Student Representative Committee

Student Representative Committee

Confirmed Minutes

30th January 2014

Student Representative Committee

Minutes of SRC meeting held on at 6:00pm on Thursday 30thJanuary 2014

Present: Kaytie McFadden, Jadeon Bacombe, Sarah Monaghan, Leah Blackman, Juliana Nardone, David Anmed, Catrin John, Ashleigh Nicholls, Collin Danglish, Marc May, Emily Duignan, Erica Toms, Eulaee Sandford, Rosie Newman, Kevin Wilson, Liz Apap Bolgna, Julian Stopher, Harry Winser, Callum Foster, Callan Powers, Ryan Coulthard, Ben Grieve, Elizabeth Parker, Will Bindley, Charlie Roper, Megan Edmunds and Lauren Conen.

Apologies: Izzy Beveridge, Robert Lloydking, Yasmin Anning, Chris Middleton, Marc Seccombe.

In attendance:Sarah Hickie (Secretary), Edd Burrell (Representation Support Coordinator), Duncan Stokes (Representation & Support Manager), Fay Croft (Director of Widening Participation & SCPS), Nerrys Neath.

013/1314Minutes from the previous meeting

013.001No members present raised any issues with the minutes. They were therefore confirmed as accurate.

014/1314Matters arising from the previous meeting

014.001VP Education ran through the matters arising chart.

014.002In relation to point 003.1314/036, department of Education chair updated the committee that Primary Education students were timetabled until 3PM.

014.003CSCT deputy chair updated the committee that regarding Eduroam things have been getting better; and thatit will probably be replaced in a couple of years”. He also fed back that his department didn’t seem to be worried about Blackboard.

014.004Arts St Matts chair informed the committee that BlackBoard use would have minimum standards in that department. This had been brought up at the Faculty ASQC. Law representatives added that their department has had an audit of BlackBoard and there is a push for a standard blackboard practice - but they want to know student preference. The deputy chair of Education asked will this be rolled out across all faculties. Law chair reported that if there are examples of good practice this will be shared.

015/1314Reports from Academic Board

015.001Kaytie McFadden and Harry Winser provided a verbal report back from Academic Board. Key topics fed back include;

015.002Details of research carried out by academics of the university have to be sent as reports to Hefce (which controls some of the University’s funding). SRC representatives said at the meeting that it is important that students know what research is happing and how to report that to students.

Action: VP Education to investigate what currently exists to inform students of any research undertaken

Action:VP Education to assess if further dissemination is required and work with key UWE staff if appropriate.

015.003The cap on students has been removed, allowing up to 30,000 new students (although that number is unlikely to happen). Kaytie and Harry were concerned about if there are resources available to accommodate them.

015.004Smoke free spaces - the university is looking at becoming smoke free. Bower Ashton campus is already smoke free but this change hasn't gone down particularly well. Harry said that most campuses are but it hasn't really worked. Creative Industries (Bower) Deputy said it has worked well in his mind, that students are being directed to smoking shelters. Education deputy stated that when it’s raining people don't want to walk to the shelters and get wet.

015.005Allotment space - there is one currently near the farmhouse but there is talk of rolling it out and creating opportunities where students can go and use the areas more. VP Education informed that several groups such as People and Planet are wanting to use it.

015.006VP Education informed the committee that there was PG Research (PHD) representation on the board.

016/1314Widening Participation

016.001Fay Croft gave an introduction and outline into the Widening Participation Strategy (WP). She highlighted that one of the reasons they have this strategy is that it is a condition of Hefce funding but it is also key for allowing students to achieve well, throughout the full student lifecycle.

016.002The chair of BBAS feels it is important to focus on people from different areas and not just certain chosen areas.

016.003Educationdeputy said that it is important to keep disabled resources advertised to show perspective students what is available to them at the University. Fay Croft said it is a challenge which is recognised by them and she could get support from the SU working on this. ABBE Chair said that this should also be told to the Student Ambassadors, to train them in the support systems in place, Fay Croft will liaise with Marketing Ambassadors to coordinate training in these areas (which already exists for Schools and Colleges Partnerships Reps).

016.004Deputy of DGEM said that he feels as a mature student who came from a foundation course, a lot of his students feel they are now stronger candidates then those who came from the traditional route. Fay Croft said there is evidence of mature students performing better than standard age entrance. Fay Croft added it is a challenge to the foundation level as you used to be able to get additional funding for a Foundation but this has now been cut. Summer schools try to prepare the students but cannot replace the Foundation level.

016.005Chair of HASS stated that hidden course costs is a big issue across the University and that this is something that can be easily forgotten and needs to be known to students pre-entry. Fay Croft asked SU President to provide a copy of his Hidden Course Costs report and actions to her.

Action:SU President to send report to Fay Croft.

016.006Chair of BILP asked if this strategy and support was only aimed at undergraduate (UG) students? Fay Croft replied that no it’s for postgraduate (PG) students as well. They have been looking at the tendency for students to study PG. A member of the committee asked if there was scope for PG bursaries.Fay Croft replied that in 2015/16 there should be national scholarship bursaries for PG students (not UG though), however given the current funding climate this could well change. Currently they don’t know what funding they will even have this September (2014).

017/1314Elections to Student Council

017.001VP Education ran through the details of Student Council.

017.002Leah Blackman, Erica Toms, Kevin Wilson, David (Ashfaq) Ahmed, Elizabeth Parker, Will Bindley, Julian Stopher, Callan Powers, Ashleigh Nicholls and Emily Duignan ran uncontested. They were confirmed by a vote and were duly elected to Student Council.

017.003The committee were informed that motions that were not heard at AGM would need to be resubmitted for Student Councils consideration.

Action:Duncan Stokes to email all proposers of unheard motions reminding them to resubmit if they want to.

018/1314Update from SU President(Note: this was originally scheduled as 019/1314, however it was agreed by the committee that this could be moved up the agenda to this point).

018.001Charlie Roper, SU President, provided a verbal update. This included;

018.002Hidden Course Costs: A paper written by Charlie was submitted to Vice Chancellors Executive for their consideration, where they had no objections. Next week it’s going to Finance and Resource Executive for actioning and approving. Some suggestions include £75 for Arts students for materials (Bower based) and £15 printing credit for all students.

018.003‘The Only Way Is Wessex?’:Flyers for this campaignwere distributed to all members present. Charlie informed the committee that this campaign is a partnership between UWE and UWESU to gather feedback on how users and non-users view the service. To date 900 people had completed the survey. Feedback from this consultation will feed into negotiations into new transport contract. Charlie requested that any additional feedback goes to him via email or via his social media (@theSUpresident on twitter or SU Pres on Facebook). Deputy Chair CSCT suggested inviting a representative from Wessex into the next SRC. Deputy Education added that the drivers need further training (a comment echoed by a lot of the members of this committee).

018.004A member of this committee asked the SU President if any updates were available for motions that were passed in the AGM. The SU President advised that if people have questions on policy to speak to VP Education. TheUWESU Website will also be updated when they know any updates on motion activity.

019/1314UWESU Elections (Note: this was originally scheduled as 020/1314, however it was agreed by the committee that this could be moved up the agenda to this point).

019.001Nerys Neath, deputy returning officer, provided anexplanation of the UWESU elections procedures and encouraged members of the committee to run for positions.

019.002Business Management deputy asked how long does campaigning lasts. Nerys stated that campaigning lasts for 6 Days.

019.003AEF Chair asked if the SU President can do a ‘day in the life video blog’. SU president expressed a keenness to do this.

Action:SU President to create this video

020/1314Reports from the SU Forums (Note: this was originally scheduled as 018/1314, however other agenda items were moved up therefore delaying this item).

020.001HASS: - Communication to students about things such as Eduroam hasn’t been incredible; an email sent round to students would be easier.
- It was also asked if recording of lectures be standardised?
- Online sessions don’t appear on it and it doesn’t work well on BlackBerry. (Education Deputy reported that last week timetables went blank for some students).

020.002VP Education asked how did students find recording lectures? Law representatives stated for them it’s up to lecturers, they haven’t noticed a difference of students not showing up due to this practice, also it has been used for where a lecturer couldn’t deliver a lecture so kept students up to date. Arts Frenchay added that some of their courses have a lecture recap as a compromise (10 min video to make revision notes etc). DGEM have also had lecture capture and lecture recap. Education reps brought this topic up in SRSF but people are positive about it. BILP representative stated his course needs to have it captured due to the nature of their course. EDM added they find it very useful, if you miss something at the start of the lecture you don't have to play constant catch up.
The committee voted on if they think lecture recording is a good thing, all (apart from Hartpury representative) voted in favour of this practice.
AABE chair suggested if some lecturers are worried about attendance, why not have a sign in list? Deputy DGEM replied to this stating that students are responsible for their own attendance and it shouldn’t be affected by whether or not video materials are present.Nursing and Midwifery chair informed the committee that her department doesn't have lecture capture but had a video created about an assignment and found it really positive.

HASS Chair questioned if online hours could be done by video lectures? Although the CSCT Deputy is worried that those sessions could be recycled year on year, however other committee members saw benefits in practice in gathering an archive of content.

020.003EDM: Contact details on Blackboard for lectures don’t have room numbers for lecturers andITS don’t want to add it unless students really need it. The committee voted and agreed this would be beneficial.

Action:VP Education to take this feedback to the BlackBoard team.

020.004Arts Frenchay: All matters dealt with at lower levels.

020.005Law: Key information is being put on social media such as Facebook and Twitter rather than on BlackBoard so some students miss out. This has now been brought up at Departmental Committee and moving forward should be put on BlackBoardthen put on social media. AABE chair reported they also have had the same issue. On another note, they wished to inform the committee that the Frenchay library out of term time is looking to be open until midnight and looking for funding to be 24/7 all year long.

020.006Arts St Matthias: Hidden Course Costs and St Matthias Closure were the two main issues that arose. However it was noted that UWE came and spoke to reps regarding the campus closure which was found to be useful. Another suggestion that came from this department is whether Western Eye could be circulated on the busses? Kaytie McFadden (Western Eye Editor) replied that the paper would love to but they are worried that they would be thrown out at the end of the day and have budget constraints meaning they only can have a limited print run.

020.007Business & Management: Their reps would like additional support from staff to do shorter internships as well as 12 months andthere is talk of looking into this.

020.008Allied Health Professionals: All matters dealt with at a lower level.

020.009Education: Placements issues were a key feature of the SU forum. Wider issues which haven’t been addressed include travel expenses and lack of communication about claiming and the amount is not enough.

020.010Nursing and Midwifery: The head of nursing took a lot of points that had been raised. Travel was an issue but a meeting will be held next week around this. (Department Chair also informed the committee she had been selected to be a part of the Florence Nightingale memorial).

020.011Creative Industries: Pathway between Spike and Bower needs to be improved, as students are growingly worried. Reps report that parking has improved dramatically since cricket ground opened. Placements (especially 1 week work experience placements) are an issue. Some Bower students feel that the feel of bower may be lost with the new building and DAA have been strongly affected, they feel thatstudentsviews haven't been prioritised. Students are worried its behind schedule, but the secretary reported it is on track. New courses are also due to be taught at Bower, and the deputy chair reports there is some concern that students’ needs won’t be prioritised.

Action: Feedback re: student concerns about the pathway between Spike Island and Bower Ashton Campus to be passed onto VP Community and Welfare to consider appropriate action.

Action: Reps to send feedback on students concerns to VP Education and SU President for consideration.

020.012Accounting, Economics and Finance: Nothing to be reported to this committee.

020.013Architecture and the Built Environment: The chair has been working with Elena in the department on the issue of studio space. A new Hive type solution for R Block (hot desking) will be createdto add new space for September. There was another issue surrounding marking criteria (where tutors weren’t clear of it) but this was resolved at ASQC.

020.014Bristol Institute of Legal Practice: Niche issues that have been resolved.

020.015Computer Science and Creative Technologies: Lots of chairs in Q block are breaking in rooms which have been refurbished. VP Education questioned if this had been fixed. It hasn’t been to date. Games Tech course also has had issues with finding placements and state that the employment fair didn't help that much. InfoHub has generic CV information and so isn’t relevant to courses and specific needs of groups of certain students, (Law echoed that tailored support isn’t available - Suggestion faculties need to have more tailored support).

Action:VP Education to take this feedback to Employability Service to discuss what currently exists for students, where responsibility lies for more tailored support, where scope is for this and current barriers to increasing this.

020.016Geography and Environmental Management: Heating in Q Block is an issue and has been for years. The deputy chair stated if the heating isn’t capable then it needs to be upgraded, especially when windows in this room (where this meeting is taking place) are open and the heating is on. It has gone to ASQC, AQEC and SRSFs but they have always been told that it’s because of the building’s design changing and“that that’s how it is”. They feel it is affecting the student experience. Allied Health Professions chair echoed this saying that Glenside students have been told to fill in an accident form if their rooms are too hot. Education deputy added that some S block students have the opposite problem where upstairs rooms are often too cold. AABE chair also commented that the new R block goes into a cooling mode at night and opens the windows letting out all the heat at night. BILP Chair, who also works for UWE facilitiesinformed the committee that the room temperature is checked each day in the morning.

Action:VP Education to bring it to the attention of Green Reps Coordinator.

Action:VP Education tocontact facilities regarding this issue.

020.016Geography and Environmental Management (Cont.): R Block atrium as a teaching space. AABE chair says that something is being done about this area and it will become a super studio Hive type area. In its current state it is not a very good working environment. Computers in Q Block was also brought up as an issue, where it is sometimes hard to find computers, although there is an interactive board to show availability it doesn’t include if there’s a lecture going on in it. CSCT deputy said he has already fed this comment back to ITS who are looking into it. Education deputy suggested booking for computers on the new computers in S block.