Birkbeck Philosophy MA Staff-Student Exchange Meeting
Date: 18 March 2013
Present: Laura Biziou Vanpol, James Grant, Maria (Isa) Ortiz, Michaela Reid-Thomas
1. Some students asked last term if they could be given the individual marks on the essays they submit for assessment, rather than only being given the average of both marks. JG said the Chair of MA Examiners had been informed of this, and said he would probably be able to give an answer by next week.
2. Students have been unable to use their cards to get in to lectures at Westminster Kingsway. Eventually the security guard simply allowed them in each week. JG said he would ensure Robert Brown knows about the situation.
3. Some students have asked if the deadline for submitting the dissertation could be later. JG noted this is on the agenda for the departmental meeting this week.
4. Students have expressed concern that the following points were not made clear in the MA handbook (and in some cases, have not yet been made clear by other means):
· The date by which PT students need to indicate a dissertation area before the summer so they can be given preliminary reading.
· The date by which all students need to indicate a dissertation topic in the autumn so their supervisors can be finalized.
· The exact date by which they need to hand in draft essays for tutorials (it currently reads ‘by the beginning of the term following the one in which the module was taken’)
· The procedure for submitting draft essays (for example, who the ‘Subject Tutor’ is).
· The fact that (i) each student is entitled to a tutorial on exactly one essay per module, and (ii) students do not need to hand in drafts of both essays prior to the tutorial.
· Citation guidelines.
· The procedure for submitting essays online.
· The dates by which students can expect to have the marks for their essays submitted for assessment.
JG said he expected many of these points can be easily corrected when next year’s handbook is written.
5. Some students would like to receive a rough mark for the draft essay they have their tutorial on. JG said he would pass on this request for consideration.
6. PT students, especially, were concerned at how long it took to receive the timetable for the MA modules this year. MRT noted that many PT students in employment need to let their manager know well in advance if they want to take a module scheduled during the day, so delays in receiving the timetable can prevent them from being able to take a module.
7. There were complaints from several students about the following practices in the conduct of some MA modules:
· Lecturing on readings that were not scheduled for that week (in at least one case, lecturing on readings scheduled for the following week).
· Not putting handouts or other material on Moodle, even after requests for this.
· Notifying students of the readings required for a lecture the day before the lecture. It was noted that this does not leave students enough time to get the readings, especially if they do not live in London.
8. Students in Intro Philosophy wanted to know if there would be revision classes for the exam. JG said he would ask Cristian, as module convenor.
9. It was noted that Sarah and Cristian provide excellent handouts.
10. Simmi is “universally commended” by the MA students, and “is not paid enough, whatever you’re paying her.”