Academic representative Faculty REP training Roles and Responsibilities

What we will cover: What is the purpose of Faculty Reps? 1. WHAT IS THE FACULTY REP ROLE What is the purpose of Faculty Reps? What are your responsibilities? Where Faculty Reps fit within University/SU structures 2. HOW DOES THE ROLE WORK IN PRACTICE Who will you work with? What meetings will you attend? What support is provided?

Congratulations on becoming a Faculty Rep! This short training module is to help think through the basics of being a faculty rep. This training will not provide specifics around your department or faculty, this context will be provided by academic staff within your faculty. By completing this training you should gain: - A better understanding of the faculty rep role. - Where you fit within wider University and Students’ Union structures. - What support exists for you over the year.

Faculty Representative What is a Faculty Rep? Role Title: Faculty Representative Role Purpose: Faculty Reps are involved in enhancing the student educational experience across the Faculty Community. And representing students views through the Faculty Student Staff Committee (FSSC) and other Faculty Level Meetings.

What are my responsibilities? Your responsibilities can be roughly divided into 3 areas. 1. Admin: Complete General Academic Rep and Faculty Rep Training. Undertake relevant reading, research and preparation needed for Faculty meetings. 2. Meetings & Representation: Attend Faculty Student Staff Committee meetings (FSSCs) to represent the views of students from your department. Work with your department, faculty and the students’ union to improve/challenge educational issues within the University. Attend wider faculty committees, such as Learning & Teaching committees and Faculty executive boards. 3. Communication: Communicate what happened at your Faculty Student Staff Committee to your department student staff committee (SSCs) and tell students and department reps what decisions were made. Proactively communicate with department reps and students to gain ideas, feedback and opinions on Faculty level challenges. Feed the student voice into Faculty Level agenda setting and policy.

What should you and should not bring up at a FSCC? Whilst there is no concrete list of what is and is not a topic for discussion at an FSSC, the following might give you a good idea to structure your thoughts: Example discussion topics: Issues that connect multiple departments, such as challenges for dual degree students. Wider topics or best practice from your department such as feedback, assessment or use of MOLE. Improving learning and teaching or curriculum diversity. Discussion on shared facilities or services, such as the library, study spaces. Collaborative Projects or ideas, such as cross cutting career events, festivals or consultation discussions. Examples topics that may need to go elsewhere: Department specific issues: Such as access to a single department building or a specific course/module. This should be discussed at a dept SSC. Complaints of staff/individual student issues: This should be resolved locally through your personal tutor, complaints procedure or the SU advice centre. Campaigns: For example, such as the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) may require more support from the Students’ Union. If you’re not sure, just ask! You can be signposted in the right direction.

Learning & Teaching Committee Where do Faculty Reps exist within University and Students’ Union structures? University Senior Management University Learning & Teaching Committee Faculty Learning & Teaching Committee Faculty Research & Innovation Committee Faculty Student Staff Committee (FSSC) Undergrad Dept SSC Postgrad Dept SSC As a Faculty Rep your main meeting is the FSSC. From this meeting you will be taking ideas back to department SSCs or forwarding ideas to wider Faculty meetings. Course Reps Course Reps

Academic Representation Structure at Sheffield: University Wide Meetings (Learning & Teaching Committee etc…) In a Students’ Union context this means you are the link between course reps and the Students’ Union Education Committee and Education Officer. Students’ Union Education Officer Education Committee Faculty Student Staff Committees (FSSCs) Faculty Reps Departmental Student Staff Committees (SSCs) Course Reps Dept. Societies Student Union Councillor Department Reps

How do I communicate between these groups? It can feel quite overwhelming as to how you are supposed to effectively communicate between all these various groups. Here are our top tips: Communicating with Course Reps and Dept SSCs: Ask to attend dept SSC meetings and to provide specific faculty updates so that course reps and department staff are kept up to date. If you can’t attend the department SSC, it might be useful to share any key updates with either the department SSC secretary or failing that, communicate it to course reps within the department via e-mail or other agreed comms channels (WhatsApp groups, etc…) 2. Communicating with Ideas to Education Committee/SU Officers: The Education Committee and SU will contact you directly at several points in the year with requests for ideas, feedback and consultation. Outside of this, you can contact them via e-mails provided at the end of this training. 3. Communicating with other Faculty Meetings: The staff conveners for your FSSC should highlight further opportunities for you and other Faculty Reps to engage in.

How does the role function in practice: Who will you work with? Throughout most of your time as Faculty Rep you will be collaborating with the following groups: Course Reps: Formally through Dept SSCs. Also meeting separately and catching up to keep everyone in the loop. Students’ Union Education Committee/Education Officer: Education Officer (Stuart McMillan): stuart.mcmillan@sheffield.ac.uk Education Committee: educationcommittee@sheffield.ac.uk You will be speaking to Stuart and Edu Comm if an issue is looking to become a campaign or your issues aren’t being resolved at dept/faculty level. 3. University Staff: Through Faculty and Department SSCs. You may work with payed student staff known as SALTS, who work on Faculty projects. External staff such as colleagues from central university services i.e: Careers, Library, I.T etc…

Support in your role: It’s important to remember that you aren’t by yourself when taking on this role and there are two key support structures in place for you during your time as Faculty Rep… 1. Staff conveners for your FSSC: What would I ask the staff at an FSSC? If you were not sure about a particular topic that is to be discussed at an FSSC. If you want to know more about the faculty structure. If you want to be more involved with projects across the Faculty. If you wanted support and advice on how realistic your ideas might be for the Faculty. 2. The Students’ Union Academic Rep Co-ordinator: What would I ask the SU Academic Rep co-ordinator? If you wanted support or advice in structuring your ideas. If you wanted support in contacting other reps or reaching out to the SU. You are unsure about your remit, i.e: what is a part of your role and what isn’t. THE KEY IS THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SILLY QUESTION. ASKING EITHER THE FACULTY STAFF OR THE SU CO-ORDINATOR IS A GREAT FIRST STEP.

What should I inform the Students’ Union about: Education Issues that are not being resolved within your department and faculty. Ideas and feedback on how students’ would like to change the University that go beyond your department or faculty. Student ideas on how to improve the Academic Rep system. It’s the SU who manage the rep system so thoughts and opinions are always welcomed. Campaigns or wider issues, such as mental health, demonstrations or university wide change such as keeping Wednesday afternoons free for sports.

What will you get out of being a Faculty Rep: There a range of benefits to being a Faculty Rep: Opportunity to attend your Faculty’s Learning and Teaching Committee and wider committees. Chance to meet other reps and students across your faculty. Opportunity to expand your skills around leadership, policy development, research and consultation. An in-depth understanding of how your Faculty and the University works. Work as a team with staff and students on large projects such as consultation pieces or faculty papers. Learning to influence and improve Faculty and University systems through collecting data and providing your knowledge as a ‘student expert’ within the University experience. Periodic reviews by the faculty that, on occasion, offer remuneration or incentives. Undergraduate reps can also gain HEAR for being a Faculty Rep: To be eligible you must attend 75% of your FSSC meetings. For example, if you have 4 meetings in the year, you will need to attend 3. Of if you have 2 meetings, you will need to attend both.

There is a dedicated member of staff who supports Faculty Reps and Course Reps. This is Scott Dawson, who works in the SU Advice and Representation Department. He can help you if you have any questions or concerns regarding your role. Contact him at: academicreps@sheffield.ac.uk We hope you found this introduction training helpful. If you have any questions get in touch with Scott or your Faculty Staff Co-ordinator.