Staff Guidance

Introduction. 4

The Student 6Representation System.Training of SAR’s. 9

Programme Quality 10Committees.Code of Practice 12& Protocol.Feedback. 13

Rewards & Recognition. 14

Support for 15University Staff.

Welcome to the University of Cumbria Student Academic Representative Staff Handbook. This document aims to provide you with information to help you select, recruit and support Student Academic Representatives (SARS)this document will make us able to gain the maximum benefits from our SARS, and lead our Representatives to create a positive impact on their learning experience. SARS play a vital role in the checks and balances on the quality processes at the University.

The Representation Facilitator Debra Robinson works in the Students Union to ensure that we have an effective system in place and will work with staff and students to develop the SAR scheme to guarantee it stays relevant and helpful to everybody involved. The aim is to co-ordinate the system, ensure quality representation and oversee the exchange and distribution of information amongst students, staff and the students union.

Any questions, comments, complaints or suggestions please do not hesitate to contact me on my emaildebra.robinson@cumbria.ac.uk.

Introduction

The StudentRepresentationSystem

One of the key priorities is to raise awareness of the SAR system; we must promote the importance of the system from the start of the academic year and continue to support SARS throughout as they play a crucial role in the quality assurance procedure for their degree course.

Every year at least one SAR has to be elected per year, per course. The system achieves maximum results if there is one SAR for every 25 students so larger courses are welcome to nominate more than one representative if it is needed. For smaller courses it is much helpful if one well organized competent SAR is elected rather than numerous students, so they can keep up with all the issues.

Training ofSAR’s

Currently SAR training is general in nature and has been provided by the SU. Failure of previous years training can be traced back to the problem that the SARS cannot be contacted before training commences. This year all contact details must be returned to the SU within the first month of term.

The SARs will then attend an introductory training session where they will be introduced to the system and have it explained to them. They will then be invited to sign up for extended training, every session they attend will be noted and the extra skill they achieve will be added to their certificates at the end of the year to increase employability. Training will be dated in advance and SARs will need to book places as to ensure that the right number of students attend to achieve an efficient session. The Students Union is looking to include meeting etiquette, minute taking and advocacy as part of the training package, including extra skills that employers are looking for beyond academic qualifications. If staff has any other ideas of key skills to add to this please contact the Students Union and we will look at achieving this.

Timely and fair election of SARS is a crucial step in ensuring efficiency. This should be carried out within the two week of lectures. Delayed recruitment leads to late training and ill equipped representatives. Information regarding the scheme is to be included in Fresher’s Packs this year and the Students Union will be running a high profile advertisement drive, and giving short introductions at the beginning of lectures so all students are aware of the role of a SAR and the benefits it will provide to them. Lecturers are reminded that SARS must be elected by their peers on their programme, any student is allowed to stand, and every student is entitled to vote. An email reminding students of the election should be sent out before the lecture as to ensure that everyone is aware of the coming event. If the position is contested students are invited to give some kind of speech to their peers explaining why they would be best suited to the role.

The election process is entirely up to the individual lecturer, so long as it is a democratic process. Examples include:

• Ashowofhands• Apaperballot

After the SARs have been elected, it is then crucial that the names and details of the new representatives are passed on to Debra at the Students Union so they can be added to the SAR database and contacted regarding their training. If SARS do not attend the introductory training they will not be entitled to receive their certificate at the end of the year. A record is kept of which SAR belongs to which department and if the information is not received by the first month of term then it will be investigated by the SU.

After the initial training has finished, SARs are advised to raise all academic issues at Programme Quality Committees (PQC’s). These meetings should be planned early on in the year to give students time to check their timetables to see if they are able to attend. If it appears there will be a problematic number of absences the meeting should be rescheduled as without the student input, issues cannot be highlighted and resolved. Dates of the all the meetings should also be sent to Debra at the SU so we can keep track of what meetings are happening where and when.

PQC’s are where SARS meet Programme Leaders and other key staff to discuss the performance of the module and associated modules. Registers and agendas should be emailed out before the meetings; students should be invited to add things to the agendas.

Most issues are resolved at PQC’s. Minutes are taken in this meeting by SIP staff, and registers of the SARS should also be taken. Copies of these minutes and the register should

also be sent to Debra at the SU to monitor that all SARS are attending meetings. If a student is unable to attend a meeting they should email their apologies as soon as they know they cannot attend. The SU will be monitoring attendance and SARs that are not attending meetings will be invited to receive further training in order to provide further support. If a SAR does not attend a sufficient amount of meetings they will not receive their certificate.

Contact between the University staff and the SU is crucial. It will ease communication for all parties. It is vital that all contact details are provided as soon as possible. It is responsibility of the school to send the details of SARS to the SU.

Debra will record all the details of the SARS when the following information has been sent to the SU.

Name •Email Address•Course •Course Number •Year of Study •

Upon Election, the name, email address and programme details of every SAR should be publicised to other students on the programme. This should be done via email, and on any available notice board. The SU will provide SARS with posters for them to advertise their details; advertisement can also be made on the faculty website.

SU Representation staff will take an active role in supporting SARS; this will be done with the guidance and advice of the Academic Sabbatical. Drop in sessions with SU Representation staff across all campuses will provide another avenue of support

ProgrammeQualityCommittees

Code of Practiceand Protocol

All Staff should be made aware of the SAR for their faculty and the new Code of Practice for SARS Any student who is not adhering to this protocol should be reported to the SU so extra training and support can be offered. The Code of Practice is new for the coming academic year. It is planned that every year the code will be reviewed and revised every year by a group of staff and students.

The SARS will be advised to log all their hours on the volunteering section of the SU website so they can be rewarded at the end of the academic year.

FeedbackThere are currently, massive issues with all areas of feedback. SARs struggle to get feedback from their fellow students and then struggle to provide the students with any feedback. Providing SARS with resources will enable them to provide more feedback.

In order for the SARS to reach their fellow students they must be enabled to send group emails and be given access to the mailing list for their programme.

The SU will provide an agreement for the SARS to sign to ensure that their details are not used for any other business. Training will be provided on email etiquette and proper use of the email list. Any abuse of the email list must be reported to Debra and action will be taken. To monitor the emails being sent out it will be delivered in training that Debra must be copied in on all emails being sent.SARS are invited to use other mediums such as facebook and twitter to gain more student input.

After the meetings, minutes should be emailed out to all students on the mailing list and a copy should be placed on the notice board, a copy of the register should be emailed to the SU a long with the minutes. All minute actions should be clearly and duly noted. SARS should make public any success they have at meetings and any achievements they make.

The SU will carry out exit interviews with SARS who are leaving at the end of each academic year to help improve the scheme.

In the long term the SU is looking to benchmark itself against other student unions and Student Academic Representation Systems within the next two years.

The Volunteer service and the Representation department are currently working together to recognise the hard work carried out by SARS with an annual awards ceremony, it is another step in ensuring we provide an excellent Course Representative system. It is important that we give something back to the students who do volunteer for the extra work that this role provides. SARS need to feel their work has been noted, and incentivised to perform.

The volunteer service will work with the Representation department to organise an end of year awards ceremony. The representation department will ask staff and students to nominate SARS for their excellent work. Together the SU and the University will decide who receives the awards.

Rewards & Recognition

All members of staff are welcome to contact Debra at the SU for any of the following:

Clarification on the running of the scheme •Suggestions for improvements •Assistance if they have concerns over the behaviour of •

a SARIf a SAR is not attending meetings•If there is a change in the faculty practice•

Co-ordination of Student Representation is organised by SAMIS. This involves collecting information about each PQC – date, location, terms of reference and contact details.

Support forUniversity Staff

The following are just best practice suggestions to assist in the smooth running of the Student Representation scheme:

Notice Boards – Faculty’s are encouraged to provide •SARS with a notice board so they can advertise themselves, leave minutes of the last meetings, any questionnaires they want students to fill out, and any successful outcomes they have achieved. This can be used to request information from students and provide any feedback.

Allow SARS to speak in Lectures and Seminars – This •is the easiest and simplest way of advertising the scheme. This method can be used to raise awareness at election time or to ask students if they have any issues. SARs should be introduced in first lecture so everyone is aware of who the rep is.

Allow SARS to send group emails – in training the •SARS will be advised that they will be allowed to send group emails to their class in order to receive feedback. Staff support with this would be greatly appreciated.

Reps should be placed at the top of the agenda in PQC’s •in case that they have lectures to attend; they can raise their business and leave early if they need to do so.

Sending papers in advance – try to send them a week •before, this gives time for SARS to consult students and ask for their opinions. When a department is making a far reaching decision, information should be distributed to SARs as soon as possible in order for them to get as much feedback as possible.

Send a reminder about the meeting including the date, •time and place. Where SARS are absent from meetings they will be encouraged during training to provide the PQC with a short written report on what they have achieved since the last meeting.

Monitor SAR attendance and pass this information •onto Debra at the SU.

Support forSAR’s

SARS should send apologies at the latest 24 hours in •advance.

Send copies of the minutes of the meeting to Debra at •the SU.

Please avoid using acronyms. A glossary is provided •in the SAR handbook, but it ca makes meetings very confusing and boring if SAR does not understand. Ensure that everyone is aware of the acronym is before continuing.

Minute Action Points – ensure that all minute action •points are clearly marked and the SAR is aware of their responsibility. Further minutes should reflect the action that has been taken.

Reps withdrawing from the scheme – If a SAR decides •they no longer want to be a SAR they will need to put this in writing (an email will suffice) and send this to Debra. The department will need to organise a replacement. The name of this replacement should be reported to Debra so they can receive training and be added to the blackboard mailing list.

Contacting theStudent RepresentationSupport Team

UCSU and the University must work together to run the SAR scheme. UCSU is responsible for the running of elections and the training of SARS. The University should provide details of the committees that the students are invited to. Both USCU and the University should provide ongoing support and should be available to answer to SAR queries.

Danny Prescott Representation and Democracy Co-ordinatordaniel.prescott@cumbria.ac.uk

Lorri Millar Academic Sabbatical Lorraine.millar@cumbria.ac.uk

Debra RobinsonRepresentation Facilitator Debra.robinson@cumbria.ac.uk

www.thestudentsunion.org.uk