SSLC Staff Forum - 27 July 2016

Programme Welcome and Introductions - QMSU VP Education, Sumeera Ahmad 2. Report on Course Rep Elections 2016-17 3. Report on Course Rep Training 2016-17 4. Senior Reps – Annual Programme Review 5. School Reps - update 6. SSLC Student Co-Chairs - update 7. Faculty Forums 2016-17 8. Current Issues – open discussion 9. AOB

End of Year Report At the end of the 2015-16 academic year, we had 282 (71%) Course Reps in post, out of a possible 398. 79% of undergraduate posts were filled, compared with only 55% of postgraduate. 61% of Reps in post attended training this year, compared with 56% in 2014-15. In December we held our annual Course Rep Xmas party which was attended by circa 60 Reps. In February, QMSU took 10 Reps to the NUS London and South of England Course Rep Conference The annual Education Awards took place at Drapers Hall on 29 February During the year 66 Course Reps participated in the QM Skills Award.

Reps in Post 2016-17

Final Statistics for 2015-16 (updated since Forum)

Course Rep Spring Elections In order to fill any gaps in the ranks of continuing Course Representatives, whether through resignation, or where they have been challenged to an election, an election will be held in the Spring to ensure that as many Reps as possible are in place for the following academic year. The dates for 2017 are as follows: Nominations open:  Monday 6 March 2017 10.00 Nominations close:  Friday 17 March 2017 16.00 Voting starts:  Monday 20 March 2017 10.00 Voting ends:  Friday 24 March 2017 16.00 Results announced: Tuesday 28 March 2017 Re-open nominations: If there are still any vacant posts , nominations will re-open and remain open until close of nominations for the 2017-18 Course Rep Elections in October 2017. 

HSS

S&E

SMD

School Representatives School Representatives (HSS and SE only) In order to bridge the gap between Course Reps and Faculty Representatives, this year sees the introduction of School Reps. Each SSLC is asked to elect/select from amongst its Senior Reps, a School Rep who will act as liaison between the SSLC and the Faculty Rep. This should be done at the first SSLC meeting of this year (and subsequently at the last SSLC meeting of the year to serve during the following year).

SSLC Student Co-chairs The University have for some time supported the concept of Student Co-chairs for SSLC meetings - It is for each SSLC to determine who should chair the committee. Consideration should be given to electing a student member as co-Chair. The Students’ Union can give student representatives training to enable them to fulfil this role.  With the advent of Senior Course Reps, the Students' Union is asking that SSLCs give strong consideration to this recommendation. Training sessions to equip Reps with the necessary skills are planned and dates have been set (see handout).

How to be an effective chair. Originally created by : Kerrie Wilson & Aaron Braddy Senior SSLC Student Co-chairs 2012-13 How to be an effective chair.

Faculty Forums HSS Faculty Forum Semester 1 tbc A Faculty Forum shall be held once each semester. Membership of the Faculty Forum shall be as follows: Faculty Representatives (one of whom will take the Chair) All School Reps from within the Faculty PGT and PGR Reps from each SSLC Chairs and Secretaries of each SSLC within the Faculty (whether staff, or student Co-chair) The QMSU VP Education The QMSU Education Representation and Policy Coordinator (Secretary) The Deans of Faculty will be invited to their Faculty’s Faculty Forums. Any Course Rep may attend their Faculty’s Faculty Forums. Faculty Forums 2016-17 HSS Faculty Forum Semester 1 tbc S&E Faculty Forum Semester 1 S&E Faculty Forum Semester 2 HSS Faculty Forum Semester 2

Faculty Reps 2016-17 S&E HSS Hashim Mastan h.mastan@se15.qmul.ac.uk Lewis Williams l.williams@se14.qmul.ac.uk Barts and The London Faculty Rep (Clinical) MAHNUR Khan HSS Petros Petrikkos p.petrikkos@hss14.qmul.ac.uk Chowdury Albab Kadir abirchow18@gmail.com Barts and The London Faculty Rep (Pre-Clinical) Ruari MCGOWAN

Course Rep Training

Course Rep Guides for Welcome Packs

SSLC Web Pages and Handbook

www.qmsu.org/reps/coursereps/sslcs

Student-Staff Liaison Committees – Roles and Responsibilities Student representatives should … Further Information Be elected by their fellow students Pg Attend the SU training on how to be an effective course rep and any other training needed   Ensure they prepare for, attend and follow up issues for SSLC meetings Gather feedback on items to ensure they are representing the views of the cohort Feedback to fellow students on issues/changes discussed at SSLCs Respect any confidential issues that may be discussed at SSLCs and not provide sensitive details to people outside of the SSLC membership Carry out any additional duties or responsibilities if they have been elected as Senior Reps or School Reps Student representatives should not … Present personal opinions or those which are unrepresentative of the cohort to the SSLC for personal gain Wait to the next SSLC meeting if an urgent issue arises that is affecting the student experience Get involved in disputes between individual students or between a student and a staff member Be assisting individual students with concerns such as financial or personal issues Schools and Institutes should … Promote the role of course reps and publicise course rep elections Allow course reps the opportunity to speak at the end of lectures and seminars to gather feedback from the cohort Provide assistance to reps wishing to contact the cohort by means of email or QMplus Ensure they are using the SSLC template agenda and minutes to ensure all required issues are discussed and completing the action sheet for all meetings Publicise SSLC meeting dates to all students and ensure minutes are made available to all students afterwards Send minutes to ARCS and QMSU by the latest four weeks following the meeting date Ensure that student concerns are fed into other committees as appropriate Ensure that they feedback to students any actions the school/institute is undertaking to address issues raised e.g. in the format of ‘You said, we did…’ Schools and Institutes should not … Co-opt students to fill vacant roles without informing the Students’ Union of their name and contact details Omit required agenda items such as external examiner reports or module evaluation reports from the agenda Cancel meetings and not re-schedule them or schedule meetings at a time that it is unlikely reps will be able to attend   SSLC staff chairs should … Ensure that course reps are briefed on how the meetings run either via a pre-meeting or at the start of the first meeting of the academic year Allow reps adequate time in the meeting to raise issues and for these to be discussed Ensure there is a secretary for the meeting and that actions are followed up as appropriate Encourage reps to take a greater role through contributing items to the agenda, taking on actions and, if appropriate, having the opportunity to chair part or all of the meeting SSLC staff chairs should not … Assume that students will understand technical or pedagogical language, abbreviations or acronyms without explanation or context Allow a person or group to dominate the meeting and stifle other people’s input Avoid addressing difficult issues but try to manage the meeting so that discussions are productive rather than confrontational SSLC minute takers should … Ensure that agendas and papers are circulated at least a week in advance of the meeting so there is time for students to review items and gather feedback Take accurate minutes that reflect discussions in the meetings and ensure all actions are assigned to a specific person Circulate minutes to the full membership and note corrections as necessary Send minutes on to ARCS and the SU within the four week deadline after the meeting QMSU will … Run course rep elections for all posts in line with the arrangements set out in the memorandum for this purpose Provide initial and follow-up training to course reps as needed Support course reps in raising issues and gathering feedback Consult with course reps and campaign on issues affecting departments or cohorts Recognise and reward the work of reps at the annual QMSU Education Awards ARCS will … Work with QMSU to review minutes and identify issues Refer issues that need discussion at a faculty or university level to the appropriate QMUL committee Provide guidance on the SSLC procedure and provide the templates for agendas and minutes Consult QMSU and schools and institutes on possible methods to improve the function of the SSLC system.

SSLC Staff Resources

SSLC Staff Forum Dates 2016-17 Semester 1 -  ? November 2016  (15.00-16.30) Semester 2 - ? March 2017  (15.00-16.30) Semester 3 -  ? July 2017  (15.00-18.00)

SSLC Agendas and Templates Please use the templates provided by ARCS (on SSLC resources page) The SSLC Secretary should send copies of SSLC minutes and action plan to the ARCS within four weeks of the meeting date, so that their overall functioning can be monitored and examples of good practice identified. Minutes should also be copied to the President of the Students’ Union, or in the SMD to the President of the Students’ Union.

Course Rep Social Events We also hold regular (alcohol free) social events for our Reps to say thank you and to help them get to know each other. The events for 2016-17 are as follows: Course Rep Helloween Party (Welcome Event) - Monday 31 October 2016 (17.00 - 20.00) Blomeley Rooms  Course Rep Xmas Party - Monday 12 December 2016 (17.00 - 20.00) Blomeley Rooms Course Rep Easter Party - Monday 27 March 2017 (17.00 - 20.00) Blomeley Rooms