Academic Representation Guide for Course Leaders An introduction to the academic representation system at Nottingham Trent for Course Leaders and others responsible for recruiting representatives Matthew Scrimshaw Table of Contents Save the Date!.................................................... 2 Foreword.......................................................... 3 Meet the Team..................................................... 4 New for 2014/15................................................... 5 Online voting process:.................................................. 5 In class voting process:................................................ 5 Course Rep training:.................................................... 5 Student Engagement and Representation Steering Group:...................5 Graded accreditation of Course Representatives..........................5 Role of Student Reps.............................................. 6 Course Representative Opportunity Profile...............................7 School Representative Opportunity Profile...............................9 Joint Statement........................................................ 11 Electing your Course Representatives.............................13 Course Rep Training 2014/15...................................... 15
Transcript
Academic Representation Guide for Course LeadersAn introduction to the academic representation system at Nottingham Trent for Course Leaders and others responsible for recruiting representatives
Matthew Scrimshaw
Table of Contents
Save the Date!...............................................................................................................................2
Meet the Team..............................................................................................................................4
New for 2014/15...........................................................................................................................5Online voting process:.......................................................................................................................................................................5In class voting process:.....................................................................................................................................................................5Course Rep training:.......................................................................................................................................................................... 5Student Engagement and Representation Steering Group:..............................................................................................5Graded accreditation of Course Representatives..................................................................................................................5
Role of Student Reps.....................................................................................................................6Course Representative Opportunity Profile............................................................................................................................7School Representative Opportunity Profile.............................................................................................................................9Joint Statement.................................................................................................................................................................................. 11
Electing your Course Representatives..........................................................................................13
Course Rep Training 2014/15.......................................................................................................15
Save the Date!
Tuesday 5th May 2015
This year sees Nottingham Trent Students’ Union host the 4th annual Outstanding Teaching Awards. This is to award academic and support staff for the outstanding teaching and support they have given to our members over the academic year 2014/15. This award night is student led so everything that is said is what we have collected from students.
This year, we have decided to open the nominations from the very outset of term one. We understand that some students start new modules at the beginning of term two with new staff. Therefore, this change has been implemented so that staff who may only have student interactions in term one are not forgotten.
I am sure it will be an incredible night and a time where we can applaud all the hard work and effort that Nottingham Trent University staff have put in over this next year. I look forward to seeing you there!
If you have any comments or queries based around this guide, please do not hesitate to get in touch with one of the members of the team.
If you are unsure as to who is best to contact, please use [email protected] and a team member will get back to you at the earliest possible convenience.
I would like to present you with the new School & Course Representative Guide from Nottingham Trent Students’ Union. This guide has been set out to provide you with the relevant information needed to aid you in recruiting School & Course Representatives, which are crucial in providing essential feedback from their fellow peers to improve the educational experience here at NTU. I hope we can work in unison to improve the Course Representative system so we can have a positive effect on the students.
I just want to firstly say thank you for your involvement in this system. This is vital to the system and we here at the Union appreciate this. This year we want to work in unison to develop the training even further.
This year we intend on making big changes to the Course Representative system following feedback from a range of sources: thank you to everyone who has been in touch. One of the key changes is reducing the numbers as I want to focus on quality and not quantity. Looking at some of the institutions leading the way in academic representation of a similar size as Trent, many only have around 450 representatives – half the number we currently have at Trent. I personally feel that one amazing and cooperative representative will outweigh eight mediocre ones and we want to work to develop those amazing representatives.
I also intend to ensure quality representation, by offering the alternative online voting option, whereby the students will nominate themselves and their fellow peers will vote them into the position through the NTSU website. As well as taking the pressure off of in-class election processes, we have seen in many other areas of our work that being democratically elected into post makes representatives more accountable to the students they represent. We are of course still willing to accept representatives who are democratically elected through in-class elections and details of how to take part in both systems are included in this guide.
Another key aim this year is to maintain and develop the dissemination of information between staff, students and the Union. This year, we are working to raise the awareness and importance of this system, ensuring that the students who nominate themselves are in post to make a change and not just so they can add it to their CV. All elected, trained representatives can guarantee to their students that their voice is being heard and improving the educational experience for all. Through being involved in course committee meetings, School Fora and aiming to improve student experience, motivated and driven Course and School Representatives could make a significant change. This year we are also introducing the Academic Representative Assembly as a way to bring together Course Reps and School Reps from across the institution with myself to shaped Union policy on a termly basis. The involvement of students in these quality enhancement and assurance processes is a key aspect of higher education governance.
Thank you again for your support and I hope you identify with all the changes we are hoping to make. If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me:
Matthew Scrimshaw NTSU VP Education [email protected]: 0115 882914/07713483577
I would like to introduce myself as Matthew Scrimshaw and I am the new VP Education for 2014/15. As an Executive Officer I represent all students at Nottingham Trent, specifically in regards their academic experience. I sit on many high-level meetings including Academic Board and ASQC where I provide the students’ and Students’ Union view. I also support the Union’s in-house employability awards. I would like to introduce the new and expanding Student Voice team here at Nottingham Trent Students’ Union.
Amy McLaughlan is the Student Voice Manager here at NTSU. Amy deals with campaigns, democracy and representation at the Union so she will be working closely with me to ensure that the online voting system runs smoothly and effectively. Amy has over seven years experience working in a range of institutions with representatives and leads the Student Voice team here at the Union.
Emma Raynor is our new Course Representative Coordinator. Emma is very passionate about this role and about improving the Course Representative system having been a long-serving and successful Course Rep herself. Emma will again work closely with me to develop the system and to ensure that more representatives stay engaged this year.
Joe Levell is our new Campaigns and Democratic Engagement Coordinator. Joe will work closely with Amy in making sure that the online system works effectively and to promote the use of it. Joe will be helping me give the Course Representatives the opportunity to create their own campaigns, working closely with them to ensure that it will have a positive outcome and be effective.
As I have said previously, this year I have set out the aim to change the Course Representative system from the nomination process up until the grading of them as a representative. These changes are intended to benefit both the Union and the University.
Online voting process:This year we are encouraging academics to use the online nomination and voting process. This removes the peer pressure element of voting in class, and gives students a chance to put some real thought into their nominations. This way we can get you a representative that is passionate and wants to be effective. This will benefit both the University and the Union as they are more likely to provide sufficient, helpful, and representative feedback. All the information you and your students need to take part in the online elections process is included in this guide. This will also save you class time holding and counting elections: we will facilitate the nominations process and hold the elections over a week period, and all you need to do is to signpost students to the opportunities available.
In class voting process:If you choose to stick to the in-class election method, this year we are asking you to keep to the one representative per course, per year limit (with a maximum of three in exceptional circumstances for the very largest courses). We are also urging you to ensure that a free and fair election is held, rather than an appointment taking place. Both of these steps will help us to ensure they are well trained and supported throughout the year, and remain representative of their students. I will reiterate that one enthusiastic representative is better than eight mediocre ones and as such I want the focus to be on quality and not quantity.
Course Rep training:After elections, we will hold two weeks of training. We are revising the training to make it more interactive to maintain the engagement of the representatives. Reps will develop skills around representation, gathering and delivering feedback, and campaigning for change. We want to work in unison with academics who can provide School specific context, so some of you will be invited to do a bit of the training, or if you desire to stay for the entire time. We hope that a more collaborative approach will make sure we give reps the best information and training, leading to better representatives overall.
Student Engagement and Representation Steering Group:This year we are establishing a steering group that we are hoping will address any issues with the system as a whole. It will be chaired by the Students’ Union President (Marcus Boswell) and allow representatives of the Union and University to voice their opinions and work towards proposing changes. We anticipate opportunities for academics to contribute throughout the year and hope that together we can improve the effectiveness of Course Representatives in the long term.
Graded accreditation of Course RepresentativesThe next change will be a grading of the representatives, which will work well with the pilot of the HEAR project. Course Representatives will be graded as bronze, silver or gold based upon a set of pre-defined criteria agreed with the University. We are hopeful that this will inspire representatives to aim for achieving the gold classification, working harder for their constituents and that your courses and schools will benefit from more engaged and cooperative representatives.
Role of Student Reps
To help in the recruitment and management of representatives, the Union has developed ‘Opportunity Profiles’ for the roles of both Course and School Representatives. These are included here as well as being available on the NTSU website (trentstudents.org) and may be used to promote the role to students using the online and in class elections process.
The Joint Statement included here for reference lays out the principles of the student representative system that the University and the Union have committed to. This is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure it maintains its relevance and currency.
Course Representatives in brief…
As a Course Representative, students provide essential feedback and voice the opinions of their fellow students. This feedback is key to constantly improving the academic experience so it is beneficial for both the Union and the University. They will have a line of communication to other representatives to share best practice across the University via an online forum: the Union will monitor this – and other feedback collected from reps - to see if any common issues arise as we can then feed this back to the University through the most relevant committees. Course representatives also attend course committee meetings, to provide the University with collective feedback directly. As I said previously, we would like to have 1 representative per course, per year (except in exceptional circumstances for the largest courses where the maximum should be three). This year the Union will have all reps trained to take up their role at the start of November.
School Representatives in brief…
School Representatives are a step up from Course Representatives. These are the representatives that attend the School Fora. The Course Representatives will feed up to the School Representatives who will then feed issues and ideas up to me. The School Representatives will identify which points they can solve at a School level. They are also there to support new Course Representatives, providing support and guidance. School Representatives may be invited to focus groups to represent their cohort. We now elect our School Representatives online, which we did in the last term of the previous academic year, which we hope will make them more accountable to the students and Course Representatives that they represent.
Course Representative Opportunity Profile 2014/15
This opportunity profile is designed to give you an idea of what your position with this organisation will involve. It highlights the commitments, skills and benefits you can expect taking up that role.
Opportunity:As Course Rep you will have the chance to represent the students on your course to academics within your Department, providing a credible voice and bringing about change on a local level.
You will be the principle representative for the course related issues of your peers, gathering and reporting this feedback to those who lead your courses and influencing the academic life of students at Nottingham Trent University.
As a Course Rep you will also be invited to provide feedback through a number of other forums, meetings and events, with a wide range of topics.
Benefits: Transferable skills (see below for
further details) Excellent career experience (e.g.
committee experience) Access to Students’ Union’s additional
skills training programme For 1st year Undergraduates you can
show your engagement in this opportunity via HEAR (Higher Education Academic Review)
Duties and Responsibilities: Make yourself known and accessible to
your peers Gather feedback from your peers Present collective feedback to
Departmental staff in Course Committee Meetings
Provide online monthly feedback to the Students’ Union
Attend the required introductory training session
Take part in any Academic Campaigns, and newsletters.
Training and support:
All Course Reps will be given introductory or refresher training explaining the role and responsibilities of Course Rep and covering the basic skills required to undertake the role.
Ongoing support is available throughout the year from the Union’s Course Rep Coordinator and VP Education.
People who like this opportunity may also be interested in:
School Rep Student Council Member Students’ Union Exec role Part Time Student Officer
Skills Gained: Participating in this opportunity will enable you to develop and practice the following skills (marked)
Written Communication Teamwork Organisational Skills
Verbal Communication Time Management MarketingDelegation Financial Management CitizenshipDecision Making IT Community Awareness
Problem Solving Leadership Cultural Awareness (Equality and Diversity)
Numeracy Languages Physical FitnessNetworking Creativity Environmental AwarenessProject Management Mechanical Skills Learn a new Skill
Others (as specified below):
Time Commitment: Approximately 6 hours per term, plus time required to gather feedback.
Details: 1x training session per academic year 1x Course Committee Meeting per term 1x feedback form after each meeting Time required to gather feedback from
cohort Students’ Union run Academic
Representative Assembly once a term
Qualification Requirements: No prior experience required
Method of appointment: This position is elected by all students on your course through an online election.
Venue: meetings will normally be held on the relevant campus
Responsible to: students you represent on your course
Operates alongside: Course Rep Coordinator, Vice President Education, other Course Reps, other students
This opportunity profile is designed to give you an idea of what your position with this organisation will involve. It highlights the commitments, skills and benefits you can expect taking up that role.
Role: School Representative Department: Student Voice
Opportunity:
As School Rep you will have the chance to represent the students in your school to academics within your Department, providing a credible voice and bringing about change on a local level.
You will be the principle representative for school related issues of your peers, gathering and reporting this feedback to those who lead your school and influencing the academic life of students at Nottingham Trent University.
As a School Rep you will also be invited to provide feedback through a number of other forums, meetings and events, with a wide range of topics.
Benefits: Transferable skills (see below for further
details) Excellent career experience (e.g.
committee experience) A chance to make real impact in learning
and teaching at Nottingham Trent university,
Access to Students’ Union’s additional skills training programme
For 1st year Undergraduates you can show your engagement in this opportunity via HEAR (Higher Education Academic Review)
Duties and Responsibilities: Make yourself known and accessible to
your peers, including the course reps in your school.
Gather feedback from your peers and the course reps
Present collective feedback to Departmental staff and your Dean in School Exec forum.
Provide online monthly feedback to the Students’ Union
Attend the required introductory training session
Take a lead role in Academic Campaigns, and newsletters.
Take an active role in focus groups that you may be invited to from different sectors of the University.
Training and support:
All School Reps will be given introductory or refresher training explaining the role and responsibilities of a school Rep and covering the basic skills required to undertake the role.
Ongoing support is available throughout the year from the Union’s Course Rep Coordinator and VP Education.
People who like this opportunity may also be interested in:
Course Rep Student Council Member Students’ Union Exec role Part Time Student Officer
Skills Gained: Participating in this opportunity will enable you to develop and practice the following skills (marked)
Written Communication Teamwork Organisational Skills
Verbal Communication Time Management MarketingDelegation Financial Management CitizenshipDecision Making IT Community Awareness
Problem Solving Leadership Cultural Awareness (Equality and Diversity)
Numeracy Languages Physical FitnessNetworking Creativity Environmental AwarenessProject Management Mechanical Skills Learn a new Skill
Others (as specified below):
Time Commitment: Approximately 5 hours per term, plus time required for gathering feedback.
Details: 1x training session per academic year 1x school exec forum Meeting per term 1x feedback form after each meeting Time required to gather feedback from
cohort Students’ Union run Academic
Representatives Assembly once a term
Qualification Requirements: No prior experience required, although it is helpful to have previously been a course rep.
Method of appointment: School reps are now elected online by students within their school.
Venue: meetings will normally be held on the relevant campus
Responsible to: students you represent on your course
Operates alongside: Course Rep Coordinator, Vice President Education, Course Reps, school reps, and other students
Joint Statementbetween Nottingham Trent University and Nottingham Trent Students’ Union
in relation to the School and Course Representative System
IntroductionThe Student Representative System is an important mechanism by which the University and the Students’ Union promote on-going and constructive dialogue for the purpose of enhancing the student academic experience.
This joint statement sets out the principles agreed by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and Nottingham Trent Students’ Union (NTSU) for the oversight and operation of the Student Representative System.
It outlines in broad terms the responsibilities of student representatives and the support they can expect, as part of the joint commitment of NTU and NTSU to continuously improve and enhance the student academic experience.
In addition to the matters included in this statement, it is expected that all parties will adhere to the principles identified in the Student Charter and the Student Code of Behavior and the relevant processes identified in the Academic Standards and Quality Handbook.
This statement will be kept under review by NTU and NTSU, and will be updated as necessary to accommodate agreed improvements and developments. Any queries, please contact [email protected].
OperationThe term Student Representative is used to refer to both School Representatives and Course Representatives. The following section of the statement covers three principal topics:
Responsibilities of Student Representatives University Support for Student Representatives Students’ Union Support for Student Representatives
These are, by necessity, broad statements of commitments and intentions, with the underpinning detail provided as necessary in associated documentation.
Responsibilities of Student Representatives Student Representatives are expected to:
Attend and actively participate in all formal School or course level meetings as appropriate;
Represent the views of their constituent students by gathering, synthesizing and presenting feedback at Course and/or School convened meetings;
Ensure that the views they present are a fair and balanced reflection of the views expressed by the constituent students;
Report back to their students on the outcomes relating to the issues raised; Attend the associated induction events and complete the training provided by NTSU; Support the future enhancement of the student representative system by completing
surveys and attending focus groups organized by NTSU; Provide regular reports to NTSU on the outcomes of their involvement in School and
course meetings, and to log the issues they have identified via the NTSU website.
University Support for Student RepresentativesNTU will:
Manage the election of student representatives, following the guidelines produced in collaboration with NTSU;
Provide relevant information to student representatives about related training and meetings (including documentation necessary for them to participate effectively in course and school meetings);
Ensure that issues raised by student representatives are considered and, where necessary, acted upon for the overall benefit of the student academic experience;
Ensure that Student Representatives receive appropriate feedback on the outcomes of any issues raised;
Actively support the training provided for student representatives;
Students’ Union Support for Student RepresentativesNTSU will:
Provide elected student representatives with an induction into their role and provide appropriate training;
Provide a ‘University Staff Handbook’ to support academic staff in recruiting and working effectively with student representatives;
Support enhancement of the student representative system by conducting surveys and focus groups on student experiences of being a representative and also students’ experiences of being represented;
Support student representatives in collecting, analyzing and reporting on feedback gathered from students, both in relation to their role and in relation to specific university wide learning and teaching initiatives;
Liaise with NTU on the results of analysis and feedback to inform discussion on future developments.
Communication with NTSUCourse Reps are asked on a monthly basis to confirm with NTSU that they are fulfilling their responsibilities and are invited to raise any issues that are affecting their ability to act as a representative for their student cohort. This is a required task and any lack of engagement will be followed up promptly.
Course Leaders are also invited to raise any issues that arise in the operation of the Course Representation System, either with the School Rep, the Course Rep Coordinator or directly with the VP Education and Representation.
Equality and DiversityAn ongoing theme NTSU would like to support is our Equality and Diversity policy. It is in the student’s interest to have equal opportunities and ensure the student community as a whole is heard. The 9 protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and sex. Representatives, NTSU and NTU are expected to uphold the interests of these students, and will be trained on how to implement this policy.
Electing your Course Representatives
This year we would like both the University staff and the Union staff to work together to recruit students to be Course Representatives. The process must be open, transparent and inclusive, whilst also being straightforward to implement. The election process places the emphasis on the decision coming from the students so their peers must vote them in democratically. Any student from that course is allowed to stand for the Course Representative position and all the students within that course can vote. We would like there to be one representative per course, per year and a maximum of three depending on the size of the course (please contact us if you are in any doubt as to how many representatives you should have).
This year, we are pleased to be able to offer two options on how to elect Course Representatives:
Option A: Online ElectionsThis year we are offering the opportunity to conduct elections online via the website. Our system reduces the workload for academic colleagues who would normally lose class time conducting elections and ensures an open and transparent election. If you wish to use this system we simply need to be informed of your intention in advance and then we handle the rest: we will provide all the relevant information to hand out to the students, we collect nominations through an online form, and collect and tally the votes as well. Voting will be open for one week where all students within that course can vote for their representative. If you would like any further information about the online voting module please contact [email protected].
Option B: In-class electionsThe second option is for academics to hold a ballot within the school as has been done in the past: I would urge all courses to do this democratically, with all elections including, by default, RON (Re-Open Nominations) as one of the candidates. This provides another option if students think there are no suitable candidates, then the student can select RON. If RON wins the position, then a by-election should be held a week later.
The table overleaf details the different options of how students can be elected and all the deadlines by which each step needs to be completed. If anything is delayed then please bear in mind that this can lead to delayed training or representatives with less training. Whilst we make every effort to ensure that they have the same experience as other reps, this can lead to ill equipped representatives or gaps in representation.
Step 1: Information / Nomination 22nd September – 5th OctoberWithin this time, staff inform all students about the student representative system. In the past, colleagues have sent an email, inserted slides in lectures, provided handouts, posted on social media/NOW. Templates for all of the above are provided by NTSU and will be available online, at www.trentstudents.org/CourseReps.Please inform NTSU if you believe you require anything other than 1 Rep per course, per year.
Students:• Visit
www.trentstudents.org/CourseReps to complete an online nomination form, including a short statement in support of their nomination
Staff:• Notify NTSU that you intend
to hold an online election• NTSU provides you with
physical/electronic promotional materials containing the relevant information for students
Students:• Visit
www.trentstudents.org/CourseReps to view the Opportunity Profiles.
• Prepare a statement in support of their nomination
Staff:• Circulate Opportunity Profiles• Ask students for a written
statement: where possible please publish these ahead of the election
• Invite students to speak to the group before voting takes place
Step 2: Election / Registration No later than 5pm 17th OctoberPlease note exact dates differ between methods
Within this time, your representatives will be elected by their peers. Please stick to the limit of one Rep per course, per year unless you have previously made arrangements with the VP Education.
Re-Open Nominations (RON) is always included as a candidate. A vote for RON is a vote for ‘none of the above’. If RON wins the election we restart the process. Please contact NTSU for support in this eventuality.
Students elected in class will have to then register as a Rep: this is crucial as they will not be able to be a representative if not registered. Returning Reps have to re-register. Online election winners will be registered automatically. Details of registered Reps will then appear automatically to their classmates when they visit the website.
Students: Visit
www.trentstudents.org/CourseReps to vote from 13th - 17th
October.Staff: NTSU can provide you with
physical and electronic promotional materials containing the relevant information for students to vote in the elections online.
NTSU will process the election, tally the votes, and notify the winners. Results will be published online at www.trentstudents.org.
Students: Prepare a statement in support
of their nomination. Winners register online at
www.trentstudents.org/rep_regStaff: Allow students opportunity to
address the group before voting takes place
Where possible please publish written statements before this.
Hold a secret paper ballot (NTSU can provide ballot papers) in the period 6th – 17th October
Don’t forget RON (Re-Open Nominations) should be listed as a candidate in elections should the electorate consider no candidate is appropriate.
Provide winner with details of how to register online as a Rep – registration must be completed by 5pm 17th October(www.trentstudents.org/rep_reg)
Step 3: Training 20th – 31st OctoberAll registered Reps are invited to mandatory School specific training sessions facilitated by the Union. A number of dates will be provided so that they may fit this around other commitments. An indicative agenda and set of learning outcomes is included overleaf.
