CUSU's Guide for Faculty & School Reps - 2015

CUSU’s Guide FOR

Faculty &

School REPs [2015]

Contents Welcome 1 Being A Rep 2 What are the different types of rep?

How to represent, communicate and resolve Committee meetings What issues am I likely to face?

Sources of support What you will gain

2 5 6 7 8 8

Useful Contacts 9

Welcome Congratulations on becoming a student rep! Being a rep offers you a unique opportunity to enhance your education via communicating the experiences of students back to the university.

The student experience is becoming an increasingly significant element within a university education, as the expense of higher education continues to grow and students seek ‘value for money’ from their time at university. As CUSU Education Officer, my job is to support you in developing the skills and contacts to help your fellow students get the most from their time here.

You have an important and powerful position from which to improve the education students receive, so don’t be afraid to question the way things are done and to suggest new ideas. Feel free to contact me anytime- I am always happy to hear your ideas and to support you in working towards your goals.

Thank you, in advance, for dedicating your time and work.

Have a great year!

Rob Richardson CUSU Education Officer 2014-15

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Being A Rep You will be the key representative of your fellow students by conveying their opinions to your faculty, department, school or college. By communicating the observations and experiences of students to the decision-makers within the university, you will be able to help reach resolutions which meet the needs of students.

What are the different types of rep?

Student representation occurs at a variety of levels within the university and the colleges. This can be a real positive of the way the university is organised; if student reps communicate and common issues and thoughts are shared, collective ideas at different levels can make a real difference.

Because of the way the university is organised, there are a range of different student rep positions that all have slightly different roles - but the same ultimate goal of improving the student experience!

School Rep Schools are the largest bodies within the organisational structure of the university that are primarily responsible for academic research and delivering education.

There are 6 schools: • Arts and Humanities • Humanities and Social Sciences • Biological Sciences • Physical Sciences • Clinical Medicine • Technology Each School has a range of faculties and departments within it - so the

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School Council, on which School Reps sit, is the most senior decisionmaking body within this part of the university. School Councils are responsible for the leadership of each School, and as a School rep you will help make decisions on issues like finance and strategy as well as educational provision. Most School Councils also have an Undergraduate Education Committee and a Graduate Committee, to which the School Reps may be invited.

Faculty Rep Faculties are the next largest body. Most students will have a closer affiliation with their faculty than with their school. Depending on the subject, this is where much of a student’s academic education will occur. Faculty reps sit on the Faculty Board, and are able to convey the voice of the students to the committee. The Faculty Board is primarily responsible for making sure that teaching within the faculty is appropriate and of a high standard. Faculty Boards will have at least 2 undergraduate members and 1 graduate member.

Department/Student-Staff Joint Committee Rep Within faculties, there may be several departments or divisions, which will be where the majority of teaching occurs for some students.

Departments are likely to have Student-Staff Joint Committees at which students and staff are able to communicate and exchange ideas.

College Academic Officers If you are a JCR or MCR Academic/Education Officer, you will mainly represent and support students within your college. This can involve providing welfare support and advice during exam periods, working with the library to make sure resources meet the needs of students, or helping equip students with study skills throughout the year.

Academic Officers work with the college to ensure that the provision to help students thrive academically within college exists.

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Student Reps and Decision Making within the University

CUSU Education Officer

School Reps

Faculty Reps

Dept/Year Reps

Department of Earth Sciences Faculty Board of Earth Sciences & Geography

School of Physical Sciences

Undergraduate Teaching Committee Faculty Board of Mathematics

General Board

Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies General Board Education Committee

Degree Committee (PGs) Director of Studies’ Meeting

School of Arts & Humanities Faculty Board of Classics

Direction of Student Input

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Department of Geography

Department of Classics

How to represent, communicate and resolve Make yourself known The most effective way of doing this is simply by talking to peopleduring lectures or at lunch, for example. You could also introduce yourself by e-mail list, using a course facebook group, asking to do a brief introduction at the start of a lecture, or organising a social event.

Find out what people think Find out what people’s concerns are, and what they would like to see changed. You could ask for comments via e-mail or in person, or post something on a noticeboard.

Talk to other reps Working with other reps can be really useful for working out solutions to issues that affect the university as a whole. The CUSU Education Officer will arrange meetings and opportunities to meet with other reps to share ideas.

Keep up to date Keep up to date with how changes in your faculty, department, school or college are affecting students. Also, keep an eye on what is going on within Higher Education in general by watching the news or reading the paper, and look out for National Student Survey results.

Find solutions Think about how changes will affect students, and what positive changes you would like to see. Be prepared to negotiate with staff at committee meetings and to make suggestions, or to meet informally with staff to discuss your ideas.

Close the feedback loop Communicate back to the students you represent what you have been doing, and where their opinions have been used. Keep students engaged by letting them know how things are progressing.

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Committee meetings If you are a faculty, school or course rep, you will sit on either the Faculty Board, School Council or Student-Staff Joint Committee. This is where you will take part in the discussions and decision-making processes.

Before the meeting, you will be sent an agenda and the papers for the meeting to read over. Think about how the contents might affect the students you represent. Seek opinion from your fellow students on the issues so that you have a good case to present. If you would like support or would like to discuss your ideas, get in touch with the CUSU Education Officer.

During the meeting, sit where the Chair can see you, so that you can easily indicate when you wish to say something. The other people on the committee will want to hear from you, so if you have something you want to say, be confident. Also think about who else is on the committee and what they are saying - it might be useful to bear in mind who you can seek advice from on certain issues.

Outside of the meeting, think about who to build relationships with and how you can use these to positive effect. The secretary of the committee may be a good starting point - they may well invite you to talk through the agenda before a meeting anyway, so if you have any questions, they are a good point of contact to have.

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What issues am I likely to face?

You will encounter a wide range of issues within your role as a student rep. Here are some of the most common ones.

Assessment and Feedback Students often feel that what is expected of them in relation to exams has not been made clear enough. This could be due to a lack of clear marking criteria or guidance from staff, or a lack of feedback after marks have been received.

Supervisions Students might feel they are not getting enough contact hours, that the quality of their supervisions is not high enough, or that timetabling arrangements are not working for them. Some students may feel that their peers at other colleges have better supervisors or more supervision time than they do.

Course content and delivery Students might notice that the course structure isn’t clear, or that lectures do not seem to reflect what students expect or what is in the course guide.

Facilities Library or IT provision may not meet requirements. There might not be a student common room, or food provision at your lecture site might not meet the needs of students.

Welfare Students might feel under too much pressure. Students with a disability may feel they are not accommodated.

Equality and diversity Students within a minority ethnic group, women or people with disabilities may feel they are not represented or considered during decision-making.

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What you will gain You stand to gain a great deal in the way of skills and experience from being a student representative. You will gain: • An opportunity to improve your course and raise issues that you or fellow students have experienced.

• Insight into how the University of Cambridge is run.

• Experience in communicating with students, academics, and administrators.

• Valuable transferable skills to aid your employability, such as negotiation, communication and problem-solving.

• Networking and developing relationships with academics, staff and other reps.

• Training on leadership and student representation from CUSU; your initial training will introduce the role and arm you with the key skills and ideas to succeed.

The more you put in, the more you stand to gain - so get involved at every opportunity!

Sources of support CUSU - Cambridge University Students’ Union exists to represent you, to campaign with you, to inform you and to support you. The six sabbatical officers are elected by students, and their work covers a wide range of issues that affect the student body. CUSU policy is decided by students at CUSU Council - at which faculty reps have a vote!

The CUSU Sabbatical Officers sit on University committees that deal with a range of issues: education, welfare, finance, admissions, access, and resources in the university and the colleges. If specific issues arise from the committees you sit on, talk to us - we are likely to have seen them elsewhere within the university!

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The Education Officer is your best point of contact if you have any questions. They are likely to know lots of background information that might help you in your role, and will be able to point you towards sources of information that you might need. For instance, they will have access to survey data from the National Student Survey, the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey and the Postgraduate Research Experience Survey.

CUSU puts on various training sessions for reps. Keep an eye on your e-mails, and on the CUSU website, to stay up to date with what’s on offer.

Student Advice Service - The Student Advice Service offers free, confidential and independent support to all Cambridge University students. If you, or any student you represent, are finding university life difficult for any reason, please do contact them.

Useful Contacts Rob Richardson - CUSU Education Officer 01223 761693 education@cusu.cam.ac.uk @CusuEducation

Student Advice Service www.studentadvice.cam.ac.uk advice@studentadvice.cam.ac.uk 01223 746999

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Notes