Supported by the Student Engagement Project Group
CONFERENCE REPORT This year’s conference focused on “communication and students’ as partners”. Its main aim was to look at how students interact with current communication tools and to create methods for students to own their learning environment. A total of 77 delegates attended and 58% were students. In the evaluation form it became clear that delegates valued the interactive elements of the conference the most and this will be developed further for next year.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The Deputy Vice Chancellor opened the day by discussing the place of Student Engagement at UCA and the future of the join University and Union venture.
>> UCA Mobile App
Glen outlined how the app had been developed though both student fed and student led input and gave a live demonstration of its features. You said… That you were excited by the idea of the app, wanted it to be launched and find out more! We did… Launch the app and it is available for download here http:// www.ucreative.ac.uk/mobile-app We will… Providde opportunities for students to develop GPS campus maps and redesign branding of the app.
>> MyUCA
You were asked to view myUCA as a sick patient and diagnose which parts needed the most improvement. You then went on to discuss and decide the best ways to resolve these problems by focusing on a particular ‘organ’ of myUCA. You finally rated your top 6 areas for improvement and voted on each group’s resolutions by placing red stickers on them. What you said… You wanted better links to social media, improved design & flexibility, better use of myUCa by tutors and single sign on. What we did… You may have noticed some changes to myUCA including twitter and facebook feeds, replacement of ’what’s new’ with ‘my announcements’ and 2012/13 course turned off. We will do… There are plans to make myUCA more mobile friendly, implement a single sign on (so you don’t sign in again for your email) and redesigning the portal.
>> Student Academic Partners
Paul Chapman talked about the Student Academic Partners projects at Birmingham City Union. These are joint innovative projects that are funded by the University and Union to encourage a sense of community that places students at the heart of the university. Paul encouraged delegates to generate project ideas that they would like to see developed at UCA. You said… You want more paid opportunities for student input, more
Paul Chapman, Birmingham City Union
The future We are currently developing some work opportunities that take advantage of the student skill set and integrating cross campus activities into future University plans.
>> Course Representative Focus Groups The first activity encouraged delegates to consider the perfect course rep and their attributes. It presented a variety of very practical and concise ideas regarding training and resources needs of Course Reps. The second activity encouraged delegates to outline issues with the system and present various resolutions. This allowed delegates to inform future improvements the system may undertake. You said… need a better training and information about course reps. Course reps need more training about working with academics and public speaking. Furthermore, Course Reps would benefit from having mentors, a more transparent system and official recognition of the role. We did… Create certificates of recognition to be circulated to Course Reps at the end of the year (2012/13). Develop support material and visit schools to discuss r. Create a more in depth training programme for 2013/14 that covers the subjects delegates wanted and includes more cross campus activities. The future… A senior rep system is being developed to act as a mentoring system for new Course Reps. An improved recognition system that acknowledges Course Reps who have gone above and beyond.
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