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A guide for Course Reps at DSU
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The Course Rep Guide De Montfort Students‟ Union
13/14
www.demontfortstudents.co.uk/getinvolved/reps
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Contents –
3 - Key Contacts
6 - What’s the Role of a Course Rep?
9 – Where do I fit in to the system?
10 – Meetings you attend.
12 – Being the Best!
15 – What about Faculty Reps?
17 – Faculty Guides
19 – Art, Design and Humanities
21 – Business and Law
23 - Health and Life Sciences
25 – Technology
27 – DMU Staff
29 – Training Dates
30 - Accreditation
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Key Contacts –
Some of the key people to know who support you as
Course reps will be:-
Caitlin Bloom –
Caitlin is your Deputy President
Education. She leads the union in all
things academic. If you ever need
some support or advice drop her an
email or come in to the Students‟
Union to see her.
Ben Atkins –
Ben is the Student Engagement
Coordinator at DSU. It is his role to
help administer and support the
course reps. He will also be running
training and be the one who sends
you useful information and
guidance. If you keep a look out for
emails from Ben, you won‟t go far
wrong.
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Depending on your faculty you will receive meeting reminders,
minutes and paperwork from a set contact. These can be found
below, and more information is in the „Faculty Guides‟ towards
the end!
Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities
Annmarie Mann
School of Nursing and Midwifery,
Jacque Day or Wendy Norton
([email protected] or [email protected])
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Kally Blow
Faculty of Business and Law
Maggie Coultas
Faculty of Technology
Marisa Haynes
For any issues that you don‟t feel comfortable dealing with, you should
signpost them to contact the Students‟ Union Welfare Centre
themselves, the details are below.
DSU, First Floor, Campus Centre Building,
Tel: 01162 576307
Mon - Wed: 09.30 - 15.45
Thurs: 09.30 - 16.30
Fri: 13.00 - 15.45
www.demontfortstudents.com/welfare
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Reps are strong
advocates for the
advancement of a
quality learning
experience at
DMU.” Professor Andy Downton
Pro vice Chancellor
On Course Reps
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o, you have stuck your neck out, put yourself forward and
shouted out
„Fear not, I shall be your Course Rep‟
But what does it actually involve? Well, here is where our
story begins....
“Okay then, what is a Course Rep?”
A Course Rep is you, an extraordinary student who wants to
be involved and at the front of making positive change to
their course and their university experience.
The Course Rep system exists to give all students at De
Montfort University the means to voice their opinion - good
or bad - on the standards and quality of the education
they receive. It ensures that the University seek your views to
help determine the future direction of your education. The
system is split up into a few different roles, Course Reps,
Faculty Reps and Student Reps. For now we will just talk
about Course Reps.
“So as a Course Rep, what‟s my Job?”
An excellent question, in its simplest terms, your job is to
speak to your course mates, all of them, not just ones you sit
with and find out what they think about the course and
university life. By doing this you can get find out about the
good, the bad and the ugly of your course.
S
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“That‟s all well and good, but what do I do with this
knowledge”
Another fantastic question, this is where you get to don your
Course Rep cape and head to one of your termly
meetings. As a Course Rep you have responsibility to
attend your Programme Management Board (PMB)
meetings and also Student Staff Consultative Committees
(SSCC). They are not as scary as the sound I assure you.
These are meetings where you get to sit down with key
decision makers in your course along side other Course
Reps and tell them what‟s what about your course. This
might sound abit scary, but remember, no one in the world
knows what its like to study your course but you and the
students you represent. So use all that knowledge you have
to make it the best course it can be.
“Well, that sounds really interesting, but what kind of things
will I have to talk about?”
3 exceptional questions! Are you actually a DMU student?!
Of course I kid, but it‟s a great point. There are certain types
of issues which are perfect for Course Reps and other which
you can defer to other people. Here is a very basic way to
understand what is within you role and what is not within
your role.
Any issue which is academically based affects a
large group of people and isn‟t involving sensitive
data can be discussed at your SSCC meetings it is
your job.
It is your job to give this information to DSU so we can
track these and make sure they get solved.
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This role is vital
and holds great
importance in
keeping your
education
quality Caitlin Bloom,
Deputy President Education
On Course Reps
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If an issue involves a personal problem or is of a
sensitive nature, you should signpost the student to
Students‟ Union, this is not your job to solve.
If you are even unsure just let someone know and they will
be able to help you.
“Okay, I think I understand that. But where do I fit in?”
As a Course Rep you are the coal in the steam engine that
is Student Representation. You are speaking to real students
and talking about real experiences. You bring this insight to
SSCC and PMB meetings and help to shape the
educational experience for your course.
So issues that you raise might affect more than just your
course, in this case, you would feed it up to the Faculty
Reps. It‟s their role to take this information to similar types of
meetings as you, but at a Faculty level.
Still with us? Good. There will be some issues which will be
too big for just the Faculty, these are university wide. That is
why you have an Academic Board Rep and your Deputy
President Education, Caitlin. It‟s their job to represent these
issues at a university level. Academic Board is the highest
level of academic decision making and can shape the
institution as a whole.
„Is there a role description then? That way I know what‟s
expected of me?‟
Absolutely there is, but in a nutshell DSU expects you to...
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Complete the basic training session and/or attend
the annual Course Rep Conference.
Attend at least 3 meetings a year. A SSCC, a PMB
and a Better University Forum.
To have conversations with your course mates to find
out their experience and also feedback your
experiences and outcomes from meetings you
attend.
To keep DSU in the loop with what you‟re doing, you
can do this by filling in an online report form on the
website once a month.
There is plenty of opportunity to be more involved with
DSU and the Rep system, but those are the basic we
expect in order to be a certified Course Rep. But you
can find the job description online @
www.demontfortstudents.co.uk/getinvolved/reps
„You Mentioned SSCCs and PMB meetings then... What
are they?‟
SSCC‟s are meetings on your course and in your
department. These are the key places you get to speak
up and have your voice heard. You will get an email
from your Faculty contact (who can be found at the
front or in the Faculty Guides) letting you know when
your meeting is and asking for any items for the agenda.
The agenda is just the order in which issues are
discussed. All you need to do is let them know what you
want to talk about and turn up and talk. University staff
really appreciate you feeding back like this, so the
better quality the feedback, the more they can
understand and develop the course.
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The PMB is another type of meeting where you get to
hear more about the running of your course and
programme, ask questions are raise issues and also get
feedback on changes which are being made.
The key things to do for these meetings are:
Be prepared with evidence and discussion points
but submitting them early.
Speak up in the meetings; University staffs want to
hear the thoughts of your course mates.
Report issues that have been raised via the online
feedback form to DSU.
Report back to your class what you have
discussed and any outcomes.
By attending these meetings and following those steps you
will become a certified Course Rep at the end of the year,
„Certified? So I get a certificate?‟
Absolutely! Here at DSU rewarding and recognising the
effort you put is in crucial to us. This year it is possible to be a
certified Course Rep just by doing the things we discussed
earlier, however you have an opportunity to attend a series
of other Course Rep related training sessions and events to
become an even better course rep. These sessions will set
you up with loads of skills to be a brilliant Course Rep but
also transferable skills to make you an incredible graduate.
So make sure you get involved.
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We also host an end of year celebration which every
course rep will be invited to, so keep your eyes open for
that!
„That all sounds brilliant, how do I make sure I am the
best Rep I can be?‟
It‟s good to hear such enthusiasm from a new Rep! The
best thing you can do is follow our...
„Course Rep Super Star Check List‟
1. Once you have registered as a Rep ask your tutor if
you can introduce yourself to your class mates. Either
by standing up and waving all crazy like or sending
out an email.
2. Attend the DSU Course Rep Conference. This is an
introduction to Repping, a chance to meet other
Reps, quiz some university big wigs and elect your
Faculty Reps. Sign up online!
3. Put your key dates in your calendar. By adding your
meeting dates and other exciting events and sessions
your calendar you won‟t rely on reminder emails and
can be better prepared.
4. Speak to your students. This is the only way you will be
a successful Course Rep. If your having trouble with
this, check out our „Ways to be Amazing Guide‟
online.
5. “Always be prepared”. The scouts had this one down
but you need to as well. By being prepared and
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proactive for meetings you can really help to
validate the points you are making, if you ever need
help evidencing and issue just give us at DSU a shout.
6. Attend as much stuff as you have time for, because
you can gain some great experience, meet loads of
interesting people and can make an even bigger
impact at DMU.
7. Every time you work on an issue, let DSU know. This
only takes a minute and it‟s all done online. All you
need to do is fill in the form online. That way we can
help to support you.
„So if I do all that, I‟ll be making De Montfort University a
better place to be?‟
That‟s the general idea. By putting yourself forward to
speak on behalf of students and giving up a few hours a
term you will be making the experience for students here at
DMU be better than ever. Your work is appreciated from
everyone here at DSU and DMU from the timid 1st year
getting excellent feedback on their coursework to the Vice
Chancellor who‟s university is flying up the leagues tables
due to its excellent academic experience you help create.
„What if I want to be more involved in making positive
change at DMU?‟
Well if you have the taste for improving the world then we
have loads more ways for you to get involved. All you need
to do is keep on reading...
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A Guide to Faculty Reps
Being a Faculty Rep involves a lot of the similar stuff as
before, however with responsibility for an entire Faculty,
with different meetings to attend and different roles to fulfil.
„Well this sounds really interesting, how do I become a
Faculty Rep?‟
In order to become a Faculty Rep you must attend the
annual Course Rep Conference. This is an afternoon event
held on the 23rd October. This is where we give every
Course Rep an introduction to being a Rep and offer a day
of networking, training and discussion about the year
ahead. This is also where we hold the Faculty Rep elections.
What you need to do is decide you want to put yourself
forward to be a Faculty Rep, stand up and say why you
would make a good Faculty Rep and then the students at
the conference will vote for you, if they think you would be
a good rep.
„Okay, I can do that, what makes me different from a
Course Rep?‟
Well, firstly you would be one of the key representatives for
your Faculty; in total we elect 6 Faculty Reps per Faculty.
Your job is to speak and support your Course Reps, gather
their feedback and issues and when they are relevant take
them to 3 types of meeting. These are FACs, FLTCs and
Student Councils.
FAC stand for Faculty Academic Committee. This is where
Faculty wide issues are discussed with senior members of
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Faculty staff such as the Dean. You would attend this
meeting with a member of the DSU Executive. You can find
out which in the Faculty Guide at the back of the booklet.
They will help you prepare for the meeting and support you
in raising any issues or topics you wish. Near the time of the
meeting they will contact you and meet you for a coffee
and a chat about the meeting so you‟re happy to attend.
FLTCs are Faculty Learning and Teaching Committees, its
main focus is to set and discuss the Faculty‟s strategy for
learning, teaching and assessment. So quite a big deal,
again you will be support by a member of the DSU Exec to
make sure you can have meaningful impact on the
meeting.
Student Council is a level of decision making and prioritising
committee within DSU. It decides how the Students‟ Union
uses its resources and chooses what projects and
campaigns to run. At these meetings you get to discuss
ideas and plans with other students and ultimate decide
what and how the Union does what it does. This is really
exciting as not only are you making big exciting things
happen, you are also making sure your elected Executive
Officers are doing their job. As this meeting you can ask
question about the Union, about work plans or projects and
find out what‟s going on. The thing to remember is your
Executive Officers work for you, so you get to make sure
they are doing a good job.
„That sounds pretty high level stuff! Is there any extra
training sessions for me?‟
We wouldn‟t leave you high and dry! Have you not realised
that yet? We‟ll offer an extra training session for all Reps
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after the conference. We will also arrange for you to have
a conversation with the Dean of your Faculty and the Pro
Vice Chancellor on a termly basis. You will be fully
supported throughout this process by your Deputy President
Education, the Student Engagement Coordinator and a
host of Executive Officers, DMU & DSU staff and Course
Reps. This is a fantastic opportunity to input into high level
decision making in your Faculty and shape the academic
future for students.
Fancy leading
De Montfort
Students‟ Union?
Ask your Executive
Officers about how
they did it.
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The Course Rep
system exists to
give all students
at De Montfort
University the
means to
Voice their
opinions
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Welcome to the Faculty Guides These are for information about your Faculty, so key
contacts a who‟s who of support and anything else which is
useful.
Let‟s begin with you Creative types then shall we?
Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities
This is for all you cool and creative
types, your lead Executive Officer is
the Incredible Sarah Lister; she is your
Vice President Welfare. As the
Executive Officer for your Faculty it‟s
her job to support the Faculty Reps in
all their meetings and make sure that
everything is working as it should.
This is Barbara Matthews, She is Dean of
your Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
and the key decision maker, you will
hopefully see her about and she will be
the one with her ear to the ground
listening to all your feedback to help
develop the Faculty and the student
experience for you. She will chair some
of the meetings you may be involved in.
You will also receive emails from Annmarie Mann
([email protected]). Her role is to be the Faculty Course
Rep Coordinator. She will keep you up to date on your
meeting dates and any papers you may require. So if you
see an email from her, you know it‟s important.
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Faculty of Business and Law
If you‟re an aspiring Lawyer, Wall
Street Banker or Manager in the
making, you have the pleasure of
working with Ian Warrington as your
lead Officer. Ian is El Presidente and
the leader of the Students‟ Union.
He will be on hand to assist in
making the student voice as loud
and clear as possible.
This is Professor David Wilson; this
outstanding gentleman is the Dean
of the Faculty of Business and Law
and also the Deputy Vice
Chancellor. He handles all of the
business and academic side of
your Faculty and is keen to keep
the Faculty at the cutting edge. To
do this he needs your feedback to
help shape the future for DMU and
Business and Law.
You will also receive emails from Maggie Coultas
([email protected] ). Her role is to be the Faculty Course
Rep Coordinator. She will keep you up to date on your
meeting dates and any papers you may require. So if you
see an email from her, you know it‟s important.
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Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
For all the life savers, societal
researchers and brain boxes you
have the dashing Chris Mutton as
your Faculty lead. He is your Vice
President Student Activities. As the
key office contact for your Faculty
he will support your Faculty Reps and
make sure that your voices get
heard by the right people.
This is Professor Mandy Ashton, she is the
Dean of Health and Life Sciences. As your
Dean she is responsible for all the business
going on and will be waiting for all your
thoughts, ideas and excitement to be
past up to her by your Reps, Faculty Reps
and Executive Officers. You will hopefully
see her about and have a chance to ask
her some questions at the Course Rep
Conference.
You will also receive emails from Kally Blow ([email protected] ).
Her role is to be the Faculty Course Rep Coordinator. She will
keep you up to date on your meeting dates and any papers you
may require. So if you see an email from her, you know it‟s
important.
If you are in the school of Nursing and Midwifery, you will have a
slightly different approach. This is because we realise that you will
be out and about all over the place saving lives and doing what
you do best, so you will be contacted by Jacqui Day or Wendy
Norton ([email protected] or [email protected])
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Faculty of Technology
Now for all you techno heads, building your holograms and
designing clever computer programmes to outsource your
Rep jobs! I think not!
Your Students‟ Union Executive
Officer is Alice Wilson; she is the
wonderful Vice President Media and
Communication. It is her job to
support the Faculty Rep in all there
meetings and make sure that
everything is working as it should.
This is Professor Andy Collop, He is the
Dean of the Faculty of Technology
you will hopefully see him about and
he will be popping his head out of
the trench to capture all your
feedback to help develop the
Faculty and the student experience
for you. He will also be involved in
some of your Faculty meetings.
You will also receive emails from Marisa Haynes
([email protected]). Her role is to be the Faculty Course
Rep Coordinator. She will keep you up to date on your
meeting dates and any papers you may require. So if you
see an email from her, you know it‟s important.
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„So that‟s who‟s out to help me?‟
Exactly, if you also count Professor
Dominic Shellard, the Vice
Chancellor.
Andy Downton, the Pro Vice
Chancellor...
And the entire Students‟ Union.
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Last year DSU
recruited over
400 Course
Representatives
across the
University.
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For support involving the course rep system, help or advice
with anything you should contact DSUs Student
Engagement Coordinator, Ben Atkins.
You can email him [email protected], ring him
0116 255 5576 or come and see him on the 1st floor of the
Campus Centre in room 1.16.
Ben is here to help you with anything from the smallest
question to the large problem.
Everyone is here to support you and make sure your
experience as a Course Rep is the best it can be. So if you
are ever in doubt just log onto the website, have a look
round, come into the Union or drop us an email. Remember
your first points of contact should be either
Caitlin, Ben or your Faculty Rep
„I think I‟m starting to understand... Can you tell me all the
dates I need to know then?‟
We can‟t tell you all of them now, as some of the meetings
haven‟t been decided yet, these will get sent to your
university email inbox, so make sure you check it regularly.
However the first and important dates you need to know
are...
Course Rep Conference – This starts at 13.30pm on
Wednesday the 23rd of October on the 2rd floor of the
Campus Centre. Make sure you register online; this will
encompass your training and some really exciting
workshops. Sign up here –
https://dsucourserepcon.eventbrite.co.uk/
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If you can‟t make it to the conference, make sure you
attend one of the catch up sessions between 28th October
and 31st October. Ever rep has to complete the training,
times and rooms can be found below. There is also two
other sessions you can attend to improve your Course Rep
Knowledge. Each session is only an hour long.
Monday October 28th 10am – 11am – HU.1.49 – Course Rep Catch Up Training 1pm – 2pm – HU 1.49 – Your First Meeting 5pm – 6pm HU 1.49 – Communication 101 Tuesday October 29th 10am – 11am EM 6.11 – Communication 101 1pm – 2pm HU 1.47 – Course Rep Catch Up Training 5pm – 6pm HU 1.47 – Your First Meeting Wednesday October 30th
10am – 11am HU 1.51 – Your First Meeting 5pm – 6pm HU 1.51 – Course Rep Catch Up Training Thursday October 31st 10am – 11am – EM 6.11 – Your First Meeting 1pm – 2pm HU 1.51 – Communication 101 5pm – 6pm HU 1.49 – Course Rep Catch Up Training
If you cannot attend any of these sessions please get in
touch with DSU as it is crucial you attend at least the
„Course Rep Catch Up Training‟
There will be options for further Training throughout the year,
watch your Student emails for more info.
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„And finally, how do I go about making sure I get my
certificate?‟
As we said early, you are expected to attend meetings. At
these meetings you will just need to sign in to show you
were there and contributed.
We will also need you to prove you have spoken to
students across the year... This can be anything! A photo of
a notebook with feedback in it, a copy of emails or a
screenshot from a facebook group. Just something that tell
us you have spoken to students.
Finally we need you to write a little 500 word reflective
piece on being a Course Rep. This should be completed
between February and May.
You will be able to upload of all of this onto the DSU
website to avoid any annoying paperwork going missing or
what have you.
“Anything else I need to know before I start my exciting
journey into Course and Faculty Representation?”
If you keep your eyes on your student email address for
reminders, news letters and other exciting information and
attend the Course Rep Conference and training you will be
fully prepared for starting your adventure. Good luck and
we look forward to working with you.
The DSU Team.
www.Demontfortstudents.co.uk/getinvolved/reps
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www.demontfortstudents.co.uk/getinvolved/reps
