Rep Drive

Page 1

Rep Drive

imperialcollegeunion.org

Contents Introduction

3

The Rector speaks

5

Accessing Rep Drive

6

On a Mac

6

On a PC

6

Creating a VPN Connection

7

Representative Details

8

Undergraduate

8

Postgraduate

8

Staff Details

9

Mailing Lists

10

Representatives

10

Campuses

11

SSC & Meeting Papers

12

Representation Targets

13

Storage for Reps

14

Publicity Materials

14

Representation Library

15

Policies

15

Briefings

15

Reports

15

Templates & Guides

16

Future Plans

17

Š Imperial College Union Version 0.5 - 14 March 2012 Rep Drive Page 2 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Introduction What is Rep Drive? Rep Drive is a suite of online resources for supporting and simplifying the work of student representatives. It comes as a mountable drive on the Union server that certain representatives can access from any location. Who and what is Rep Drive for? Rep Drive is for all reps of Departmental level and above - UG & PG Departmental Representatives, Academic Affairs Officers, Academic & Welfare Officers, Faculty Union Presidents, and Sabbatical Officers.

Jason Parmar Deputy President (Education) E: dpe@imperial.ac.uk T: 020 7594 8060, extension: 45646

It contains datasets, mailing lists, how-to guides and templates for representatives, assisting them in tasks such as consulting with their students, contacting the representatives in their department, and keeping up with Imperial College Union and national developments in the field of higher education. It also allows the Representation Team in Imperial College Union to oversee the College-wide representation system, and is a platform for future development of online resources for representatives. We want our representatives to use the resources in Rep Drive to help them

Andrew Keenan Representation Coordinator E: a.keenan@imperial.ac.uk T: 020 7594 8060, extension: 45387

Rep Drive Page 3 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Introduction cont... carry out their duties while taking the administrative burden away from them automating the simple tasks and offering storage, advice and access to the work of representatives in other parts of the system. For example, a Dep Rep could use a template email and the mailing list of reps in his/her department to arrange a Departmental Representation Meeting in a matter of seconds - and then upload the resulting minutes for all reps to access, while using a template email to contact all students in the department about the agenda of the upcoming StaffStudent Committee. A representative could also use the Rep Drive library to read up on the latest sector news on tuition fees, and read Imperial College Union’s policy, in order to communicate the relevant parts to their students - and lobby us in the other direction. What’s next? I see Rep Drive as the first step in building a whole new online service for student representatives, to help them as Imperial College Union helps Clubs, Societies & Projects officers. We will keep you up to date on new additions and resources available on Rep Drive - if you have any suggestions for new features, let me know!

Rep Drive Page 4 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Further enquiries If you are looking for help with Rep Drive, have any questions, or have any suggestions for new content or features, please contact the Representation Coordinator, Andrew Keenan by emailing a.keenan@imperial.ac.uk. Thanks, and now go explore Rep Drive!

Jason Parmar Deputy President (Education)

The Rector speaks College values its representatives Sir Keith O’Nions, Rector of Imperial College, wanted to send a message to student representatives thanking them for their role. This is what he said:

Dear all, Student representatives play an essential role in maintaining and improving the student experience here at Imperial. As a student rep, you are a conduit between the students and staff, helping to keep us informed of your fellow students’ views, concerns and suggestions. All your hard work so far is greatly valued by me and my by colleagues across the College. I hope you enjoy the experience; there is much to be gained from taking on this position of responsibility – both now, in supporting the community during your studies here, and in the future, thanks to the skills you will develop during your tenure. I would like to extend my thanks to each one of you for volunteering your time to represent the student body. Best wishes,

Keith

Rep Drive Page 5 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Accessing Rep Drive If you are not already on the College network, you will need to create a Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection to College. An explanation can be found on Page 6. On a Mac Open Finder, and press Apple-K. Type or paste in this address: cifs://icfs12.cc.ic.ac.uk/union/membership services/representation/rep drive

Log in with your College username and password. On a PC Rightclick on My Computer, select Map Network Drive, (or open the Start bar and select Run) and type or paste in this address: //icfs12/union/membership services/representation/rep drive

Rep Drive Page 6 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Accessing Rep Drive cont... Accessing the College network via VPN A Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection allows College staff & students to connect to College services behind the network firewall from a remote location. It is a secure network connection that is layered on top of a public network, such as the Internet, and can be used on PC, Mac and Linux operating systems. Important note: when connected to the College VPN service, all of your network traffic, including any recreational use, will be routed via the College network. Your use of your device must be compliant with College’s Conditions of Use of IT Facilities while you are connected to the VPN service. Full instructions on how to connect via VPN can be found by visiting College’s ICT website, www.imperial.ac.uk/ict, and clicking on Remote and mobile access under the Networks section.

Rep Drive Page 7 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Representative Details Available details Rep Drive contains two spreadsheets of representative details: one for undergraduate reps, and one for postgraduate reps. These are contained in the folder Rep Information.

enable representatives to quickly identify the rep for a specific department or year - not to generate mailings regularly. For that, see the section on mailing lists. Postgraduate representatives

Both spreadsheets contains fields that enable representatives to create mailmerges simply, if required - first name, department and email address. However, the majority of required mailing lists are available elsewhere in Rep Drive, and are explained on Page 10 of this guide. Undergraduate representatives The spreadsheet of undergraduate representatives, UG Reps 2011-12, has a contents page with links to the tabbed sheets. The tabs, along the bottom of the spreadsheet, correspond to the ‘levels’ of the undergraduate representation system, including Faculty Union officers. The categories are as follows: Faculty Union Presidents Academic Affairs Officers (AAOs) Departmental Representatives Year Representatives Welfare Officers The purpose of this spreadsheet is to Rep Drive Page 8 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

The spreadsheet of postgraduate representatives, PG Reps 2011-12, has a contents page with links to the tabbed sheets. The tabs, along the bottom of the spreadsheet, correspond to the ‘levels’ of the postgraduate representation system, including Graduate Students’ Association officers. Representatives for taught courses and those for research students are on separate sheets. MRes, MA, MEd and CAS student representatives are grouped with representatives for MSc courses. The categories are as follows: Graduate Students’ Association officers Academic & Welfare Officers Departmental Representatives Taught Course Representatives Research Postgraduate Representatives The purpose of this spreadsheet is to enable representatives to quickly identify the rep for a specific course or research group - not to generate mailings regularly. For that, see the section on mailing lists.

Staff Details Available details Rep Drive contains a spreadsheet of contact details for key College staff, contained in the folder Staff Information. There is also a copy of College’s annual Departmental Contacts publication. Key College staff The spreadsheet of College staff information, College Staff 2011-12, has a contents page with links to the tabbed sheets. It contains details of staff involved in undergraduate teaching, postgraduate teaching, and research.

The purpose of this spreadsheet is to allow representatives to quickly identify relevant staff contacts for various purposes. It should not be used for mass-mailing a particular category of staff. For that, please contact the Deputy President (Education) who will help you contact multiple staff in an effective way. The Departmental Contacts publication allows you to look up the key contacts for an entire department at a time. It is for internal use only, and should not be distributed outside of the representation system.

The categories are as follows: Heads of Department Directors of Undergraduate Studies Directors of Postgraduate Studies Senior Tutor (Undergraduate) Postgraduate Tutor Undergraduate Administrators Postgraduate Administrators Master’s Course Staff Contacts Other Key Contacts

Spotted a mistake? tell us! If you spot a mistake in any Rep Drive document, please do not edit it yourself - let us know and we will edit it immediately. This is to ensure that the information is correct, and to alert us to when a staff member or representative leaves their position.

Rep Drive Page 9 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Mailing Lists Available lists Rep Drive contains a spreadsheet of purpose-made mailing lists of student representatives and campuses in various categories, contained in the Rep Mailing Lists folder. The spreadsheet of mailing lists, Rep Mailing Lists 2011-12, has a contents page with links to the tabbed sheets. The categories are as follows:

pgr, and pgt, and faculties are hum, bus, eng, physsci, lifesci, and med. Lists for departmental representatives and undergraduate year representatives, by faculty, are also available, in the format: icu-reps-ug-<faculty>-<level>

Representative lists

where the available faculties are med, eng and sci, and the levels are dep and year.To find these lists, either type the name of the list into the address book while on Outlook, or search the Address Book.

The lists of student representatives are Exchange distribution lists, rather than the Mailman lists commonly used in previous years. They are named in a standard format:

You can see the members of the list by clicking the ‘plus’ sign to the left of the name in the To: field. This will allow you to remove individual recipients from an email.

Rep-only lists Campus all-student lists

icu-reps-<studymode>-<faculty>

The lists are nested, meaning larger lists are collections of smaller lists.

where the available study modes are ug,

Don’t be a spammer The mailing lists are strictly for representational use, and are to be used sparingly. Do not send too many emails, and never send any non-representational material - or the recipients will stop opening future emails.

Rep Drive Page 10 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Mailing Lists cont... Campus lists In the same file, there is a tabbed sheet of campus-specific mailing lists. These are for sending emails to all students at these campuses, not only representatives. These are Mailman lists, and may be password-protected. If you require a password, please contact Andrew Keenan, Representation Coordinator, at a.keenan@imperial.ac.uk Available lists include: Hammersmith (Undergraduates) Erasmus & Year in Industry (UG) Hammersmith (Postgraduates) Chelsea & Westminster St Mary’s Charing Cross Royal Brompton

Northwick Park Silwood Erasmus & Year in Industry (PG) Institute of Clinical Science Department of Medicine PGT Department of Medicine PGR School of Public Health PGT School of Public Health PGR Surgery & Cancer PGT Surgery & Cancer PGR National Heart & Lung Institute PGT National Heart & Lung Institute PGR These lists are for the use of the Imperial College School of Medicine Students’ Union representatives, as well as Graduate Students’ Association representatives. Do not edit any of these lists yourself, and use sparingly.

Rep Drive Page 11 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

SSC & Meeting Papers Storage for meeting papers Imperial College Union, through representation, plays a central role in College’s Quality Assurance, the process through which College and national higher education bodies verify and improve the quality of learning and teaching. Staff-student committees (SSCs) are a long-standing part of the representation system. In recent years, Imperial College Union has sought to develop SSCs and maximise their positive impact, through representative training, the creation of SSC guidelines, and the creation of postgraduate SSCs. A new initiative is the publication of an SSC Summary each term, which ‘healthchecks’ each department’s UG, PGT and PGR SSC coverage. This requires us to gather the minutes of all SSCs in College - thought to number over 100.

providing online storage, categorised by UG, PG, year and department. This can be found in the SSC, Meeting & Forum Papers folder. All Departmental Representatives are asked to deposit the agendas, minutes and papers of their SSCs, as well as any other representation-related meeting they have held, in this folder. This is to give representation staff and Sabbatical Officers oversight of all SSCs in College, and to enable Departmental Representatives and other reps to easily store, share and access documents from one place. We hope to build up a library of SSC papers through several years - allowing us to track major goals, such as feedback and improving the personal tutor system, over long periods of time.

Rep Drive aims to simplify this by

one version of the truth Please store all meeting papers in this folder, and nowhere else. This will help us consult minutes without bothering reps, prevent proliferation of copies, and allow reps to check papers from previous years without tracking down their predecessors.

Rep Drive Page 12 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Representative Targets Setting goals, and keeping to them Every representative runs for a reason whether it’s something they want to fix in their department, to work on a topic that is important to them, or to introduce something completely new. It can then be hard to keep a project or goal in mind when coursework and meetings begin to mount up - so to help cut through these distractions and focus the mind of representatives, we are introducing a new model for helping reps stick to their manifesto points. Called SMART goals, explained below, these are short, specific summaries of each aim. In the folder Rep Targets, we list these publicly for reps to see and judge their progress.

throughout the rep system. We will get in touch with new reps soon after their election and help them turn their aims into SMART goals. Please keep your list up to date, and move completed ones to Rep Accomplishments - and tell the world about your success! Non-SMART goal: “I’ll make feedback better” SMART goal: “I’ll get the Department to set a deadline of two weeks for feedback to be returned, by the first of March”

Ultimately, we hope to build up a large library of reps wins of any size or impact, in order to identify the best new ideas and methods and spread them

SMART? Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time limited. For great SMART goals, add a date, a number, and keep it to 140 characters or less.

Rep Drive Page 13 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Storage for Reps Store all your rep-related files As well as the SSC, Meeting & Forum Papers folder, there is the Rep Storage folder. This is for you to use as you see fit - to transfer files from one rep to another, to make something available to representatives in general, to store files to access from another location. Feel free to use this as you wish - as long as it’s related to representation!

Publicity materials Help us communicate with students We will regularly need help from representatives in the promotion of various campaigns - such as the National Student Survey, SOLE or Rep Week. We will store any publicity in the Representation Publicity folder. If we need your help in distributing publicity such as putting up a poster or two - we will let you know in advance.

Rep Drive Page 14 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Representation Library Reading material and Union policies The Representation Library folder contains three types of resources that reps may find useful - briefings, policies, and publications. Briefings

formulate the official policy of Imperial College Union on a particular topic or question. Examples include immigration legislation or tuition fees, or local issues such as College’s disciplinary policy or drinking in Imperial College Union bars.

Imperial College Union’s Sabbatical Officers and staff members regularly produce briefings on important topics, such as postgraduate accommodation or tuition fees.

The library of representationrelevant policies can be found in the Representation Policies folder.

These are not Imperial College Union policy, but are pieces of research which help various student officers quickly understand an issue, and make decisions about how to approach it. The briefings aim to be built upon objective data rather than anecdote.

To help us formulate policy or write a briefing, Sabbatical Officers and staff draw upon the research of external organisations - such as think tanks, trade unions, or lobbying groups. We also read official Government publications and consultations, and respond on behalf of Imperial College students.

The small but growing library of briefings can be found in the Representation Briefings folder. Policies

Publications

A number of the most interesting and relevant publications are available in the Representation Publications folder including some publications written by Imperial College Union itself.

Bodies such as Union Council regularly

read anything good lately? If you spot anything interesting about representation, let us know. Also, if there’s something you don’t have time to read and want summarised - just ask. Rep Drive Page 15 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Templates & Guides Simplifying & automating things for you To make the life of a rep easier, we are providing templates and guides for the repeating tasks - such as surveys, emails to cohorts, asking for feedback, writing SSC agendas, and more.

Upcoming SSC Meeting SSC Agenda Topics Question for cohort Writing SMART Goals Surveying Students Researching an Issue

These can be found in the Representation Templates folder. Feel free to change and If you have any template requests, let us adapt the templates when you use them - know and we’ll create one for everyone if you think you have a particular good one, to use. upload it to the folder and let us know. Please don’t delete any templates or Available templates and guides include: edit the version on Rep Drive.

Rep Drive Page 16 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

Future Plans Developing Rep Drive Rep Drive is intended to be the first step towards building a fully-fledged online ‘dashboard’ for student representatives of all levels. We hope it proves useful, and that it frees up representatives from the administrivia of their role so they can spend more of their working time on their research or course. We believe that

services like Rep Drive are not offered by most other students’ unions, so we are in new territory here, and are very keen to develop the idea of online representative support. If you have any ideas, comments, suggestions or criticism, please get in touch.

Help us expand rep drive If you have an idea for a new Rep Drive feature - absolutely anything that would help you in your role as a rep - let us know, and we’ll add it to the plans.

Rep Drive Page 17 imperialcollegeunion.org/representation

your sabbaticals Your Sabbaticals are elected each year by you the students. They take a year out of their studies and work full-time for the Union as its most senior Officers. Your Sabbatical Officers shape the services and voice of the Union and represent you. To see what your Sabbaticals are doing for you look at our Your Sabbaticals website. Here you can meet each one of them, learn what they do and see what their objectives and campaigns are for the year. They will be blogging regularly about all aspects of the Union, the College and how they have been improving both for you! If you have any questions or feedback on the Union, your Sabbaticals are always available. You can email them or come to the Union Reception, floor 2M and ask for them.

imperialcollegeunion.org/sabbs

Scott Heath

Monya Zard

Jason Parmar

Nicolas Massie

President

Deputy President (Clubs & Societies)

Deputy President (Education)

Deputy President (Welfare)

president@imperial.ac.uk

dpcs@imperial.ac.uk

dpeducation@imperial.ac.uk

dpwelfare@imperial.ac.uk

Michael Foster Deputy President (Finance & Services) dpfs@imperial.ac.uk

Imperial College Union Beit Quadrangle Prince Consort Road London SW7 2BB

Tel: 020 7594 8060 Fax: 020 7594 8065 Email: union@imperial.ac.uk Twitter: @icunion imperialcollegeunion.org

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