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University and Students' Union Meetings
What are Staff Student Consultative Committees?
Basically it’s the meeting at which Class Reps can voice views of the students they represent, to the academic staff in your School/Faculty. Hopefully there will be open and honest dialogue and everyone will work in sweet harmony to improve the student learning experience!
For those of you who require a more detailed explanation here goes!
The Staff Student Consultative Committee (SSCC)is a vital committee that meets at least once a semester and provides the most effective way for a Class Rep to give feedback on the running of their course and its academic content.
The SSCC provides a forum for discussion of issues relating to the quality of the student experience, and acts as a formal link between students and the Class Committee.
Each course has its own SSCC, which is made up of all Class Reps enrolled on a course across each year of study, together with the Course/Subject Director and a few other Academic Staff. This is the key committee where comments, suggestions and complaints about the course and its organization are addressed.
It is at this committee that Class Reps are asked to comment and provide feedback on the teaching of individual modules as part of the University’s system of quality assurance in teaching. Class Reps are encouraged to actively participate.
Class Reps are also required to make known to the rest of their class any ongoing developments of a course and to consult with fellow students on any proposed changes to a course or its modules. It is also their duty to follow-up on any actions. It is important the Class Reps canvas their course colleagues for discussion items well in advance of any meeting, so that the item can placed on the Agenda. Minutes of the SSCC are discussed at the Course Committee meetings and by senior academic staff at the Annual Subject Monitoring Process.
How can you represent the views of your course colleagues at the SSCC?
This isn’t really rocket science but there are some handy tips and hints in the resources section of the course rep website which will help you with this task.
NB there are some aspects which are not covered by the SSCCs – avoid them please!
Although SSCCs cover a wide range of issues, they do not allow for individual student’s complaints or problems to be addressed. These complaints or problems may include:
- Personal problems of individual students
- Academic difficulties of individual students
- Allegations of unfair or inappropriate treatment by staff or other students
Feedback responses to your course colleagues and to UUSU.
So you’ve asked your course colleagues to give you the low - down (negative and positive) on the course you all study, you’ve relayed this info to the academics at the SSCC where you have had meaningful debate which will hopefully lead to course related improvements…
But your work here is not yet done!
It is SOOOO important that you get back to your course colleagues and let them know what at the SSCC. Think how frustrating it is for them if they don’t receive feedback from you on the points they have asked you to raise on their behalf – they will assume their views, concerns and issues have fallen on deaf ears.
The Students’ Union must also be kept in the loop and need to know what’s going on out there so we can properly represent the our students at the higher level meetings that we attend with the University!
Student Union & Class Rep Meetings
To ensure that the SU are aware of issues at course level we organise Student Union and Class Rep meetings which are held on each campus at least twice a semester. It is important that all course reps attend. It’s within your best interests too as course reps will be given information from the Students’ Union that is beneficial in helping you in your role.
You will receive an email from the Student Representation Co-ordinator alerting to the meeting venue, date and time. This information will also be posted on the website.
