Extract from the minutes of ULTSEC, September 2012

  1. Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Strategy

Received: Document B and an oral presentation from Suzanne Cholerton

Noted:

  1. That the paper presented as document B provided an outline of the refreshed Learning, Teaching and Student Experience Strategy.
  2. That the committee had spent much time in the previous yeardefining the Student Offer and that this had set a framework for the revised strategy, which would have a format similar to other recent strategies including the Internationalisation Strategy and the Engagement Strategy.
  3. That the context should be clear about an increase in competition and an increase in demand for collaboration, which creates a tension. The international market is changing and flexibility is important as the institution needs to be resilient.
  4. That the attractiveness of our campus could also be mentioned in the context, although consideration needs to be given to other campuses. The strategy could refer to a high quality environment that supports a positive learning experience. The Newcastle-specific context should perhaps be separated out in the context section.
  5. That mention should also be made of Newcastle’s previous QAA report and related drivers, as well as QAA changes. Other strategies including the Engagement and International Strategies should also be referred to.
  6. That in section 6a (fourth bullet), reference should be made to the need for the research culture to permeate across all areas and levels, and that in section 6b (final bullet), reference should be made to aligning with market demand. Skills development should be mentioned in 6c (third bullet).
  7. That the final bullet in C was identical to the first in D.
  8. That section D was a difficult section in terms of referencing distance learners, and that the phrase ‘across all campuses’ should be removed from all sections of the strategy. A preliminary sentence should be added at the beginning of section six, recognizing the differences between Newcastle, other campuses and distance learners.
  9. That mention should be made of encouraging more international study opportunities and the internationalization of current programmes.
  10. That the fourth bullet in section D referred to opportunities to teach, and this was deceptive as not all PGR students are currently getting such opportunities. Students should be offered a broader range of opportunities, including professional development as well as teaching. Wording of this section needed to be amended to reflect the broader opportunities on offer.
  11. That Societal Challenge Themes should be referred to specifically.
  12. That the Students’ Union should be mentioned in relation to the student experience in section E.
  13. That the second bullet in section G referred to the postgraduate community but we should be valuing the importance of all levels of our student community, and that this phrase should be amended and possibly moved.
  14. That equality issues could be considered under section E as well as A and B.
  15. That the penultimate bullet in section G was unrealistic as this could not be achieved. The words ‘equally’ and ‘fully’ could perhaps be removed.
  16. That the final bullet mentioned campuses and this could be changed if a preliminary statement was to be included.
  17. That the numerical KPIs in the document were fixed including NSS scores, league tables etc, but it was agreed that all KPIs seemed to be appropriate and measurable.
  18. That PGR outcomes were not mentioned but that there was no room for national comparison with these.
  19. That SAgE had its own KPI document which was under development.
  20. That the final version of the strategy document would be brought to the October meeting of ULTSEC for further discussion.

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