The Course Rep Handbook 2018/19 — Falmouth

THE COURSE REP HANDBOOK FALMOUTH

fxu.org.uk fxu.org.uk/ros facebook.com/fxunion instagram.com/fxu_insta Falmouth & Exeter Students’ Union is a registered charity in England & Wales No. 1145405

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Welcome Your Students’ Union What Does Representation Look Like?

The Course Rep Role Gathering Feedback Introducing ROS Representing Feedback Meetings Key Contacts Thank You

WELCOME Hello!

I’m Callie, and I am your President Falmouth! I have been elected into this role by the Falmouth students and it is my responsibility to act as your representative regarding all things academic, which includes the Course Rep structure. In my role, I go to a lot of meetings with the senior management of the University and present feedback from students, much of which will have been gathered by Course Reps.

This year we’re bringing in an online reporting tool called ros ; Rep Online System; you

will learn about that in training and there’s a guide to using it on Pages 9–10 in this booklet.

We’re also introducing the big rep meetings , where all Course Reps can get together to focus on the big themes arising from student feedback alongside the Presidents and key senior staff from the University.

This handbook and our Course Rep training will help you get going in your role but if you have any questions, need support or have any ideas then please don’t hesitate to contact me or the Student Voice team.

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YOUR STUDENTS’ UNION

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Your Students’ Union (FXU) is a membership-led charity; run by students, for students, and we are the only union in the country to represent students from two different universities. We focus on the academic, social and support needs of all students and we do that through three teams: student voice (representation and democracy), activities (Sports, Societies, Volunteering, Fundraising) and advice (free impartial and confidential service on housing, finance, academic appeals etc). Course Reps are part of the Student Voice Team and are managed via the Representatives Coordinator.

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WHAT DOES REPRESENTATION LOOK LIKE? are students who are ‘team leaders’ for their Department. They chair Department Forum meetings, attend Department Board and meet regularly with their Department Director.

Academic Officers are part of the FXU Leadership Team; an elected team of students who manage change in the interests of the student communities across all campuses.

Student Presidents

department chairs

Academic Officers

Department Chairs

work with the FXU Presidents to identify opportunities to develop the academic experience of Falmouth students. academic officers

Course Reps

Student Body

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5300 STUDENTS

2 CAMPUSES

PENRYN & FALMOUTH

ACADEMIC OFFICERS

240

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COURSE REPS

DEPARTMENT CHAIRS

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THE COURSE REP ROLE

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KEY RESPONSIBILITIES feedback from your peers and give it to ROS. represent that feedback!

Liaise with individual staff, attend meetings, speak to FXU. share what happened next! Let students know what happened as a result of their feedback. gather

Course Reps act as the voice of the students they have been elected to represent. They do this by gathering feedback and getting the student voice to where decisions about your student experience are made.

PERSONAL QUALITIES Proactive and organised Passionate about your course Keen to make a difference Good communication skills Able to separate your role from your opinion

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GATHERING FEEDBACK The first step is to think about how you are going to get feedback from the students you represent. Talk to them, give out sticky notes at the end of a lecture, send an email, set up a messaging group, create a physical or virtual drop box, whatever works for you. You might need to use more than one approach. Don’t just ask for problems, make sure you ask what is working well too or if anyone has any new ideas.

Once you have your feedback you need to give it to ROS .

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Sometimes it can be hard to know what areas to get feedback on. Here are some example questions to get you going: HOW ORGANISED IS THE COURSE? HOW CLEAR IS THE TIMETABLE? ARE THERE ANY FORMS OF TEACHING (LECTURES, SEMINARS ETC) YOU REALLY ENJOY OR WOULD LIKE TO SEE ADDED? DO ASSESSMENTS ADEQUATELY AND FAIRLY REPRESENT THE CONTENT OF THE MODULES? CAN YOU COMMENT ON THE TYPES AND TIMINGS OF ASSESSMENTS; ARE THEY VARIED AND EQUALLY SPACED? ARE THERE ADEQUATE LIBRARY AND IT FACILITIES? DO YOU THINK THE DEPARTMENT VALUES YOUR FEEDBACK? HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE TEACHING? WHY HAVE YOU RATED IT IN THAT WAY? WHAT OTHER RESOURCES WOULD ENHANCE YOUR LEARNING?

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ROS (Rep Online System) is our brand spanking new tool to help you gather and manage your students’ feedback about the whole university experience.

ROS has three questions: Is there anything working well ? Is there anything working less well ? Do you have any new ideas ? This means you should be able to collect balanced feedback about any topic.

The best way to use ROS is to get together with the students you represent and record the feedback you get as you’re talking, that way you can ensure the appropriate tone and language is used.

When you input feedback as a Rep, you will get an email with a summary of that feedback so you know what things you need to take action on quickly.

Additionally, when you input against a particular service, for example the Library or Accommodation, that service will also be emailed with the details, so they can take action.

You should use ROS to record all the online and /or face to face conversations you have with students; by doing that all your feedback will be in one place and you can get a report from FXU in advance of your SSLG meetings . That report will help you evidence what might need further discussion or investigation.

ROS does not collect the name of individual students, only the Reps, so students can be reassured any feedback given to ROS is anonymous .

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REPRESENTING FEEDBACK Once you’ve got your feedback you need to represent it .

Sometimes that will be a quick and easy action, like emailing a module leader to alert them to missing resources on the Learning Space. Other times there might be bigger issues that need discussion before action is taken. Maybe students feel there needs to be a different balance of assessment in a module. With issues like that you need to raise them at your SSLG. An SSLG is a student staff liaison group There is an SSLG for each subject area and it meets to talk through the feedback gathered by Course Reps, and confirm a set of action points to be delivered which address that feedback . It is chaired by the head of subject , and is attended by all Course Reps within the discipline / subject area, Course Coordinators, Technical Facilities Manager and Department Administrator. The SSLG should also hear about the progress on previously agreed actions points and decide upon a plan to report back to students about what’s happened because of their feedback.

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You’ll be asked to submit a short report in advance of the meeting outlining the key feedback you’ve collected through ROS. You should not just submit your ROS report!

The SSLG meetings are a vital part of the University Quality Assurance system, and help close the feedback loop for students.

You should always do your best to attend your SSLG, but if you can’t then make sure you send apologies to the Department Administrator and submit your report with any feedback that you feel needs noting or discussing.

DEPARTMENT FORUM Forums take place once a term and are a chance for all the Course Reps in a Department to meet with their Department Chair to see if there are any themes in student feedback that may need raising at a higher level. It’s really important that you attend these so your Department Chair can represent the views of students from across the whole department. FXU also attend and will be keen to hear any feedback about services outside of your course, like accommodation & catering.

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THE BIG REP MEETINGS The Big Rep Meetings take place once a term and, as you might have guessed, bring together all the Reps to talk about the big themes coming out of ROS . The meetings will be chaired by the FXU Presidents, and senior staff from relevant areas will be invited to join in with the discussions and hear directly from you about the student experience. The meetings will also be a chance for the Presidents to report back to Reps about the work they’ve been doing because of student feedback and give you the chance to ask them questions.

There might be other meetings you’re invited to from time to time, like focus groups or approval panels.

Let us know if you need any support with them.

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BEFORE THE MEETING aa Get your ROS report from FXU. aa Check that you have done everything you can to resolve any issues before the meeting. aa Write your report, this should detail course-related issues that need discussing at the SSLG, not individual pieces of feedback. Use ROS to help you see what areas you’ve had the most feedback about. You should only bring issues relating to your course to the SSLG, which are the first 6 categories in ROS. aa Read the agenda, and the minutes from the previous meeting. Make sure you’ve completed any actions assigned to you! aa Talk to staff beforehand if you have concerns about a major issue.

This will help build a good working relationship, and will give staff time to prepare before the meeting.

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IN THE MEETING Don’t raise issues concerning individual students or staff; these issues should be addressed out of the meeting with the member of staff/ student in question, or, if preferred, with the Head of Subject or FXU Advice.

Be polite and considerate of others.

Try phrases such as, “wouldn’t it be better if…” or “could we consider…”

Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you don’t understand something.

It’s always more powerful to give positive solutions rather than a list of problems.

Remember you are not there to represent your own personal experience but be a representative . positive feedback is just as important !

If staff know what students like they can try to do more of it!

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When representing feedback, remember to always follow the ABCDE code:

A ccurate B alanced C onstructive D epersonalised E videnced

KEY CONTACTS It’s worth spending time getting to know who the key staff are in your discipline area. That way when an issue arises you’ll be able to take action more quickly.

You could write in here who your

key contacts

are.

DEPARTMENT CHAIR: HEAD OF SUBJECT: COURSE COORDINATORS: TECHNICAL FACILITIES MANAGER: DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATOR: FXU REP COORDINATOR:

You’ll also find lots of information on the Learning Space pages for each module.

And there are more resources to support you as a Rep on the FXU website fxu.org.uk/reps

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There are lots of ways we say thank amazing Reps.

you

to our

First of all, you can register to be an official legend .

No matter how much time you give, if you volunteer, you are a Legend to your Students’ Union. fxu.org.uk/legends We hold an annual Rep social where you can let us shower you with praise, provide you with food and hang out with other awesome humans .

At the end of the year we hold a glitzy and glamorous student voice awards ceremony, where we’ll crown Reps of the Year from every Department and an overall winner of winners!

Plus, you’ll be able to access lots of skill based workshops and further training opportunities, through the Employability Service!

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