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Student Staff Committee 101
- 1. SSC 101
- 2. Learning Objectives You might be asking yourself… • How do I prepare for a Student-Staff Committee? • What is an agenda? • Why do people keep talking about minutes? • How do I raise a sensitive issue with my department staff? This workshop is a crash course on all things SSC. We’re going to teach you what various jargon means, explain how you can raise your concerns to senior staff and begin to formulate your goals for the coming year. We want you to leave this session confident in your role and ready for your first Student-Staff Committees!
- 3. Sit down if…
- 5. Student Staff Committees (SSCs) Student Staff Committees generally consist of: • Course Reps • Representatives from the Department (chosen by Head of Department) • Representative from the Library • SSC Secretary (member of staff from the department) • Lead Union Reps and Equality & Liberation Champions may also sit on an SSC, to substantiate your claims and give further student perspective These committees tend to be student-led, which means that the number of staff members will generally match or be less than the number of students present. The size, format and frequency of SSCs will vary within each department, according to student and staff numbers and the pattern of taught programme provision.
- 6. • Gather feedback from your peers - it may be helpful to keep all your Course Rep related documents in one place to keep track of this • When raising an issue or concern, the department is much more likely to take effective action if you can evidence that a larger number of your peers share the same view, and that the information is a consensus rather than a personal opinion • There are many ways you can gather evidence, such as Survey Monkey, Facebook polls, or even a petition • Any evidence you can gather is all the more likely to make your department take action • Identify any potential issues or causes for concern. Put together talking points and remember to think of potential solutions for any issues How to SSC - Before
- 7. • Have a look at the minutes from the previous meeting, to familiarise yourself with any items for discussion • Compare notes with the other Course Reps in your department or course, to make sure that your arguments are cohesive and that you have the support of your peers • Email the SSC Secretary if you have any items which need adding to the agenda • Send apologies if you cannot attend • Check the time and location of the meeting How to SSC - Before
- 8. How to SSC - During • Be punctual • Be clear, confident and concise when presenting your arguments • Provide evidence where possible • Don’t be afraid to say no, but be open to negotiating • Remember to always be polite, professional and respectful • Remember that the department wants to help, and is working with you to make sure you’re getting the most out of your academic experience
- 9. • Reflect on which aspects of the meeting were a success, and which were not. This can form part of your personal development, and also your portfolio • Carry out any action points you have been allocated • Make a note of all actions points, so that you can follow up at your next SSC. You will be sent a copy of the minutes soon after the meeting, which can be used as a helpful reference point • Remember to collect feedback from your peers on an ongoing basis How to SSC - After
- 10. Closing the Feedback loop • We can’t enforce this enough • Close the feedback loop, by relaying any changes or actions points back to your cohort using any of the methods mentioned in the previous module • This encourages your peers to get in touch with any issues, and shows them that their feedback really does make a difference and is being acted upon
- 11. Jargon Busting
- 12. How will my SSC work? • What is an agenda? • How do I chair a meeting? • When do I raise my issue or feedback? • Why isn’t there an agenda point for my issue?
- 13. Setting Goals • Summary of Briefings • Start to think about any areas for improvement within your own department, and about what actions need to be taken to tackle these
- 14. If you need any help preparing for your first SSC, you have any questions about your role or you are unsure how to proceed with any issue, please contact: coursereps@le.ac.uk
- 15. Elena Boaru edb6 Danielle Watkis dw254 Aysha Ahmed aa1096 coursereps@le.ac.uk Toby Taylor tt165
- 16. Question Time
Editor's Notes
- You’ve ever had a lecturer not upload slides after a lecture You’ve had a lecture which hasn’t been recorded, and the slides have had no information on You’ve felt that you needed extra revision sessions which have not been provided You’ve had feedback given to you which was poor or illegible You’ve had a lecturer not be able to turn on the sound or make a video full screen You’ve had fewer than 10 contact hours per week, and wondered what you’re paying for You’ve had a core textbook which you haven’t been able to get from the library You’ve had assessment feedback which was given to you too late to help you in your next piece of coursework You’ve had no feedback given to you on exams beyond a summative grade You haven’t known where to turn for support in your department These are all things that YOU can raise as a Course Rep, and that you can work with your department to get resolved.
- Students will also have the opportunity to chair and take minutes for these meetings, which is something we’ll come on to later
- Activity – students have a either a jargon word or a description and have to match up Action - A task assigned to an individual or a group. Usually assigned at an SSC and followed up on at the next. Agenda – The list of items which will be discussed during a meeting, and the order in which they will be brought up. You will receive this before the meeting takes place. AOB – Any Other Business. This item at the end of the meeting gives you the opportunity to raise any issues not listed in the agenda. If the issue is important or controversial, it’s a good idea to email the SSC secretary to add it to the agenda, rather than bring it up here. Apologies – Formal notice of not being able to attend a meeting. You can email the SSC Secretary before a meeting to inform them you cannot attend, and this will be noted at the start of the meeting. Chair – The Chair of a meeting leads by introducing agenda points and ensuring that the meeting runs as efficiently as possible. Matters Arising – Matters arising gives both staff and students the chance to update others on the progress of actions from previous meetings, or on any changes to the situation. Minutes – The minutes of a meeting are a record of what was discussed, the actions that were agreed and the deadlines and outcomes discussed. NSS – The National Student Survey – a survey of all final year undergraduate students in the UK, this is often used as a measure of performance in league tables SSC – Student-Staff Committees, which are the meetings that you attend in order to feed back any issues, queries or opinions on your course and department
- Agenda does vary from department to department, depending on what course it is, who is attending – UG, PG, By Year etc., how many staff members attend, how big the cohort is Generally, this is what an agenda should look like You might be asked to chair a meeting. This isn’t nearly as scary as it sounds and is a great experience to gain as a student – the chair raises agenda points, keeps the meeting on track, summarises action points at the end If you’ve gained a lot of feedback on a specific issue, or feel it needs an allocated time for discussion, feel free to email the SSC Secretary a week ahead of the SSC, to have the point added to the agenda This is only for big issues, for more minor ones, you can raise during ‘student feedback’ Remember that your department DO want to help and DO want happy students, so are open to…
- If department can’t do anything…
- Slide with all our names, faces and contact details of our team