Academic Partnerships Course Rep Training University of Plymouth On the South Devon coast, South West England​ Population: 300,000

Welcome to academic partnerships Professor Paul Brunt, Director of Academic Partnerships – Welcomes you to The University of Plymouth Academic Partnerships houses over 16,000 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: Identify the key requirements of your role as a Course Rep. Understand the structure and how you fit into it. Confidently approach your peers and start representing their view and voice.

The role of a course rep You Will: Represent the views of students on your course to your lecturers & programme leaders. This Will: Make changes to benefit students on your course. Raise issues with other course reps , so common issues can be raised at a higher level. Improve College, University procedures to the benefit all students. Facilitate communication between the student body, the College and the University Provide a flow of communication about both academic issues and other engagement opportunities

How to represent The A,B,C,D of Representation Accurate Balanced Constructive Depersonalised For each issue or topic raised, try to apply the ‘ABCD’ of representation... Issues which fit into the ‘middle’ of the diagram tend to achieve the most positive outcomes. Accurate = get the facts, know the full story, try and be as accurate as you can (dates / times / frequency of problem etc.) Balanced = does this issue affect the whole group? Are there two sides to the story? Constructive = come up with some suggestions for resolution... Use times like the cross-college rep forum, or online resources like the Virtual Voice site to share ideas and problems with other student reps on other courses... There may be some suggestions for improvement. Depersonalised = don’t name names or point fingers. Don’t criticise individual lecturing staff. If an issue only affects one student, they maybe it’s a personal problem, and that student needs to find some help individually.

Your tasks Attend 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

How many people does the issue affect? 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 course Speak 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

What makes a good course rep? 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!’

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 After meetings Share feedback on your points raised Follow up anything you have agreed to Share best practice across the network

FEEDBACK 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 Outside of China Students will be able to access Social Media, However students within mainland China will not be able to access legally these sites.

ANONYMITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY 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.

Q & A

Course Rep Cycle

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