1

Liverpool Hope Student’s Union

Course Representative

Handbook

2012/2013

2

Shauna Fivey

Vice President Education

2012/2013

Dear Course Rep;

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on

becoming a Course Rep. Being a Course Rep is a great

opportunity to shape your course, bring about positive changes

to your department and be involved in the Students’ Union.

This handbook is one of many tools available to help support

you in your role, it is designed to support you and help you

develop your skills as a representative

As a Course Rep, you’ll get to stand up for students and voice

their matters to your department to create an overall better

educational experience.

Thank you for joining our representation and democracy team, I

look forward to working with you. Feel free to contact me

anytime.

Email: vpresed@hope.ac.uk

Telephone Number: 0151 297 3651

3

Rebecca Maynard

Course Rep Officer

2012/2013

Hi!

My name is Rebecca Maynard and I am your Course Rep

Officer of Liverpool Hope Students’ Union.

Congratulations on being voted in. You are in a position of

power, power to change your course to make a better

educational experience for the years to come and for you in

the current year.

I am here if you need extra support and advice on how to be

the best Course Rep possible. I have been a Course Rep for

two years and continuing on for this year.

Being a Course Rep means you can change something with

our help.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Email: courserepofficer@hope.ac.uk

Thanks,

Rebecca.

4

What Is a Course Rep? Course reps:

Are the people you can go to if you have issues or

concerns about your course

Actively and regularly seek students’ opinions on all

aspects of their course, including Library, IT, teaching,

tutors and assessments.

Represent students on key committees within

Departments and also across the University

Receive training from the Students’ Union that enables

them to deal with a range of issues relating to the

experiences of students here at Liverpool Hope.

Work with other course reps to propose changes and to

campaign for improvements

Are fully supported by the Students’ Union and the

University.

Involving students in decisions that affect the operation

and the future development of their courses is valued

really highly by both the University and the Students’

Union. So course reps are a vital link between students

and academic staff.

5

Your Role as a Course Rep What will I do?

As a course representative at Liverpool Hope you will aim to improve

students’ education, through representing what students on your course

want to University staff in your department.

You will:

• Gain experience in public speaking, problem solving and team working

• Campaign to improve education

• Tell students in your department what decisions are made

• Represent students’ views on Staff Student Liaison Committees

[SSLCs]

• Be a central part of the Students’ Union and work with Officers, other

Reps to engage students with national issues affecting education

What will I get out of being a Course Rep?

• The unique opportunity to improve your course

• Chance to meet other Reps and students in your department

• Great way of being involved with the Students’ Union

• A full training programme

• Opportunity to expand your skills

• Understanding of how your department and the university works

• Prospective employers want to see more these days than just a

qualification. If you can show you’ve done something outside the

parameters of your course then this will prove you can juggle different

responsibilities.

6

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Recognise student issues and suggestions by consulting,

involving and reporting back to students.

• Representing the views of all the students on your Course

whether you agree with the opinions expressed or not.

• Attending, participating in, and raising student issues at

SSLC

• Giving feedback to students and the Students’ Union on

the matters that were discussed at your meetings.

• Attending training

• Seeking to bring attention to and minimise the impact of

change on students and ensuring the student voice is

considered in decisions.

• Liaising with other Course Representatives and Students’

Union on issues affecting students on your Course

• Providing a contact point between staff and students.

• Motivating the students you represent by encouraging

their involvement and action in the decision-making process

• Promoting Equal Opportunities.

• Complying with the University’s Rules and Regulations for

Students.

7

What issues might come up?

• Assessment & feedback

Lack of prompt/detailed feedback on work.

• Resources

Teaching areas or library/I.T may not meet students’ needs.

• Anonymous marking

If work is not marked anonymously then it could be marked

unfairly due to predetermined decisions or discrimination.

• Teaching methods

Learning styles not suiting students, lack of hand-outs

• Module Registration:

Difficulty to get onto preferred modules, poor guidance for

students in choosing their modules

•Hidden Course Costs

Students could be expected to pay for course hand-outs, other

materials, placement travel costs and field trips are they

reasonable? Is there notice given of these costs?

8

How do I help Other Students?

When confronted with a situation please consider the questions below and then work your way through the Issue decision tree so as to resolve it.

·

·

Does it affect more than one

student?

Yes

Is it urgent?

Yes

Speak to the relvant

programme Leader

No

Bring issue up at SSLC

No

Advise the student to see

the SU

Do you have an issue?

How you present an issue is vital to how effectively it is resolved; the more detail the better.

How were you made aware of this issue?

Has a complaint been made? Have you been approached by students?

Why is this an issue?

Does it affect teaching quality? Does it impact on the student’s ability to learn?

Where is this issue?

Does the issue affect one one programme/the year group?

Who does the issue affect?

Does the issue affect undergraduate or postgraduates, males or females, home or international students, mature students, campus-based students, distance learners?

When is it an issue?

Does the issue only become a problem during lectures/seminars, when it relates to examinations/assessed work, a particular tutor, a particular area of work?

9

Where to take an Issue?

If an issue needs dealing with quickly, it should be brought to the attention of

the apporopriate staff member.

The SSLC

The SSLC stands for “Student Staff Liaison Committee” and is basically

a meeting between senior staff and student representatives to discuss

what’s going on in that department. Every Course rep is automatically a

member of their Department’s SSLC. SSLCs work differently in different

departments but they will all have Class Reps, course co-ordinators

(who organise the different modules), lecturers and other members of

staff on them. The SSLC will usually be held twice a semester. Make

sure you do attend, as this is the most important way for you to

communicate directly with senior staff and to raise issues and concerns.

The SSLC will discuss all and any aspects of academic life within their

Department.

Course Leader Head of Department

Staff Student

Liaison Committee

(SSLC)

The Student’s

Union

Student

Sounding

Board Focus groups

Course

Representative

Meetings

10

Conduct in meetings

It can be intimidating walking into a room full of your lecturers, supervisors and people who you respect and who are widely respected in their field. You must remember though, that you know something that they don’t and cannot. You know the real student perspective on how the department is run, and the real student experience. They rely on you for this. However, for a good student rep, the actual meeting is not the first step in making changes…

Find out when your meetings

are. Ensure that at least an oral

report from you is a standing

item on the agenda.

Let your students know that

a meeting is coming up and

make sure you have

researched whether there is

anything that you should

bring up.

Mention some points that

you intend to bring up,

which may generate more

feedback than just an

open question.

Arrange a meeting with your

other student reps to discuss

any issues that you’d like to

bring up, if you know you have

each other’s’ support before

the meeting you will feel far

more confident.

Remain professional and focused,

never shout or target a particular

member of staff. Sometimes you may

disagree with the majority of your

cohort but you must still raise the issue

as if you felt as strongly as they did

about it.

Find out when your meetings

are. Ensure that at least an

oral report from you is a

standing item on the agenda.

Before any meeting ask

yourself two questions.

1. What do I hope to be able

to contribute to the

meeting?

2. What do I hope to be able

to get out of this meeting?

Always be polite, positive,

constructive and assertive

Be prompt, even early and

take your papers with you.

Arriving early is an excellent

way of having informal chats

with people, getting settled in

and making yourself

comfortable

Avoid interrupting others to

make your contribution and

don’t let people interrupt you. If

someone does, point out that

you would like to finish your

comments before people give

their suggestions.

Support other speakers, if

someone’s argument seems

unclear, try to rephrase their

point but try not to be

patronising.

11

How do I know what my course mates think?

Before you go to a meeting as a course rep, you need to gather as wide a range of

opinions as you can. Remember, you are there to represent the views of the whole

group whether or not you agree with them all. There are several different ways of

communicating with the students you are representing;

Facebook Email

Survey Monkey

Twitter

Notice Board Focus Groups

Talk to your

classmates

Blogs/Wordpress

12

Have your say,

Be the change,

Be a Course Rep