Deciding to volunteer Why volunteer? Past history of being involved in Course/Student Representation Didn’t want to sit on the side-lines in 1 st year Gave me a chance to be involved in making a difference Chance to develop vital skills for work – i.e. diplomacy

Deciding to volunteer What someone told me it would involve: Take a notes of the problems students were having Take these along to the next SSCC Module coordinator deals with what they can End of story But that was not actually what happens Course Seminar Structure

My Experience Needed to represent the views of over 360 students –All from different backgrounds making the HE transition –Many hold you personally responsible for their education Practical approach to recording views and opinions required –Launched a module wide survey examining thoughts on lectures, seminars and assignment structure. –Results shared with management school – starting point for the rest of semester. Continual communication allowed us to remain on top of everything –Regular meetings; continual ing gave us a shared understanding of concerns with the module. Model replicated throughout 2 nd semester

The Partnership: My Perspective Effective: Presented us as a united front – working together to get things done Ensured solutions were perceived as fair by the students Increased our shared understanding Allowed us to promote shared ideas – i.e. increasing engagement Convenient: Students could go between MC and CR, knowing their view would be represented Communication: Succeed Facebook One on One

Case Study: Self-Support Study Groups Approached by a student very early on in the module Students wanted to be able to meet up and study together in a productive environment – could we facilitate this? Agreed it would be extremely valuable asset to the module Christine dealt with the timetabling requests and I would help out in coordinating the group. It was a huge success and built the confidence of many students Replicated throughout the 2 nd semester and we’re looking to carry this on.