulate this to the relevant students.

Rep Goals This year the Student Voice Team are continuing the Rep Goals scheme, a framework that sets out the responsibilities of Student Academic Reps – outlining what meetings they should be attending and setting minimum requirements for getting recognition in their role.

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Data Protection All Rep names and details will be stored by the Student Voice Team. Please send us the names and details of your Reps using our Excel Spreadsheet that will be emailed to you. We will then contact the Rep with our proforma to confirm we can use their details.

Where Should The Student Feedback Go? Responsibilities of the School: • To clearly define what school meetings Student Academic Representatives should be attending, and how these fit into the school’s wider-decision making structures.

• To actively encourage students to ‘close the feedback loop’. This can be achieved by a number of communication streams, via email, Facebook, lecture shout-outs and Learning Central, so that students can see that the representative system is effective and that their contribution is worthwhile.

Student Staff Panels (SSPs) provide a formal channel for students to meet with staff and to discuss issues related to their educational experience. They also provide an opportunity for the School to consult with students and receive feedback on new proposals.

• Each School must have at least one SSP for undergraduate and one for postgraduate.

• Schools may wish to hold several separate SSPs due to the range of programmes of study.

• SSPs will meet at least once per semester and should not be scheduled at times which coincide with other School meetings or teaching commitments.

• The annual schedule of meetings should be circulated to all School staff, the Student Voice Team and students at the start of the academic session.

The terms of reference and membership of SSPs should be made clear to all students and staff, and should be reviewed annually.

When a programme is delivered entirely by distance learning, or involves significant placement periods, an appropriate mode of discussion (e.g. through the use of online discussion boards) should be established. It is strongly advised that the first set of Student-Staff Panels are organised by week beginning 6th November in order that the names of the School Chairs can be communicated to the

Student Voice Team.

Membership of a Student-Staff Panel: It would be desirable if Directors of Teaching and Learning, Student Rep Co-ordinators, subject librarians, Senior Personal Tutor, Heads of Year and a member of administrative staff could be in attendance during these meetings to ensure that the relevant people are present to respond to student queries.

Agendas and minutes The Chair, Secretary and a supporting member of staff (normally the SRC) should agree an agenda for each meeting, which should be circulated to members of the panel at least five working days in advance of the meeting.

It is the responsibility of Student Academic Representatives to encourage students to suggest items to place on the agenda for SSPs, and to submit these to the Chair. Schools may wish to facilitate this process by means of an email reminder to reps and/or via School noticeboards.

The SRC should also help to identify issues for the agenda with particular reference to the suggested agenda items for SSPs, available on the connections page.

General notes • Minutes of the meeting should be distributed to all members of the panel within ten working days of the meeting.

• Minutes and action points should be made available to all students, via noticeboards or in electronic format.

• Student Academic Representatives should also feedback any information or decisions made at meetings to fellow students, preferably in the form of a brief set of key points which can be communicated by email.

• In all cases, it is important that the record of decisions and actions made at SSPs are accurate and have been agreed by both student and staff members of the panel.

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• It is also the responsibility of the SRC to ensure that all minutes are forwarded to the Student Voice Team.

A template of the recording of minutes, and the main decisions records can be found on the Student Voice webpages.

Links to School decision-making structures We recommend a minimum of 3 Student Staff Panels a year. In addition to this, we expect that the Chair of the Student Staff Panel should attend the relevant Board of Studies. Any matters raised by the student representative at this meeting should then be fed back to the next Student Staff Panel.

In addition to inviting Student Academic Representatives to discuss SSP matters, schools are strongly encouraged to invite reps to stay for discussion of all open business at School committees (i.e. all items other than those involving named members of staff or students).

Links to the Students’ Union and the University Membership of the Students’ Union College Forums will be comprised of the School Chairs appointed within each Student Staff Panel. These forums, which meet three times a year, enables the Students’ Union to identify any cross-School issues within a College or wider student experience issues being highlighted by School Chairs and to raise these issues at a higher level within the University.

The Student Voice Team will take responsibility for inviting School Chairs to these meetings.

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Opportunities Available to Student Academic Reps Employability opportunities Getting a degree is no longer the core objective for students entering higher education – it is the experiences and opportunities alongside academic study that makes students more employable. Being a Student Academic Rep demonstrates to employers that a student is committed to their course, but is also able demonstrate organisational and negotiation skills, as well as leadership.

Student Academic Reps can turn to a number of opportunities to build up their experiences.

Run in the Students’ Union Elections Every Cardiff student has the opportunity to run in the Students’ Union Elections, which take place twice a year. Every February Cardiff students have the opportunity to elect seven full-time Sabbatical Officers to represent their views to the University and run the Students’ Union for the year. These are paid sabbatical posts. Along with these roles are part-time Campaign Officer positions who voice the concerns of underrepresented groups. These officer positions include: • LGBT+ (Open)

If you have any questions relating to the Students’ Union elections please email elections@Cardiff.ac.uk Education, Postgraduate and Heath Park Executives In September the Student Voice Team will be opening applications for the Education, Postgraduate and Heath Park Executives.

Any student can submit an application – the Executives will serve in an advisory capacity to the Vice President Education: Fadhila Al Dhahouri, Vice President Postgraduate Students: Jake Smith, and Vice President Heath Park: Kirsty Hepburn.

For more information please email studentreps@Cardiff.ac.uk Quality Assurance Throughout the academic year students will have the opportunity to get involved in quality assurance across the University. The Student Voice and Engagement teams work closely with Quality and Academic Standards to increase student involvement at Cardiff.

Processes include Programme Approval Panels, Annual Review and Enhancement, as well as Periodic Review.

• LGBT+ (Women’s) • Black & Ethnic Minorities • Mental Health • Mature Students’ • Students’ with Disabilities • International Students’ • Welsh Language • Women’s and; • Ethical & Environmental.

On top of these opportunities, there are positions available in the Autumn elections for Student Senate, Scrutiny Committee and NUS delegates.

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