► BU Academic Procedure A2

A2 - STUDENT REPRESENTATION

1 Introduction and context

1.1 This Academic Procedure focuses primarily on the principles, role and responsibilities of student representation, the process of election/appointment, the training and the rewards available. This document also outlines the involvement of the Students’ Union, the University’s academic Schools, partner institutions and the Student Experience Champions.

1.2 Student representation is an established practice in the delivery of academic programmes at the University. This note provides staff with a reference point and the minimum requirement for student representation. Information is also available from the Students’ Union (SUBU).

1.3 Any questions arising from this note or its implementation should be referred to Educational Development and Quality (EDQ) or SUBU.

2 Principles

2.1 Student representation is encouraged across all levels of the institution. Representatives of the student body are members of Senate committees at framework/programme, School/partner institution and University level.

2.2 All students are encouraged to provide feedback about their programmes. Student feedback is vital for delivery enhancement through such actions as solving problems during each academic cycle, and for providing assessment of the delivery quality achieved, and the quality of the delivery enhancement processes in action.

2.3 Student representation provides a mechanism for formally coordinating this feedback for their programme of study. Student Representatives can also promote the student voice, help make positive changes to the student education experience, improve communication between staff and students and enhance their CV.

2.4 In addition to Student Representatives at programme level, School and Partner Institution Representatives are selected to represent the views of students across the School or partner institution. Ideally, the School/Partner Institution Representative will have been democratically elected by the appropriate Student Representatives. School/Partner Institution Representatives should always be current Student Representatives. Each School/partner institution should have at least one School/Partner Institution Representative. However, where appropriate, it is advisable to have at least one Undergraduate School Representative and one Postgraduate School Representative.

2.5 Academic staff play a crucial role in ensuring the Student Representative system works to improve students’ educational experience at the University as well as identifying good practices within each framework/programme.

2.6 Each School/partner institution should appoint one senior academic staff member, normally the Associate Dean (Students)/HE Manager, to act as the School Student Experience Champion . This role includes providing a central point of contact to support the Student Representatives, for example at meetings. The School Student Experience Champion will act as the lead in each School focused on the Student Experience. This will include the successful implementation of Student Experience projects and oversight of National Student Survey results and subsequent actions plans. They are expected to hold appropriate regular meetings with Student Representatives in order to find ways to work in partnership with Student Representatives to improve the student experience. These meetings should take the form of one or more Student Rep Forum(s) in each School.

3 Process of election/appointment

3.1 Student Representatives are appointed annually within the first four weeks of the academic term. New students are briefed on the Student Representative system during induction by the Framework Leader/Programme Coordinator using resources supplied from SUBU.

3.2 There are normally two Representatives elected per programme, per year. For postgraduate programmes the minimum requirement is one Student Representative per programme. Some programmes, particularly where there are large numbers of students, may wish to identify Seminar/Group Representatives below the appointed Student Representatives.

3.3 At the beginning of the academic year, the following actions should be taken for all undergraduate and postgraduate frameworks/programmes:

i student representation should be a standard agenda item on induction programmes. During the first week of term the Student Representative system is promoted by the framework/programme team using resources provided by SUBU. There should also be information placed on School/partner institution notice boards where they exist. SUBU also conducts other recruitment and promotional activities during Freshers’ Week;

ii the Framework Leader/Programme Coordinator coordinates the elections of Student Representatives. Elections should be held where necessary by the end of week four (i.e. if there are more than two student nominees);

iii the Framework Leader/Programme Coordinator provides the Programmes/Framework Administrator/HE Coordinator with the names of the elected Student Representatives by the end of week four at the latest. This deadline is important to allow time for training before the first Framework Management Team meetings; Framework Leaders/Programme Coordinators need to ensure that all Student Representatives are made aware of the essential training provided by SUBU at the end of October;

iv the Programmes/Framework Administrator/Academic Administration Manager (AAM)/HE Coordinator ensures all Student Representatives are indicated on UNIT-e by the end of October, when training sessions start. SUBU will run a UNIT-e report to see who the Student Representatives are.

3.4 Student Experience Champions/HE Coordinators will arrange for elections of a minimum of one or two School/Partner Institution Representatives, as appropriate (see Principles 2.4), from the current Student Representatives through the Student Rep Forums where possible. Recruitment should take place at the summer term School Student Forum and all School/Partner Institution Representatives will undertake further training from SUBU as necessary.

4 Roles and responsibilities

4.1 Responsibilities of a Student Representative are expected to be:

i to represent the views of their fellow students;

ii to facilitate effective two-way communication between students and the University;

iii to communicate promptly in order to resolve issues effectively and in a timely manner;

iv to work in partnership with the University to ensure joint ownership and decision-making over both the process and the outcome;

v to feed back on both issues and good practice, to enable the University to enhance the student experience;

vi to assist the University in finding solutions to issues;.

4.2 Student Representatives duties are expected to be:

i to attend at least one training session at the start of the year;

ii to gather evidence of the views of all the students they represent, using resources from SUBU, in order to influence the development of good practice related to the framework/programme and the wider student experience;

iii to attend Student Rep Forums when organised by the School (normally at least one per term) to present feedback from fellow students and to represent their views on the wider student experience;

iv to attend Framework Management Team meetings (one per term) to present feedback from fellow students and to represent their views in regards to the academic programme;

v to formally submit feedback gathered from students using the Rep Feedback Form. This form is available online;

vi following the Programme/Framework Management Team meetings, to disseminate information and feedback to students (representatives will receive minutes of the meeting from the School/partner institution);

vii to disseminate and submit feedback to the School Student Forums as required (eg feedback which is not suitable for Programme/Framework Management Team meetings and would normally not include anything academic );

viii to liaise with academic and administrative staff and Framework Leader/Programme Coordinators to keep up to date with factors relating to the framework/programme;

ix to act as a signpost to appropriate support services for students with specific individual needs;

x to communicate with the School/Partner Institution Representative, Seminar/Group Representatives and other Student Representatives as and when appropriate;

xi to communicate with SUBU as and when appropriate;

xii to actively encourage fellow students to complete the appropriate online questionnaires and other surveys as and when they become available;

xiii be involved with periodic review meetings and internal and external audits from time to time.

4.3 School/Partner Institution Representatives are expected to:

i attend School Academic Board/Partnership Board meetings;

ii Coordinate and liaise with any student in the School/partner institution who contacts them and in particular with the Student Representatives;

iii liaise with the Student Experience Champion in the School/partner institution;

iv liaise on a regular basis with the Vice President Education to improve and develop the rep system and the student experience in their School;

v encourage Student Representatives and other students to use the online Student Voice resources from the University and SUBU;

vi regularly ensure that their online information is kept up-to-date, accurate and complete at all times.

4.4 SUBU will:

i provide training opportunities and support to all Student Representatives;

ii post a list of all Student Representatives and School/Partner Institution Representatives online and accessible to all students;

iii email a regular news bulletin to Student Representatives;

iv collate the Student Rep Feedback forms and compile a School/Partner Institution Synoptic Report from all the forms and send it to the Student Representatives, School/Partner Institution Representative and AAM for the School Academic Board/Partnership Board;

v liaise with the School/partner institution point of contact, Framework Leader/Programme Coordinators and AAMs/HE Coordinators to ensure the smooth running of the Student Representative system;

4.5 Schools/partner institutions are expected to:

i appoint a senior academic staff member, normally the Associate Dean (Students)/HE Manager, to act as the School Student Experience Champion with responsibility for supporting Student Representatives and the School/Partner Institution Representatives;

ii Inform the Students’ Union of the dates of School Academic Boards/Partnership Boards and Framework Management Team meetings so that SUBU can send the Rep Feedback Reports and School/Partner Institution Synoptic Reports on time;

iii follow up Student Representatives who have not submitted their Rep Feedback Report online;

iv arrange, if they wish, an email group to be set up by the IT Service Desk for each programme to enable the Student Representatives to easily email all of the students on their framework/programme;

v arrange, if they wish, with the IT Service Desk for an email account to be created for the students to use to email their Student Representatives, for example BS Student Rep – BABS;

vi provide minutes of meetings with actions relevant to the students so that Student Representatives can circulate appropriate information to fellow students;

vii provide written responses and feedback on issues and actions decided at relevant committees to the Students’ Union so these can be effectively communicated to students. .
4.6 The School Student Experience Champion role includes the following duties in relation to student representation:

i implement effective methods of student representation and feedback, in line with Students’ Union and University quality guidelines;

ii support the Student Representatives through the channels of communication already in place in the School/partner institution;

iii hold regular Student Forum meetings as a means of communication with students;

iv liaise regularly and as appropriate with the SUBU Student Representation Team.

5 Training

5.1 Student Representative training is essential for all Representatives and it is important that Student Representatives are made aware of the training available. The Students’ Union will run a number of training workshops from the end of October when Student Representatives are elected. This may take place on a weekend and there should be a staff member present from each School. The training will look to explain the role of a Representative, the benefits, support and possibilities for change available to them as well as giving Student Representatives an experience of the various meetings in which they attend.

5.2 The Partner Institution Coordinator in SUBU liaises with the HE Manager to arrange a suitable time to visit each of the regional colleges to deliver training sessions tailored to their needs.

5.3 Online training is also available for students undertaking distance learning programmes and also for students at partner institutions if necessary . This training method may also be used by those Students who have been Student Representatives in previous years who are unable to attend the face to face session and will be available after the main face to face session has been completed.

5.4 SUBU offer all Representatives the opportunity to undertake a Leadership Programme delivered by SUBU in order to further develop their skills. It is recommended that Student Representatives who wish to become School Representatives participate in the Leadership Programme.

6 Rewards

6.1 In recognition of the effort put into the role by all Student Representatives and to increase awareness, each Student Representative will be given a branded hooded jumper (or similar appropriate gift as decided by SUBU) at the training session they attend. In addition, those Student Representatives who attend the meetings, fill out the feedback form and generally perform their duties to a high standard will be entitled to official certification at the end of the academic year.

6.2 In order for SUBU to monitor and reward Representatives who have performed their role and duties, Programme/Framework Leaders should forward meeting attendance details of all Representatives to SUBU at the end of each term.

6.3 As a way of recognising what successful Student Representatives have achieved, it is intended that Student Representatives will be able to earn points towards the BU Student Development Award, subject to an application to enrol onto the award being completed and successfully approved for entry onto the award .

6.4 All Student Representatives at BU are eligible to be nominated through SUBU for the national ‘NUS Course Representative of the Year Award’ each year. SUBU will seek to gather evidence of great Representatives and support nominations for as many Representatives as appropriate.

6.5 As an on-going commitment to Student Representatives, SUBU will look to develop further rewards and recognition for Representative’s work as it sees appropriate and realistic.