Curriculum Enhancement Project Academic Year consultation Staff meetings October 2011

Agenda Themes of consultation feedback Clarifying incorrect assumptions Next steps Question and answer with the panel

Two, equal blocks of learning & teaching time (each eleven weeks, the second period prior to Easter) followed by 2 weeks of activities and a 4-week, University-organised, assessment period 11 24

Key themes from consultation feedback General support for principles and drivers but concerns around practical demands for implementation ‘Fixing’ the Easter break well received Support for principle of synoptic assessment but concerns around need for local decisions on the choice of assessment methods Impact of removing timetabled assessment period post Christmas

Key themes from consultation feedback Impact on Erasmus/Study Abroad students Length of academic year – ambitious enough? Increased costs/resultant loss of income resulting from changes Impact on research sabbaticals and conferences Time needed for detailed programme review and reorganisation to achieve changes

Incorrect assumptions New structure already decided and feedback would not affect the outcomes There would be no resource available to enable the changes to happen; just greater workload for staff There would be University-wide rules and restrictive expectations in terms of course design, e.g. no assessment until the end of semester 2 all modules would have to be 20+ credits running over both semesters no flexibility in the model

Next steps Consultation with students w/c 17 October Review of feedback to date by Project Board 2 November Consultation update to TSEB 16 November Impact assessment on the proposals Review of timescales in light of impact assessment Slides available on website

Question and Answer Questions for the Panel