Welcome from Your VP Education & Democracy 3

Contents Page

Welcome from your VP Education & Democracy 3

Congratulations on Becoming a Course Rep4

Students’ perspective on being a Course Rep 5

Support from the Student Voice Team6

Key Dates7

Course Rep Checklist 8

Key Meetings for Reps10

Keep. Stop. Start. Win12

Volunteering Log13

CV Building14

Contact Information 15

Welcome from your Vice President for Education & Democracy

Hi there!

I’m Carla Watton, your Vice President Education and Democracy here at UPSU. I’m here to represent you in all areas of your education as well as important democratic structures at Portsmouth University Students’ Union.

First off, congratulations on becoming a Course Representative! What an amazing opportunity to represent your coursemates and shout about their successes and ensure that your voices are heard. Not to mention that you’re now part of our awesome Course Rep community, a place where you can discuss your ideas and share your successes with your fellow course reps!

This year we’ve introduced the Course Rep Zone as part of Have Your Say, chaired by your Course Rep Executive Kacper Bochen. It is a great opportunity to submit your ideas and make even more changes!

At the Union we are here to support you in everything you do. We have a fantastic Student Voice team that work alongside myself to make sure that you get all the recognition, support and training that you need! We are keen to make sure that you have all the necessary skills to be the best Course Rep that you can be.

Be sure to get involved at every point from the early days at Course Rep Conference to the glitz and glam of the Learning and Teaching Awards at the end of the year.

Above all, have a great year, and I look forward to seeing all the great work that you do.

Carla Watton

Vice-President Education and Democracy

Congratulations on becoming a Course Representative!

University of Portsmouth Students’ Union are committed to ‘empowering the Student Voice’ and we take pride in our academic volunteers. These students represent and empower their course mates to give feedback leading to the enhancement of their experience at Portsmouth University.

What are Course Reps?

A Course Rep’s role is to gather feedback, ideas and issues from their peers to take forward to Departmental, Faculty, University meetings, Have Your Say Zones, and to relevant University and Students’ Union staff.

As a Course Rep you are the key person that students go to if they have ideas or ideas about their course. Course Reps also:

Attend, and, on occasion, Chair meetings
Actively seek students’ opinions
Work as a team with all Course Reps
Support the Course Rep Executive Chair and the VP Education & Democracy
Communicate with the Student Voice Team
Trained by the Students’ Union

What are the benefits of being a Course Rep?

Not only will you get to find out what’s going on at higher levels of the University and get to represent your peers and make a change; there are also plenty of opportunities through the Union and the University to develop a range of transferable skills.

Benefits:

Course Rep Hoodie
Academic & Social events
‘Rep of the Month’ Award
Course Rep Awards
Employmability skills

Students’ perspectives on being a Course Rep

Being a course rep is a great way of getting your voice heard. It also allows you to build assertiveness and meeting skills. You can meet all sorts of different people on your course and is a greater way of making new friends.

David Ayton

Level 6

Law with International Relations

Being a course rep is really beneficial, through being one I have developed a lot of key skills such as communications, team work and listening to others. Through learning this I have been able to apply it to my choice of career and get a head start! It also looks great on a CV!

Elliot Mcrae

Level 6

Photograph

I've been a course rep for three years now. Even though it's hard work and it can be a little stressful at times, it's also really rewarding. Staff really do listen to students' opinions through the voices of the reps, and things are frequently changed within the department to benefit us. Students' voices wouldn't get heard without the course rep system.

Shannon Thwaites

Level 6

English Language

Support from the Student Voice Team

The Student Voice Team are here to answer any of your queries, offer you support in your role as a Course Rep, and will be responsible for delivering key training. We are based in the Student Opportunities Centre, upstairs in the Union building, next door to Third Space.

The Student Voice Team includes:

Isabel Costello, Student Voice Coordinator (Course Reps & Quality)

‘My role is to ensure the training of Course Reps, support Reps throughout their time at Portsmouth and ensure that their views are heard. I was a Course Representative and a Faculty Representative at undergraduate and postgraduate level so I understand the challenges and importance of Reps’.

Email:

Telephone: 02392 843672

Ruby Wright, Student Voice Coordinator (Democracy & Campaigns)

‘I help look after the democratic processes here at the Union and support our Sabbatical Officers and other elected Reps in their campaigns. I am also a Portsmouth University Alumni! Whilst studying here, I was a Course Rep and Deputy Faculty Rep so I know what an amazing experience you can have at Portsmouth!’

Email:

Telephone: 02392 843640

Brendan McCarthy, Student Experience Manager

‘I am the Student Experience Manager here at UPSU. I oversee Student Voice, Volunteering and Fundraising at the Union. When I was a student I was a Course Rep and a Sabbatical Officer. It's great to see students getting involved and making an impact and I'm proud to be a part of making that happen’.

Email:

Telephone: 02392 843649

How to book an appointment with the Student Voice Team?

Attend one of our drop-in sessions, between the hours of 11 am – 3 pm on Monday to Friday.

If you would like to book an appointment with a member of the team, please email Cameron Hiscock

Key Dates

October

Course Rep Induction
Course Rep Conference
Have Your Say Zone
Student Officer elections

November

Have Your Say Zone

December

Course Rep Christmas Party

January

Exams
Have Your Say Zones

February

Sabbatical Officer Elections
National Student Survey (NSS) Launch
Postgraduate Taught and Postgraduate Research Experience Surveys (PRES/PTES) Launch
Student Experience Survey (SES) Launch
Have Your Say Zones

March

Sabbatical Officer Elections
Have Your Say Zones

April

Teaching & Learning Awards Ceremony
End of the NSS
Have Your Say Zones

May

Start of Exams

June

End of Exams

End of Term

Course Rep Checklist

Semester One

Attend basic training.
Follow @upsucourserep
Join Facebook Group
Like Facebook Page
Set up/admin your course Facebook page/group.
Collect Course Rep hoodie.
Attend College Student Staff Consultative Committee (SSCC).
Fill in Keep, Stop, Start, Win form via lecture shout out/Facebook.
Attend Drop-in session with the Student Voice Team.
Attend Have Your Say Zones with your Faculty Rep:

October

November

December

Attend Christmas meal and your course’s lecturer-student social events.
Assist your Faculty Rep/Full Time Officers collate feedback for Learning and Teaching Committees and University level board meetings.
Propose items for the agenda prior to the meeting and always send apologies if you’re unable to attend a meeting.
After any meeting, feedback to your course, follow up unresolved issues, complete tasks assigned to you.

Semester Two

Promote student surveys including the National Student Survey (NSS).
Attend your College’s Student Staff Consultative Committee (SSCC) meetings.
Fill in Keep, Stop, Start, Win form via lecture shout outs/Facebook/drop in sessions
Attend Drop-in session with the Student Voice Team.
Attend Have Your Say Zones with your Faculty Rep:

January
February
March
April

Utilize NSS data from last year to push your Faculty or to motivate survey use.
Assist in the Rep elections for the following year with hand over advice or re-run for your role.
Submit a brief summary of your progress and make sure feedback has been submitted to the Faculty Reps.
Attend re-training.
Attend the Learning & Teaching Award Ceremony.

All Year Round

Contribute to the Course Rep Newsletter
Nominate a Course Rep for ‘Rep of the Month’
Admin the Facebook group ensuring feedback and discussion is being fostered, but the group is not being abused
Become a Student Reviewer for Course Approvals and Periodic Reviews.
Support Academic Professional Excellence Framework Programme (APEX).
Consider running for Subject Rep/Faculty Rep/Part time/Full Time Officer position
Assist the Education Officer/Faculty Reps/Course Rep Executive Chair with projects
Run your own campaign. We will assist you so don’t worry!

Look out for more information about these opportunities sent to you by the Student Voice Team in our regular updates and check-ins, as well as on the Union website at

Key Meetingsfor Reps!

There are a number of different meetings hosted across the University and by the Union, but don’t panic! You’re not expected to attend all of these meetings – only those Reps that wish to put themselves forward for higher level meetings will be required to attend.

Most Reps will attend an average of 3 University meetings a year, these are:

Student Staff Consultative Committee (commonly referred to as SSCCs)

How often? 3 x a Year

Who attends? All Course Reps

You will sit alongside senior staff from your Department and fellow Course Reps from all courses and year groups that are in your Department. These are the meetings where you can really speak up and be listened to, so be sure to talk to your students prior to the meetings so you can take any arising issues or things you like about your course forward. Remember to make use of Keep. Stop. Start. Win!

There is also an opportunity to develop your skills further, as Course Reps have the additional opportunity to chair these meetings. As a chair you will have the opportunity to attend a further meeting to raise your issues at a more senior level.

Faculty Forum

How often?3 x a Year

Who attends? Chairs of SSCC’s

This is an informal meeting between the SSCC chairs and one senior staff member known as the Associated Dean for Students (ADS). This member of staff has responsibility for the Student Experience within your Faculty. At this forum they will work with you to identify common issues and best practice from other departments in your faculty and identify the main items to take to the next level. Hopefully a number of things will have been dealt with at SSCC but there may be things that are out of the departments control or are more widespread in your faculty that need to be taken further. This forum sorts those issues.

This will be your opportunity to talk to your Faculty Rep too. They are elected each year and sit on Students’ Union committee.

Faculty Board

How often? 3 x a Year

Who attends? A selection of SSCC chairs nominated at Faculty Forum

The Faculty Board looks at the key issues and areas of best practice from across your Faculty. These will be common occurrences form courses across the Faculty or things that may be out of a Department’s control.

Board of Studies

How often? 2 x a Year

Who attends? Nominated SSCC Chairs

This meeting looks more at the Quality Assurance side of your course. You won’t raise issues as such here, but you will be able to comment and feed into all topics of discussion. Topics of discussion here include evaluating mid and end of unit reports; looking at student survey feedback; proposed and closing courses; and reports form experts such as external examiners and, where it occurs, any professional bodies that may be involved in your course (for example, Social Work, Paramedic Science etc.)

Course Rep Council

How often? 2 x a Year

Who attends? Any Rep with welfare issues

Twice a year your Faculty Rep will lead Course Rep Council. This meeting is a place where you can raise non-academic issues. This could be concerns about anything that isn’t related to teaching, assessments, feedback, the library etc; this is about the other issues. For instance, safety leaving Lectures at night; transport concerns; and access to student services. Your Union officers will be in attendance and be able to take these to senior meetings on your behalf.

Have Your Say Zones

How often? 5 x a Year

Who attends?Any Rep

‘Have Your Say’ is the democratic process at the Union that enables students to get their voice heard and changes made. Every student can have a say on the Union and the University by attending and/or submitting an idea to one of our ‘Have Your Say’ Zones. These are regular meetings that allow students to discuss and vote on ideas that improve the student experience. There are five Faculty and seven Union Zones.

REMEMBER: Don’t feel you have to wait for meetings to raise issues. Speak to your Course Leader, Head of School, Faculty Rep or Union Sabbatical Officer at any time about the issues you are facing. We’re all committed to empowering the student voice and making sure students are getting the best

Keep. Stop. Start. Win!

Representing students’ views and ensuring that their voice is heard can often be a difficult task. However, if you use the Keep. Stop. Start. Win mechanism, you can effectively communicate and feedback students’ opinions.

We would like to encourage you to ask students the following:

What would you like to keep on your course/at the University?
What would you like to stop on your course/at the University?
What would you like to start on your course/at the University?

The fourth thing we would like you to tell us about is your key wins, i.e. when you’ve seen a change take place as a result of passing on student feedback. Remember, this doesn’t necessarily have to be through a formal meeting – this could be something as simple as talking directly to a Lecturer about changing the way they deliver an aspect of their teaching.

By telling us about your wins this will help us to promote the fantastic work that we know you’re all committed to doing throughout the year. We definitely want to be shouting about it!

All you’ve got to do is submit your feedback through our online form here.

You can pass on student feedback using the form anytime throughout the year as issues arise, but we would particularly encourage you to use this way of gathering and recording feedback around the time of key University meetings, such as Student Staff Consultative Committees (SSCCs).

Volunteering Log

We have created this simple log as a space for you to record the hours and the nature of your volunteering. Whether it’s attending your Student Staff Consultative Committee or doing a shout out in your Lecture to find out student feedback through Keep.Stop.Start.Win!make sure you’re take note!

Activity/Meeting / Description / Skills used/developed / Date & Length of activity

CV Building

As a Course Rep you will develop a whole host of skills that will be really attractive to employers as you graduate. Use the form to evidence your skills.

I have shown initiative when I:

I have shown negotiation skills when I:

I have shown organisational skills when I:

I have shown time management skills when I:

I have shown delegation skills when I:

I have shown I can represent others when I:

Contact Information

Carla Watton

VP Education & Democracy

Ground Floor Gunhouse

02392 843634

Isabel Costello

Student Voice Coordinator (Course Reps & Quality)

Student Opportunities Centre (First Floor)

02392843672

Ruby Wright

Student Voice Coordinator (Democracy & Campaigns)

Student Opportunities Centre (First Floor)

02392 843640

Brendan McCarthy

Student Experience Manager

Student Opportunities Centre (First Floor)

02392 843648

Cameron Hiscock

Student Opportunities Administrator

Student Opportunities Centre (First Floor)

02392 8436669