1. 2017/18
COURSE REP TRAINING

2. Housekeeping
In the event of a fire alarm sounding, please use your nearest exit and head to the lawn outside the front of the Northern Stage.
Toilets are located at the end of the corridor, just past the double doors.
To help promote the training we may take photos during the session. If you would prefer not to be in the photos, please let us know.

3. Icebreaker
Introduce yourself to your table with the following information:
Name
Stage/Year
Course
One thing you would improve about your Course / University experience so far
*NOTE TO INSTRUCTORS - Not only is this activity designed to get people talking on their tables, it is also designed to demonstrate that students already have opinions about their experience at University and that as Course Reps it is their responsibility to reflect these opinions. If a student raises a particular issue or concern when feeding back to the group, see if you can signpost a later part of the presentation that might address this.

4. Objectives Understand your responsibilities as a Course Rep.
Be confident in engaging with your Student-Staff Committee.
Be able to effectively promote yourself as a Course Rep.
Identify the opportunities for progression, development and support.

5. Understand your responsibilities as a Course Rep
Objective 1:
Understand your responsibilities as a Course Rep

6. What is a Course Rep?
A student volunteer who represents their fellow students at Student-Staff Committee (SSC) meetings.
You are also the student voice! You inform the University of the positive and negative aspects of your course and University experience.
Hopefully this definition won’t come as a surprise to you! Your main duty is to represent the voice of your fellow course mates at the Staff and Student Committee meeting.
Before exploring your responsibilities in more detail, it’s worth looking at the broader student representation structures so you have a clear idea of how you fit into the bigger picture.

7. SSC Chair Puts together the agenda with the Secretary.
Leads discussion.
Guides the Committee towards decisions.
Ensures agreed upon actions are acted upon.
Attends Board of Studies meeting.
As we have discussed, a key part of your role as Course Reps is to attend your SSC. At the SSC you will work closely with two other types of student representative: SSC Chairs and SSC Secretaries.
The SSC Chair and Secretary work together to put together the agenda for the SSC, contacting those who are due to attend (including yourselves) and asking them for agenda items.
The SSC Chair will lead the meeting and should ensure that the agenda is adhered to and will facilitate positive discussions around the agenda items.
The Chair will guide the committee towards decisions relating to the issues raised and then help ensure that these decisions are followed up upon.

8. SSC Secretary
Ensures that all members know the date and location of the meeting.
Provides members with an agenda before the meeting.
Takes notes during the meeting and circulates them afterwards.
The SSC Secretary is an optional role. However, if there is student interest in it, they have first refusal. Otherwise a staff member will fill this position.
The Secretary will ensure that all members know the date and location of the meeting, as well as circulating the agenda beforehand. They will also take notes during the meeting, which they will subsequently circulate.

9. School Reps Represent their School at faculty level.
Feedback to Course Reps at SSCs.
Work with NUSU to allow us to represent students’ academic interests.
While you as Course Reps just represent the views of your degree stage, School Reps are responsible for ensuring the views of all students in their school of institute are heard at faculty level, as well as feeding back to students about any changes or progress that has been made.
Most schools will have three School Reps – one Undergraduate, one Postgraduate Taught, and one Postgraduate Research.
School Reps are appointed to the role following an interview with NUSU – take a look at the posters to identify your School Rep. If your School position is vacant and you’re interested in the role, speak to me at the end of the session.

10. NUSU Education Officer, 2017/18
Elected by the student body.
Represents the student body at University meetings.
Initiates research based on feedback from students, which will inform NUSU campaigns.
The final and most prestigious academic representative role is Education Officer. They are one of the SU’s sabbatical officers and, as such, are elected by the student body in the main student elections, which are held around March every year.
The Education Officer is there to represent the whole student body and will lead campaigns based on issues that may have arisen at other levels of representation. They attend University wide meetings and committees, including the Students’ Union Education Executive Committee and the University Learning Teaching and Student Experience Committee (ULTSEC)
Any changes they help bring about are then fed back to School Reps who then, in turn, can feedback to Chairs who can feedback to Course reps, who feedback to their fellow students
Rowan South
NUSU Education Officer, 2017/18

11. NUSU – Representing your academic interests
Run by students, for students.
6 full time sabbatical officers and 9 part-time officers, elected by you.
Students’ Union is student-led. Students own the building and have a direct say in how it is run. It is here to represent the views and meet the needs of students.
The Union is an educational charity, so any money that is made from our Social Enterprise outlets, such as the bar and the nightclub is used to fund student activities, such as Sports Clubs and Societies, is fed back into the Union.
As part of the Union’s focus on representation, we have 6 full-time paid sabbatical officers (Rowan, the Education Officer is one of these), who are elected in the spring term.
Full-time sabbatical officers are supported by 9 part-time officers who combine their representative role with their studies.
Both full-time and part-time officers are supported by full-time staff, such as student advisers, finance team, and marketing department.
We all work together to ensure that the Union’s original focus of being a democratic and representative body is adhered to.

12. What we’re left with is this structure
What we’re left with is this structure. You can see that the SSCs for undergrads and postgrads are at the bottom tier, feeding the student voice upwards.
The key thing to note is that the student voice is represented at all levels of the University. If this structure is functioning correctly, information should flow in both directions, with senior staff made aware of students’ views and students made aware of decisions made at University level. This should help ensure transparency and make the academic experience a partnership between students and staff, rather than something that is imposed on students from above.

13. NUSU – Representing your academic interests
Mental health
Equality (both generally and linked to specific groups, e.g. women, LGBT+)
Academic quality (teaching quality is the most frequent specific issue, followed by feedback)
Career development and opportunities (work experience, networking)
Money/financial hardship/tuition fees
Housing
This should give you an idea of the broader issues in student representation at Newcastle University.
As part of the 2017 NUSU Student Survey, students were asked to list the three most important issues that matter to them. Here are the most frequently recurring words from those responses represented as a word cloud, and then grouped together thematically and ranked.
As you can see, general academic issues are the third most important issue to students, with teaching quality and assessment feedback the most important subsets of those issues. This is something you might wish to consider when collecting feedback. In a minute, we’ll discuss the limits of your role, but hopefully this will give you a sense of the issues that NUSU is working on and that, if a student were to raise any of these issues, you can refer them to the Union to find the appropriate support or opportunities.

14. Identifying the extent of your role as a Course Rep
Your key responsibilities as a Course Rep
Promoting yourself and gathering feedback.
Attending the SSC meetings.
Feeding back to those you represent.
We’ll explore each of these responsibilities in more detail later in the session.

15. Activity – Know Your Limits!
Each card contains a different scenario. As a group, your task is to decide if each scenario is the responsibility of the Course Rep and if so, what would you do?
Some of the issues students may come to you with won’t fall under the remit of your role. It is vital that you know the limits of your role. You are not there to counsel students with any personal problems or grievances they may have, nor are you there to provide academic support to them.
To help you identify what your responsibilities are, we want you to work as a group and look through a series of cards, each containing a different scenario. Work together to discuss whether you think they are your responsibility as a Course Rep.

16. Be confident in engaging with your Student-Staff Committee
Objective 2:
Be confident in engaging with your Student-Staff Committee

17. The Student-Staff Committee (SSC) Meeting
At least four meetings per year.
Usually lasts 1-2 hours.
Led by a Student Chair, supported by a Secretary.
Staff Facilitator.
Academic staff, Central Services staff (e.g. IT, Library, NUSU).
SSC meetings are held at least four times year and are an opportunity for reps to present feedback from students to staff. If there are any issues that students wish to see addressed, SSC meetings are a forum where they can, hopefully, be resolved. As reps your job is to feedback and decisions reached in the meeting to your fellow students.
There should be at least four meetings a year, and the meetings themselves usually last between one and two hours and are always student led. The majority of attendees will be students and the meeting will be led by a Student Chair. Most SSCs will also be attended by a Staff Facilitator – a staff member who acts as the main point of contact between your School and the SSC for Rep queries. Their role is to maintain regular contact with Reps throughout the year, sharing relevant information, helping to promote the SSC, providing support for the SSC Chair and Secretary, and hopefully address Rep queries regarding about School policy and procedures.
Other attendees will include relevant academic staff and staff from Central Services, such as IT, the library, and/or the Students’ Union.
It is vitally important that you intend! SSC meetings are your main platform for implementing positive change!

18. Here is a typical SSC Agenda.
If there is anything you want to discuss that you have not had chance to put on the agenda, this should be raised during the Any Other Business section of the meeting.

19. Before Speak to students and other Course Reps.
Contact the Secretary if you want to put something on the agenda.
Gather student feedback on the agenda items and be aware of what is going to be discussed.
Firstly, you need to ensure that you’re well prepared for the meeting. The main thing you can do in this regard is to speak to the students you represent and other Course Reps in your school. Remember to collect positive feedback as well as concerns and criticisms.
Speaking to other Course Reps will allow you to co-ordinate on any key issues that have arisen across the school.
After speaking to your fellow students and other Course Reps, you should contact the SSC Secretary regarding any items you want to put on the agenda.
Once the agenda has been sent out, gather feedback (using the same communication methods as before) from students about it, so both they and you are aware of what is going to be discussed.

20. During
Listen to others, encourage people to give their opinions, discuss potential solutions .
Be positive in your discussions.
Ask if you're unclear on something .
Remember to be positive in your discussions as much as possible. If you’ve gathered positive feedback about particular lecturers and modules, be sure to share it in the meeting as it helps with morale! Remember, the SSC is not the appropriate forum to raise criticisms of individuals – these are best dealt with by liaising discretely with the appropriate member of staff before or after the meeting itself.

21. After Check the minutes and complete any actions assigned to you.
Give feedback, especially to students who asked you to raise an issue on their behalf.
...and get some more feedback!
You should check the minutes after the meeting to ensure that you have not been misrepresented. If there is anything you wish to change, let the SSC Secretary know.
Ensure that you complete any tasks assigned to you during the meeting.
It is vital that you let the students you represent know about any decisions reached in the meeting that will affect them. In particular, you should feedback to any students who have asked you to raise something at the SSC on their behalf.
Find out what students think about the decisions made at the SSC and promote achievements. It is vital that students are aware of any positive changes that have been made!

22. How to effectively participate in your SSC
Make notes on any achievements.
Be vocal! If you have an opinion be sure to voice it.
Remember – its not just your opinion you are representing at the meeting
Not every issue can be immediately resolved – explore compromise, seek clarification
While the Secretary will be taking full minutes, you will want to make notes so that you can feedback any relevant information to your students as soon as possible.
Make sure you voice your opinion and remember that you are representing all your fellow students. If you are raising a point that you personally don’t agree with, make sure that you are neutral and effectively communicate the student’s perspective so that it is received fairly.
While SSCs can achieve fantastic student-led change, not every issue can be immediately resolved. Some issues, relating to facilities such as heating for example, may have been raised in previous years and no solution reached. Even if this is the case, staff should be sympathetic and open to discussions about compromise. In cases like this, it is important to be understanding of the staff’s perspective, seek clarification and/or further explanation so that you can feed this back to your students if you are unable to get the desired response, but also explore other alternatives.

23. Don’t take our word for it!
“I was surprised how seriously the staff took our opinions.”
“I have gained important diplomatic skills from the meetings that I have attended.”
“Not only did it improve the course but I got to know my Degree Programme Director and the course admin staff which is useful.”

24. SSC Meeting

25. Be able to effectively promote yourself as a Course Rep
Objective 3:
Be able to effectively promote yourself as a Course Rep

26. What makes good promotion?
Be visible.
Be concise.
Be engaging.
Contact your School administrator to request the addresses of your stage or degree cohort. You might wish to contact your predecessors in the role to see what communication methods they found to be effective.
VISIBLE – Most obviously, you want your fellow students to know that you exist! Think about where the best places in your School are for posters, or how to make your s stand out. Students should be able to identify you as their Course Rep via the University app, which I’ll talk about in a minute.
CONCISE–students already have a lot of demands on their time, so you’ll need to be as concise as possible in your communications – make sure that the essential information is clear and that students know to contact you if they have further questions. If you decide to promote yourself primarily via , for example, you might want to be sparing in the number of s that you send.
ENGAGING – You want to persuade students that representation is in their academic interests. One way of doing this is by giving them an idea of what has already been achieved. Hopefully you have had a chance to read some of these today, but you can also take a look at the Academic Rep Achievements section of the NUSU website for some examples of achievements in your School.

27. No ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach
Posters
s and Facebook groups/polls
‘Meet a Rep’ stall
Lecture shout-outs
Course Rep hoodies
University App ‘My School’ section
It’s important to remember that there’s no ‘one-size fits all’ approach to promoting yourself - it’s more important to play to your strengths and what you can balance alongside your other commitments.
If you’re proficient with managing lots of s or using social media, this might be more preferable. Other options include putting up posters in key locations in your School (contact us if you would like some), or hosting a ‘Meet a Rep’ stall where you can speak to students about what issues they have and even get them to cast votes on what they’d like you to focus on (pop up banners and other materials can be reserved from our website).
If you’re comfortable speaking in front of large groups, consider giving a lecture shout-out at the start of the semester or term to make yourself visible.
This year, the University is adding a new function to the ‘My School’ section of the University App, which well let all students identify and contact their Rep. It will also allow SSCs to conduct polls for its cohort of students.

28. Promoting what you have achieved
SSC feedback via and social media.
Lecture shout-outs.
Posters updating students of achievements.
To keep the feedback loop open, you need to not just promote yourself as a Rep, but also your achievements.
Again, it’s up to you how to best promote these.

29. Examples of Achievements
English Literature, Language and Linguistics
Undergraduate Student-Staff Committee appointed a Course Rep to be project leader for the school’s forthcoming online academic journal.
Philosophy
Staff have agreed to introduce a uniform hand in time of 3:00pm for assignments, following concerns raised by students that the previous variable system caused confusion that resulted in students losing marks for inadvertently failing to hand in work on time.
Student Representation has brought about tangible changes for students at Newcastle. These are just a few instances of what student representation has achieved – there are some more listed on the sheets on your table.
One way to demonstrate the worth of student representation to your course mates is to promote what has been achieved so far. If you visit our website, you will find lists of achievements for each School, dating back to the last few years. Take a look – hopefully it will encourage you that change can be achieved!

30. Examples of Achievements
School of Dental Sciences
Course Reps collaborated with Head of School to determine suitable 2016/17 term dates for Stage 3, Stage 4, and Stage 5 students.
Civil Engineering and Geosciences
Following requests from students, modules have been altered to provide students with access to software that will be beneficial to students who go on to work in the Civil Engineering industry. 
Psychology
Academic Reps helped create Psychology Careers Days, which has involved guest speakers who work in a variety of fields.

31. Devising a Promotional Plan
Working in pairs, devise a plan to promote yourself in your school

32. Identify the opportunities for progression, development and support
Objective four
Identify the opportunities for progression, development and support

33. Student Secretary/Chair
Progression
Student Secretary/Chair
School Rep
Education Officer.
There are different opportunities to progress up the student representation structure once you’ve been a Course Rep. You can nominate yourself to be the Chair or Secretary of your SSC, or apply to become a School Rep. Or, you could put yourself forward for the sabbatical elections in the Spring and petition the entire student body to vote for you to become Education Officer!
It’s worth pointing out that this list is not a series of stages that you have to progress through – for example, if you want to apply to be a School Rep, you don’t have to have Chaired your SSC. Similarly, to put yourself forward as a candidate for Education Officer, you don’t need to have been a School Rep, but of course the insight you gain from representing students at Faculty level would certainly help you put together a relevant campaign!
If you would like more information about progressing to one of these positions, feel free to get in touch with George or Joe at the Union.

34. Development Employability Skills Skills Sessions NCL+ Award
Student Rep Awards
Certificates
Over the course of your time as a Rep, you’ll develop an array of skills which you can draw upon when applying for future study or work.
To help you further develop some of these skills, NUSU runs skills sessions throughout the academic year which are free and open to all reps. Sessions cover areas like public speaking, equality and diversity, and marketing your rep experience.
NUSU will also be offering employability training sessions – be sure to check nusu.co.uk/ for updates.
If you want your Course Rep experience on your degree transcript, you can sign up to the NCL+ Award either online at or by contacting Jo Day at NUSU.
You can nominate yourself or a fellow Rep to the Student Rep Awards, and if you win an award, be shortlisted to progress onto the Pride of Newcastle Awards, where the winning nominee for Outstanding Contribution to Student Representation and a £250 cash prize!
Finally, at the end of the academic year you can collect a certificate to mark your time as a Course Rep. To be eligible for this you need to provide evidence of your attendance at SSC meetings – the easiest way is to use the attendance sheet attached to your Course Rep handbook, which you can collect at the end of today’s session.

35. Additional Sessions Meeting Skills (8 November 3pm-4:30pm)
Communication (Skills 15 November 3pm-4:30pm)
Negotiation Skills (23 November 3pm-4:30pm)
Presentation Skills (24 November 2pm-3:30pm)
Student Rep Lunch (1 December 12pm-2:30pm)
Equality and Diversity (6 December 1pm-2:30pm)
Notetaking Skills (28 February 1pm-2:30pm)
Marketing Your Rep Experience (2 May 1-2:30pm)
Be sure to visit nusu.co.uk/ to check for further employability skills sessions

36. Support NUSU presence at your SSC.
Information and advice via or in person.
NUSU website and the Academic Rep Toolkit.
Either Rowan the Education Officer or Joe the Representation Support Worker will try to attend at least one SSC meeting in your School over the course of the academic year, to keep you updated on NUSU events and activities, and to make sure representation is working as it should.
If you any questions or concerns about representation in your SSC, School or the University, feel free to contact Rowan, Joe or George (their contact details are at the end of this presentation), or by popping into the Representation and Democracy Office behind reception on the ground floor of the Union Building.
Be sure to visit the Academic Rep section of the NUSU website - There’s a section just for Course Reps, as well as the Rep Toolkit– a database of all the information to support your role as a Rep, such as University Policy documents and research reports produced by NUSU about academic issues.

37. What now?

38. Getting started
Contact your SSC Secretary to confirm the date, location and agenda of your next meeting.
Promote yourself within your school.
Gather feedback.

39. Before you go! Handbook (including attendance list) Posters
Sign-up Sheets
Hoodies (£6)
Complete an evaluation form!

40. Any Questions?

41. Thanks for Coming!
Rowan South Education Officer e: t: Joe Barton (Representation Support Worker) e: t: George Watkins (Rep and Dem Co-ordinator) e: t: