Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies / Staff Student Committee
Pwyllgor Staff a Myfyrwyr
20/11/2013
Members:
Year 1/Blwyddyn 1
Drama, Theatre and Performance Curriculum Group
Nicole Scott () - Present
Melissa Vagg () - Present
Film, Television and Media Curriculum Group
Alex Deeley () – Present
David Pledge () - Apologies
Welsh Medium/Cyfrwng Cymraeg
Vacancy/Swydd wag
Year 2/Blwyddyn 2
Drama, Theatre and Performance Curriculum Group
Magdalena Mazur () – Apologies
Arwel Rees () - Present
Film, Television and Media Curriculum Group
Roy Billington () – Present
Chiranjiv Wasan () - Present
Welsh Medium/Cyfrwng Cymraeg
Lora Thomas () – Present/Presennol
Year 3/Blwyddyn 3
Drama, Theatre and Performance Curriculum Group
Leigh-Anne Beattie () – Present
Daniel Morgan () - Apologies
Film, Television and Media Curriculum Group
Jilly Evans () – Present
Peter Gosiewski () - Present
Welsh Medium/Cyfrwng Cymraeg
Gwenfair Hughes () – Present/Presennol
Staff Representatives/Cynrychiolwyr Staff
Dr Jamie Medhurst (Chair)
Ms Catrin Davies (Temporary Departmental Administrator) - minutes
1.1 / Confirmed / Minutes of the meeting dated 1-5-13
2.0 / Matters from Year 1 Representatives
2.1 / Drama, Theatre and Performance (Year 1)
2.1.1 / Reported / That some students had had problems contacting their Personal Tutors and had not received responses to their e-mails. It was also reported that some students did not know the name of their Personal Tutor. It was noted that this should be on their Student Record.
Action: JM to remind all staff regarding contacting their personal tutees.
2.1.2 / Reported / That some students have had problems finding staff office such as the office of their Personal Tutor. It was requested that there should be a map or signage available in the Parry-Williams Building. It was noted that some staff would be moving offices before the end of the year.
Action: JM to put map on web once staff have moved office. JM to follow up on Parry-Williams signage
2.1.3 / Noted / That there have been some confusion with deadlines. In the case of the Scenography Workshop deadline the module handbook referred students to the website while the website referred students to the module handbook.
2.1.4 / Noted / That first year students were not timetabled in the Parry-Williams Building at all and that they had not received a tour of the building at the beginning of the semester.
2.2 / Film , Television and Media (Year 1)
2.2.1 / Reported / That there had been a lack of clarity with regard to the Portfolio Part 2 assignment for Studying Film. It was noted in the module handbook that students could only submit an assignment on a film that had already been studied during the semester while they had been told by the Module Co-ordinator that the assignment could be submitted on any film.
3.0 / Matters from Year 2 Representatives
3.1 / Drama, Theatre and Performance (Year 2)
3.1.1 / Reported / That many students felt that the Analysing Performance module was repeating many of the concepts that had been studied in Studying Theatre 1. It was reported by JM that this would be the last year that the Year 2 core module would run and that much of the module’s content would be fed back in to Year 1 modules.
3.1.2 / Noted / That the revised Assignment Submission Forms had received positive feedback.
3.1.3 / Noted / That Performing Dramatic Texts had received positive feedback. It was felt that many of the exercises used in the module were beneficial and that the module developed skills for industry. It was also noted that the students felt the having 23 students in the morning group made the group too big.
3.1.4 / Noted / That the talk given by Richard Corgan had been well received by those that had attended. It was requested that more talks of this nature should be arranged.
3.2 / Film , Television and Media (Year 2)
3.2.1 / Reported / That students studying Television Production had experienced problems in finding Theatre and Performance students to act in their films. It was reported that students that had agreed to take part had subsequently retracted following being told by a Drama tutor that they should not take part. This had resulted in Film and TV students having to act which had made the films look more amateurish and had taken students away from filming time.
Action: Student rep to ask students affected to contact JM
3.2.2 / Reported / That students had experienced problems with SafeAssign and Blackboard crashing at deadline times which had led to problems with the receipt of e-receipts.
Action: CD to confirm with Department Office whether electronic submissions had been received on 19-11-13.
3.2.3 / Noted / That there were issues with the timetabling of Classical Hollywood Cinema due to the gap between the screening and the lecture. It was noted that this was not an issue on the occasions that both activities were scheduled in the same space. It was also noted that students felt that the word count for the first assignment was too low. It was further noted that the assignment questions were not in the module handbook and that the questions for assignment 2 were not yet available.
3.2.4 / Noted / That risk assessments have to be submitted 24 hours in advance but that by the time that the students receive their brief the office has closed delaying the submission of the assessments which impacts on filming time. It was noted that there were problems submitting the assessments by e-mail and it was suggested that there should be a box for submitting them outside office hours.
3.2.5 / Noted / That following the removal of the drop boxes that it was no longer possible to submit assignments in the evenings. It was also noted that there had been issues with assignment receipts being stamped with the wrong date.
3.2.6 / Noted / That Imagining the Short had received positive feedback. It was noted that the students found the recordings done for the module helpful and it was suggested that this should be encouraged across other modules.
3.2.7 / Noted / That students had been disappointed that Transnational Cinema had been withdrawn and they had not realised that the withdrawal of modules was a possibility. It was noted that the module had been withdrawn due to the low registration numbers and that the University was looking towards withdrawing low recruiting modules.
3.3 / Cyfrwng Cymraeg/Welsh Medium (Year/Blwyddyn 2)
3.3.1 / Reported / That Cynhyrchu Teledu was being taught in English when the students had been expecting it to be taught in Welsh. It was noted that it had been helpful to have some of the teaching by Sara Penrhyn Jones. It was reported that the students were concerned that the Welsh medium students were being split up in semester 2 with the English medium students taking Television Production. It was noted that the feedback given to students had not been as comprehensive as the feedback received the previous year and that the tasks had had not followed the original structure.
Action: CD to discuss the semester 2 distribution of the students with Sara Penrhyn and Greg Bevan.
4.0 / Matters from Year 3 Representatives
4.1 / Drama, Theatre and Performance (Year 3)
4.1.1 / Noted / That the Advanced Production Project module had received positive feedback. It was reported that the performance date for Charmian Savill’s group had been brought forward giving them less time than the other groups and only 2 weeks to sell tickets for the production. It was also reported that they seemed to be the only group without a production team.
4.1.2 / Noted / That the Module Co-ordinator for Performance and Architecture had requested feedback from the students on the running of the module. It was noted that the feedback had subsequently been acted on which had had a positive impact on the module.
4.1.3 / Noted / That all module handbooks should be proofread and up to date. It was also noted that information should be uploaded on to Blackboard on time.
4.1.4 / Raised / Why students are still required to submit hard copies of assignments when they also have to submit an electronic copy? It was noted that the University was moving towards the electronic copy being taken as the main submission. It was also noted that the University was also moving towards electronic marking.
4.1.5 / Raised / That there was a lack of computer facilities in the Parry-Williams Building and that students had to go to the Hugh Owen Library in order to print their work. It was suggested that there could be computer facilities in the CPR Resource Centre. It was noted that the Resource Centre would become the Department’s Postgraduate Study Centre. It was also noted that the CPR Admin Office had now become the Mercator Office and that G38 was now used as a teaching and editing space. It was further noted that any computer facilities would be maintained by Information Services but that finding a suitable space was an issue.
4.1.6 / Reported / That a low number of first year students had enrolled to Departmental/Theatre societies. It was noted that societies require a minimum of 20 students in order to be affiliated with the union. It was reported that first year students had been told specifically not to join societies. It was also reported that a e-mail had been received stating that societies were not wanted as part of Freshers’ Week. It was noted that first year students had been advised to think carefully about which societies to join and to prioritise their course work rather than being told that they were not o join any societies.
4.1.7 / Noted / That in relation to absenteeism that there was a feeling that some students had been favoured as their absences had not been followed up on. It was noted that with group work it was unfair that all members of the group should receive the same mark for the group work when some members had been absent from the process. It was noted that there was a system in place in the Department for monitoring all absences.
4.1.8 / Noted / That there was an issue with staff not responding to student e-mails. It was noted in response that there was also an issue with student expectations for responses to e-mails sent outside office hours such as evenings, weekends or vacations.
Action: JM to e-mail all students with a reminder of e-mail protocol
4.2 / Film and Television Studies (Year 3)
4.2.1 / Noted / That the teaching schedule for Children and the Media had been delayed a week due to the strike. As a result of this the presentation had taken place after the essay submission which raised questions that had not been included in the essay.
4.2.3 / Noted / That in relation to the first assignment deadline for the Dissertation module it was felt that students needed more guidance from the teaching staff. It was noted that it was difficult to apply the module handbook to individual projects. It was also noted that it was felt that the deadline for the first assignment was too early as many students had only had one meeting with their dissertation supervisor and felt that they were submitting a third of their dissertation on an unconfirmed question. It was raised that it in other departments students submitted their dissertation proposals at the end of their second year gibing them their third year to write up. It was noted in response that this raises issues with the gap between submitting proposals and reengaging with this following the summer vacation.
4.2.4 / Noted / That the Production Placement module had received positive feedback. It was queried whether it would be possible to extend the module in to the third year to include a second placement in Year 3. It was noted in response that this would raise issues with resources but that the Department could look at supporting this in a different form in Year 3. It was noted that the Department was looking towards opening the module to Media and Communication students and to providing a version of the module for Theatre and Performance students.
Action: JM to raise with Rebecca Edwards whether it would be possible for Year 3 students to sit in on the module lectures.
4.3 / Cyfrwng Cymraeg/Welsh Medium (Year/Blwyddyn 2)
4.3.1 / Noted / That the guidelines on the Department website were in English only and that the Welsh version of the Assignment Submission Form contained errors.
4.3.2 / Noted / That there had been problems with SafeAssign on deadline days. (See also 3.2.2)
4.3.3 / Noted / That students studying Cynhyrchu Teledu Uwch had experienced the same issues as Year 2 students raised in 3.3.1
4.3.4 / Noted / That it was felt that the Risk Assessment Forms should be completed that the module tutors rather than by the students.
5.0 / Engagement, Enterprise and Knowledge Exchange
5.1 / Noted / It was requested that students should contact Rebecca Edwards with any feedback on the current programme of external speakers to include any suggestions for what they would like to see programmed.
6.0 / Library Liaison
6.1 / Noted / That some students had experienced problems with accessing e-books. It was noted in response that there were FAQs available online but that any problems should be reported to Information Services.
6.2 / Raised / That some of the books available in the library for Media and Communication were out of date. It was noted that the library was running a More Books Campaign and that students should e-mail Joy Cadwallader with the module codes of the modules that have a lack of books available.