The Code of Practice on Student Representation
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Aberystwyth University is committed to receiving and responding to student feedback and working in partnership with students in order to improve the quality of their experience within the institution. Feedback is gathered in a variety of ways, for example, through student evaluation questionnaires, within Staff-Student Consultative Committees, through the personal tutorial system, and by informal contacts between students and academic staff.
1.2 The formal contact provided by a Staff-Student Consultative Committee is recognised as an increasingly important channel of communication between students and University staff.
1.3 For the purposes of this Code of Practice, the phrase ‘Staff-Student Consultative Committee’ is used to describe the various departmental committees which provide a formal opportunity for Student Representatives to give feedback to their department(s).
1.4 Student academic representation and feedback at all levels within Aberystwyth University is the responsibility of the Academic Affairs Committee, which reports to the Senate, and works in partnership with Aberystwyth Guild of Students.
2. PURPOSE
2.1 This Code of Practice is intended to be used by departments to provide a framework for formal meetings between staff and students to help them engage in constructive dialogue and non-threatening feedback between the two parties.
2.2 It is recognised that the format for these meetings varies between departments, and what follows may need to be tailored according to the needs of individual departments. The Student Representation & Experience Co-ordinator (SREC) should be informed of any variations to the Code of Practice that departments wish to implement.
3. STUDENT REPRESENTATION LIFECYCLE
3.1 All student representative activity undertaken should relate to 5 stages of the representation lifecycle;
• Awareness raising and recognition of the role
• Nominations and elections
• Training for the role
• Undertaking the role
• Monitoring and reviewing effectiveness
3.2 Responsibilities for the activities at each stage of the lifecycle are defined in sections 4-7 below.
4. STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES’ RESPONSIBILITIES
4.1 Student Representatives should make every effort to gather representative feedback from their constituents to present to their department. It is their responsibility to present the views of students to staff and to report back to students the outcomes of Staff-Student Consultative Committee meetings.
4.2 Student Representatives are expected to present constructive feedback to their departments and work actively with their Departments to find solutions to any problems encountered.
4.3 Student Representatives will attend training sessions on student representation provided by the Guild of Students. This is co-ordinated by the Student Representation & Experience Co-ordinator, based in the Guild of Students.
5. DEPARTMENTAL RESPONSIBILITIES
5.1 Heads of Departments should nominate members of staff to act as the contact person for all Taught and Research student representation activities and inform the SREC.
5.2 The Department should ensure that where possible, elections are held to appoint student representatives. Guidance on this can be found in section 7. The SREC will send all information about the election process to the departmental contact.
5.3 It is the responsibility of each Academic Department to review annually its Staff-Student Consultative Committee, to assure the quality with regard to format, conduct and effectiveness. This should be presented to the Departmental Learning and Teaching Committee, and in turn the Departmental Board. This information should be made available to the SREC.
5.4 Departments should arrange an introductory meeting plus a minimum of one scheduled committee meeting per Semester. The first meeting of each year should include a short introduction to the purpose, powers and procedures of the Staff-Student Consultative Committee.
5.5 Student Representatives should be provided with adequate access to their department’s administrative facilities, including printing and photocopying to produce appropriate materials, for example, discussion documents and requests for agenda items.
5.6 Adequate and accessible space on notice boards and Blackboard should be made available to Student Representatives.
6. The Student Representation & Experience Co-ordinator
6.1 The SREC will maintain the Student Representative database, and be responsible for communicating relevant information to all student representatives and staff.
6.2 The SREC will be responsible for providing training and support for student representatives, including ensuring all relevant information is provided either online or in paper format.
6.3 The SREC will provide advice and support to staff working with all student representation structures.
6.4 The Pro Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for learning and teaching, will facilitate a meeting of the elected officers of the Guild and the SREC prior to each meeting of the Academic Affairs Committee and Senate in order to familiarise Representatives with the agenda and discuss current issues.
7. ELECTIONS AND COMMITTEES
7.1 Each department should have a Staff-Student Consultative Committee for Undergraduate students and, where appropriate, for Postgraduates. Committee membership should include a minimum of one Student Representative for each year/level as appropriate. Departments should allow ‘alternates’ for their Student Representatives.
7.2 Where student numbers are high, departments may wish to establish a Staff-Student Consultative Committee for major programmes of study.
7.3 Departments should hold a properly constituted election, by ballot, for all Student Representatives. The SREC shall issue election guidelines on an annual basis. Special provisions will be taken into account for appropriate groups of students (e.g. distance learners).
7.4 The term of office for Student Representatives will run for a full 12 months from the date of election (unless the student leaves the University). This will ensure that representatives are still in post for any meetings prior to teaching week 4.
7.5 The dates for closing nominations and for elections are at the discretion of departments. However, there should be a period of at least one week between nominations opening and closing, and a sufficient period of time for circulation of information before the day(s) of election. Elections should be completed by the end of week four of the first semester.
7.6 Students must be registered on a programme for which the specific Staff-Student Consultative Committee is responsible to be eligible to stand for or vote in elections.
7.7 The Returning Officers for any election to a Staff-Student Consultative Committee shall normally be the designated departmental contacts with responsibility for that Staff-Student Consultative Committee.
7.8 At the close of nominations, if the number of candidates for any given position(s) is equal to or less than the number of positions, such candidates should be declared elected and this result publicised and made known to the SREC to ensure that the student(s) are included in student representation training.
7.9 Where the number of candidates for any given position(s) exceeds the number of positions an election will be held.
7.10 If, at the end of the election process, any vacancies remain, the Staff-Student Consultative Committee may choose to co-opt further Student Representatives in order to fill the remaining places.
7.11 Information about the student representation system should be provided by departments as part of their induction material and should be included in departmental student handbooks. Elections for first year undergraduate and postgraduate Student Representatives should be announced as part of departmental induction for students. It is also recommended that the SREC should be invited to give a presentation to new students at the beginning of the academic year.
7.12 The names of all Student Representatives should be sent by the departmental contact to the SREC no later than week 6 of the first semester.
7.13 An Extraordinary Meeting can be called by the Department or by a majority of Student Representatives, with ten working days’ notice.
7.14 A staff code of conduct should be drawn up by the SREC as part of their election guidelines to ensure that departmental staff members only play an administrative role in the elections.
8. AGENDA AND MINUTES OF THE MEETINGS
8.1 A draft agenda and a request for additional items for the agenda should be posted on the appropriate departmental notice board(s) at least ten working days in advance of the meeting. It is the responsibility of the Student Representatives to collect items from students and to submit them to the Chair of the committee.
8.2 Minutes should be distributed to all Student Representatives as soon as possible, and normally within ten working days of the committee meeting.
8.3 A copy of the minutes should be placed on the appropriate departmental notice board(s) and a copy kept by the department for audit purposes. It is recommended that electronic copies are made available where possible, e.g via Blackboard.
8.4 There should be an automatic reporting mechanism from the Staff-Student Consultative Committee to the relevant departmental committees, to ensure that the department gives adequate consideration to the points raised by Student Representatives. SSCC minutes should always appear as an agenda item at departmental Learning and Teaching Committee meetings.
8.5 Departments should ensure that they have feedback systems in place to ensure that departmental responses to issues raised by Staff-Student Consultative Committees are communicated to all students in the department. The feedback system should be made clear to students in departmental handbooks.
9. TERMS OF REFERENCE
9.1 Staff-Student Consultative Committees exist to give students and staff the opportunity to raise and comment on issues of concern related to their academic programmes and activities.
9.2 Staff-Student Consultative Committees might wish to consider areas such (but not exclusive to):
• curriculum development;
• the organisation of programmes;
• departmental/faculty arrangements;
• timetabling issues;
• resources, e.g. availability of teaching and learning materials, library and IT provision;
• communications;
• employability;
• social events.
Any item which cannot be addressed directly by the SSCC should be forwarded to the appropriate committee for consideration.
9.3 Staff-Student Consultative Committee minutes should not, as a matter of principle, refer to individual staff or students.
9.4 The Head of Department has overall responsibility for student representation but will delegate responsibility for the administration of student representation to designated departmental contacts. The responsibilities of the designated departmental contacts will include ensuring that elections for Student Representatives take place and that all eligible students are given every opportunity to participate. To facilitate liaison and support, the name of the designated departmental contact should be forwarded to the SREC, who works in partnership with the Pro Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for learning and teaching.
10. COMPOSITION OF STAFF-STUDENT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEES
10.1 As a general principle, Staff-Student Consultative Committees should have a minimum of 1 student member per year/level of provision, as appropriate.
10.2 Staff members should represent a range of functions.
10.3 There should be a reasonable balance between staff and student members, but as a matter of principle staff representatives should not exceed the number of student representatives.
10.4 Staff-Student Consultative Committees should ensure that they consider the learning experience of all students on relevant programmes and that committee membership should where possible reflect the diversity of the student population.
10.5 Where it is considered unnecessary or inappropriate to have specific representatives, committees should ensure that the needs and experiences of such groups are considered during any discussions.
10.6 Where a programme is delivered entirely by open or distance learning, an appropriate (e.g. electronic) discussion group should be established to facilitate discussion of the issues.
Professor Martin Jones
Pro Vice-Chancellor
June 2010