ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS COURSE REP TRAINING

WELCOME TO ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS AT PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY

Professor Simon Payne, Deputy Vice Chancellor and Dean of Academic Partnerships – Welcomes you too Plymouth University

• Academic Partnerships houses over 13,000 students studying regionally, nationally and globally

• We work with education and commercial organisations and provide world class opportunities to all of our students.

• Academic Partnerships manages the Quality Assurance of your programme ensuring it meets all of the University standards and those of our regulatory bodies.

BY THE END OF THIS SESSION

You will be able to:

1. Identify the key requirements of your role as a Course Rep.

2. Understand the structure and how you fit into it.

3. Confidently approach your peers and start representing their view and voice.

THE ROLE OF A COURSE REPYou Will:

Represent the views of students on your course to your lecturers & programme leaders.

This Will:

Make changes to benefit students on your course.

You Will:

Raise issues with other course reps , so common issues can be raised at a higher level.

This Will:

Improve College, University procedures to the benefit all students.

You Will:

Facilitate communication between the student body, the College and the University

This Will:

Provide a flow of communication about both academic issues and other engagement opportunities

HOW TO REPRESENTThe A,B,C,D of Representation

Accurate

Balanced

Constructive

Depersonalised

YOUR TASKSAttend various meetings as required

Feedback the outcomes and actions from meetings

Gather student views and gauge if they need to be raised at programme committee / rep forum meetings

Sign-post students to University Services

Publicise campaigns and opportunities.

Publicise yourself and what you can do for your fellow students

Complete any actions from meetings

Who should you Talk too?

How many people does the issue affect?

1 person

Advise them to seek help from University / personal tutor.

Just my courseSpeak to your Course Leader or the member of staff involved in the issue.Appropriate meeting: Programme Committee Meeting, Course Rep Meetings

The Entire College / Institution Speak to the Appropriate meeting: Joint Board of Studies

This is what your fellow students have said they want from their Course Rep:

‘I want my rep to be fair and honest when representing my views.’

‘It’s a hard job, I think the rep should be strong and confident when dealing with conflict.’

‘Integrity is the most important thing for me.’

‘Easy to talk to and approachable. I want to be happy to go to my rep with any problems.’

‘My rep should be able to feedback my views on life at college as well as tell us what is happening higher up.’

‘Communication, communication, communication – talking fixes so many problems!’

What makes a good course rep?

After meetings

Share feedback on your points raised

Follow up anything you have agreed to

Share best practice across the network

Three stages to meeting prep

Before meetings

Be prepared

Research - Gather & record the student views

Go through the ‘ABCD of representation

Read Agenda – notes any points of interest

During meetings

Arrive ready

Be polite

Speak clearly

Represent the views of your group

Listen & make notes of what’s been said

Don’t interrupt others

Be Confident

Q - Why is it important to feedback from meetings

Ways of feeding back…

Create a course Facebook page – send out messages

Twitter

Surveys – Survey monkey

Suggestion Box

Send around a group email to your course

Post It Notes

Ask your lecturer for some time at the end of a lecture to present findings to your class

FEEDBACK

Remember:

You should not refer to students by name

Assure students that matters are kept anonymous

If a student comes to you with a personal issue you must keep this confidential.

As a course rep you are trusted to be responsible with information.

ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY

Q & A

Course Rep Cycle