Senior Rep Training

name of trainerassociate trainer | sparqs

sparqs student participation in quality scotland.

Aim: to improve student engagement in quality enhancement.

2549 representatives trained in the academic year 2010-11.

89% found the training useful or very useful.

Funded by the Scottish Funding Council since 2003.

Learning outcomes for today

Session Aim To develop your understanding of what it means

to be a senior rep and the importance of being proactive.

To begin to think about how to make the case for change in your institution.

To develop the skills required for pro-actively seeking student opinion to improve the student learning experience.

Exercise 1- Your representative role

Task What do you think is the purpose of a faculty

level representative? What do you think some of the tasks will be? What skills do you think you will need and

develop as a representative? How do you think being a faculty level

representative will benefit you?

The representative rolePurpose To continuously improve the student learning

experience in partnership with the institution and student association by helping create solutions to problems.

To represent your fellow students’ views and opinions on all matters relating to learning and teaching at a more senior level.

To provide both positive and negative feedback to staff.

To act as a communication channel between staff and students.

The representative roleTasks Introduce yourself to

your class. Gather student

opinion. Provide feedback to

staff and students. Present student views

at meetings. Attend meetings.

Speak to people outside of meetings.

Develop solutions to issues.

Pass issues onto students association.

Contribute to institutional activities.

Deal with issues at a more senior level.

The representative roleSkills developed Research. Meeting skills. Networking. Relationship building. Communication. Listening. Reflection.

Organisation. Presentation. Report writing. Diplomacy. Negotiation. Time management /

prioritisation.

The representative roleBenefits to you Make a difference. Networking opportunities. Learn new skills. Background for future representational roles. Good experience for future employment. Looks good on cv.

Why is representation important?

YOU ARE THE

EXPERT!

The Student Learning Experience

Exercise 2- Issue? What issue?

In groups discuss where you think issues you might discuss at a faculty level might come from. Student feedback. Course rep feedback. Students’ association. Institutional agendas. National agendas.

Exercise 3- How are you going to affect change?

TaskIn groups take an issue that you think you may be working on over the coming academic year then try to develop a solution to that problem thinking about: A world with reduced resources. How creative the solution is. How realistic the solution is.

Always remember when negotiating, aim high and negotiate down.

Where’s your evidence?There are a number of different sources you can use

to back up your case for change, they include: HMIE (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education)

reports. Internal reports. College satisfaction surveys. Students association policy. Student consultation.

Exercise 4- Developing a consultation plan

Task In your groups think about the type of information

you would want to collect from students about the issue you have chosen.

How would you go about finding out this information?

Complete the template in your workbooks to develop a consultation plan.

How are you going to present your case?

Are you going to write a report or deliver a

presentation?

The A,B,C,D of effective feedback

Effective

Exercise 5- Closing the loop

Task How would you let students on your course let

you know what you have achieved?

Closing the loop Stand up before/after class. Emails. Face to face chats. Surveys. Online spaces:

→Facebook.→Twitter.→Virtual Learning Environments.

Your future representative career

Online training resources are available via www.sparqs.ac.uk

If you’re interested in becoming a sparqs Associate Trainer, recruitment days will be held in March/April 2011.

For further info about any of these opportunities, contact Iain Delworth at iain.delworth@sparqs.ac.uk or phone 0131 622 6599.

NUS Scottish Executive Committee

President: Robin Parker.                   Depute President: Graeme Kirkpatrick.          Women’s Officer: Kelley Temple.Black Students Officer: Surya Prakash Bhatta.Disabled Students Officer: Jay Wakefield.LGBT Officer: Nathan Sparling.              Mature Students Officer: Sheila Josey.  International Students Officer: Nikki Holder Block Members: Correen Dickson ; Gordon

Maloney; Beneta Brown; Stefani Millar; Paul Murphy & Charandeep Singh.

Contact them by emailing: firstname.secondname@nus-scotland.org.uk

Learning outcomes for today

Session Aim To develop your understanding of what it means

to be a senior rep and the importance of being proactive.

To begin to think about how to make the case for change in your institution.

To develop the skills required for pro-actively seeking student opinion to improve the student learning experience.

Thank you for attending Senior Rep Training!Please fill in your evaluation forms and hand them in.name of trainer (INSERT EMAIL ADDRESS)associate trainer | sparqs