Transcript
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The speaker welcomes attendees, explains the purpose of the course rep training, and outlines the session structure and expectations. Participants are also asked to introduce themselves and complete attendance registration.
Okay, hopefully you can all see the slides.Just give me a thumbs up if you can.Amazing.Cool.Thanks, everyone, for coming.Um first thing to say is thank you uh for putting yourself forward as um as a pre-degree course rep.Um we really appreciate you doing that.Um m- m- mostly because um course reps are genuinely very important to the development of the quality of these courses um because you are the ones who are going to be sharing student feedback with course leaders, for example,about the strengths and the weaknesses within your course.Um and it's only by doing that really that we can we can identify what's working well, what isn't working so well, and then seek to improve that over a period of time.So, thank you for doing that.Really appreciate you putting yourself forward.Um this training is we we have 2 hours in total.
Uh we might end up clocking in at less than 2 hours, so we'll see how we go.I don't want to rush anything, but also don't want to keep you for any longer than is necessary.So, we'll see how we go.Um this training um goes over a few different things.Um it's about defining what the course rep role is, um how to go about gathering feedback from students, and how to go about raising that feedback with staff, and it also provides some specific uh examples of what goodpractice looks like in terms of being a course rep.Um there are also some uh exercises that we're going to do as well.These are very um simple, low-key exercises, um and it all it really involves is me sharing some information with you, and then asking you to just do some thinking about that, and then sharing your thoughts in the in
the chat or verbally um in the call.Before we get started though, why don't you introduce yourselves, put your name put your names, your your course in the chat so we can all see who's who.And while you're doing that I will get us started.
So before we after you put your details in the chat before we actually start properly, what I'd like you to do is just grab your your phone and scan this QR code and it will ask you to justinput a few very simple details, your your name, your student ID number.Um and and your email, your student email as well.And once you've done that it means I know that you've attended this training so you won't receive any more emails from me asking you to attend one.So I'm just going to give you 5 minutes now to to do that.Please make sure your student ID number is inputted correctly cuz obviously it's quite easy to make a mistake.So make sure you're just checking that before you submit.I'll give you 5 minutes now to do that.
Hi Gabriel, thanks for joining us.Um You can probably see on the screen that there's a QR code.Just scan that for me and input the right details and it means I know that you've attended the training.I'm just giving everyone 5 minutes to do that now.
As soon as everyone's done that, just put your mic on and let me know, cuz I can't actually see the chat with my screen shared.So, let me know and I'll move on once everyone's done it.
Done.
Done as well.
Great, thank you.
Done.
Amazing, brilliant.I think we're all done, aren't we?Um, there'll be another opportunity to do this later if you have missed it, but I think everyone's done theirs, which is great.Um, like I said, if you haven't, this will come up again later, so you'll have a chance.Lovely, thank you.Um, so let's move on to the training in earnest.Um, so yeah, this is a training, uh, but it's also a friendly environment, so you can ask questions.Um, if something doesn't make sense or I've said something that isn't entirely clear, do, um, do give me a wave and just ask me to clarify things or ask questions that you need answers to.Don't be afraid to do that.Um, you're not going to be assessed or test on tested on this training.It really is only only here for your benefit really in terms of the course rep role.
Um, obviously you're learning together, so, um, if you, uh, when it comes to the exercises, uh, obviously you're all in your different spaces cuz it's an online training, but hopefully we can kind of be quite collaborative in termsof those exercises.Um, and things said here stay here, so none of this training gets shared with your course leaders or um the deans of your school or anything like that.It stays between us.So, um uh yeah, hopefully that that gives you a sense of how it's going to be.Um in terms of the plan for this session, I'm going to start by talking through what the learning outcomes are, so what I hope you can get out of it.I'm going to then introduce you to myself and the education quality team within the Students' Union that looks after the course reps.And then I'm going to define, hopefully quite clearly, what a course rep is and what a course rep does.
Uh in the second part of the training, I'm going to talk through different methods for how to gather feedback from students, the different approaches that you might take um for doing that, and what what counts as relevant feedbackand not-so-relevant feedback, I guess.I'm also going to talk a little bit about how to raise that feedback or how to share that feedback with UAL staff, the different spaces or methods you might use to do that, and and how to articulate thatfeedback in the most productive way you can.And then finally, I'm going to talk a little bit about this idea of the feedback loop, which might not make make much sense right now, but hopefully it will later.And then finally, we'll finish off with a few a look at sort of problem-solving skills.So, in other words, what do you do if a situation comes up that you don't quite know if it falls into your remit or not as a course rep, how do you navigate that?
Uh we'll look at some examples of those.Um good practice, uh what good practice looks like in terms of being a rep, and then next steps as well for after this training has finished.So, that's the plan.So, let's start with learning outcomes.So, hopefully by the end of this training, um you'll be able to define uh what the Students' Union is, um you know, who our team are, uh what a course rep is, and um uh what your what collegeoffices do.Now, college officers aren't actually strictly relevant to pre-degree students because they become that they only become relevant later really when you've kind of moved on to undergraduate studies at UAL, but we'll touch on them a little bit todayjust so you've got a sense of who they are and why they matter.Um, I also hope that by the end of this you'll be able to evaluate the different ways of collecting feedback and the strengths and weaknesses involved in each one and the same for presenting that feedback to staff.
Um, I also hope that by the end of this you'll be able to describe quite clearly to a student or a staff member or whoever asks you, you know, what your responsibilities as a rep are and how youengage with things like the Students' Union or course committees for example, which I'll talk about a bit later.And then finally, I hope you'll be able to respond to different scenarios if they come up and how to support different types of students if they rate if they bring feedback to you in any given situation.So, that's my hope for the end of this training.Like I say, you're not being assessed, you're not being tested.If you do have questions, please put the mic on and let me know.I'll make space for questions throughout.
Introduces the Education Quality team and explains the Students' Union's independent role in supporting reps. The speaker defines what a course rep is and describes the key qualities of an effective rep.
Um, let's start by introducing ourselves.So, I work for the education quality team in the Students' Union.My name's Lee, I'm in the middle there.We also have Shane who is also an education quality coordinator alongside me, Alyssa and Cheyenne.And we're all managed by Shawn who is the education quality manager.And there's a few things to say about the Students' Union and our team straight off the bat.The first thing to say is the Students' Union is an independent charity to UAL.So, we are a separate organization.You know, we kind of work independently of the university, but clearly we work in partnership with them as well.So, we're independent, but we are also a partner with the university.And that's really important because what that means is as a course rep, if you've ever got any uh concerns or questions or issues that you want to discuss with our team uh about the role itself or about anything
you've experienced within the role, just know that unless you want us to, we're not going to pass any of that information on to your course leader, to your dean, to a staff member UAL.It stays between us.It's very discreet, um and we will support you in the role as best we possibly can.So, that's really important to say off the bat.Uh and our team, the education quality team, we focus exclusively on uh recruiting new course reps such as yourselves, um training them, supporting them, uh responding to their their questions and their queries, and also programming uh events andopportunities for them as well to kind of reward them and thank them for the voluntary role they're taking on.And I'll talk a little bit about that later.So, we are here for you basically.We're here to support you as best we possibly can.
Um So, what is a course rep?I'm sure you've already got an idea of what a course rep is, but I'll just briefly summarize and define it so we're all on the same page.Um The first thing to say is course reps are volunteers.They're student volunteers.Um and they represent the academic needs of students on their course.
So, you're volunteers who represent the academic needs of students on your course.Um and you do that by um listening to students on your course, gathering in any relevant feedback about their academic experience, and then sharing that feedback with UAL staff.Uh for example, your course leader or um a member of the course support team or perhaps somebody else.So, it's about listening to students, um gathering in the relevant academic feedback they have about their course, and then passing that on, sharing that with relevant staff members.Um you speak to students on your course in order to do that, and there's different ways you can speak to students on your course and gather their feedback, and we'll get get to that later.Um and there's also different spaces and contexts in which you might raise that feedback.So, one way is through something called a course committee.
Now, if you haven't heard of what a course committee is, that's fine.I wouldn't be I wouldn't expect you to at this stage, but we're going to talk about them a bit later.Um so, that's one way, course committees, but the other way, and perhaps the most not the most important way, but uh perhaps the most sort of um regular way that you might share feedback with staff, is via moreinformal channels with individuals.So, for example, you might share uh you you might have a conversation with your course leader before or after class about a particular issue you want to share with them, or you might send them an email, for example.So, there are formal spaces in which you share feedback, course committees, and informal channels such as email and conversations.And um we are asking you to devote no more than 2 hours per week to this activity.
And that can be spread out across a period of time.So, we don't expect you to do exactly 2 hours every week.We're not monitoring this.Um but we have 1 to 2 hours as a ballpark figure of the amount of time we we tend to expect course reps to dedicate to gathering feedback from students and sharing it with staff.Um so, that in a nutshell, I guess, defines what a course rep is.Um Are there any questions at this point about that definition?Is there anything that's unclear?You you me to repeat, or do you have any questions about that?I can't see the chats.If you do have questions, you will have to um put the mic on and ask me, but you can always ask me later if you want to.
Okay, I'll move on.Um so, what makes an effective rep?So, in a moment, I'm going to talk about the different ways you collect feedback, and what counts as academic feedback.How do we define academic feedback?But before we do, I want to talk about a few um sort of key touchstones of what makes a really effective rep.The first thing to say is I would really encourage you to be proactive when it comes to gathering student feedback.You know, some students might come to you with their thoughts, with their ideas, with their feedback unprompted, but most won't.Yeah, most students will need um some reminding, or they will need someone to approach them and ask for that feedback directly.So, be proactive, you know, find some times and some opportunities week to week to have those conversations with students, to approach them, and to ask directly for their feedback.
Um that's my first piece of advice for being an effective rep.The second one, and perhaps it's obvious, but um it's easy to forget, is let students know who you are.You know, students on your course, they might have heard of the idea of a course rep, they might know they have one, but they might not know who their course rep is.So, I would say find some time alongside your course leader or independently to just introduce yourself to the students on your course.Let them know that you are their course rep, let them know what a course rep does, and invite them to get to know you and to share feedback with you.Just put yourself on their radar, basically.Um the third one is about considering the views and experiences of all students on your course as best as you possibly can.So, try not to focus solely on your friends or a small clique of students.
Try as best as you reasonably can within the time you've got, you know, allotted to you to engage as many students on your course as you possibly can because that way you get a much more even spread offeedback.You get a much broader sense of what's going on on your course, and that's better for staff in terms of making improvements and changing things for the better.So, try and engage as many students as you can within reason.I would say regular communication, this is the one in the middle, regular communication is also really key.So, you know, I would encourage you not to just approach students once at the beginning of term, have one conversation with them, and then forget about it.You know, try and stagger those conversations over the course of however many weeks you are a student here for.Try and make them sort of regular touchstones, regular touchpoints with those students.
Um and then in terms of raising feedback with staff, in terms of, you know, taking that feedback from students and then sharing it with staff, most course reps do this already, but it's worth saying, raise those issues andshare that feedback in a constructive and respectful way.The vast majority of UAL staff members want their course reps to share with them honest feedback about the experiences students are having because most staff members are truly invested in making sure those courses are as best as theypossibly can be.They want to improve them.They want to fix problems when they arise.So, it's not a confrontation.It doesn't have to be a confrontation.It can be a partnership.So, I think when you are sharing feedback with staff, just do so in a very civilized and constructive way.Trust that they want to help you.They want to help students, and that's all about building a relationship with them.
Um be committed to anti-racism and don't discriminate against staff or students.I think that's sort of uh that one speaks for itself, but it's worth I think mentioning.Um try and um try and embody that as best you can.And um finally, be curious to understand a situation.Um in other words, if a student or a group of students um bring some feedback to you about their experience and it's not entirely clear to you immediately like how to make sense of that feedback, maybe you don'tfully understand that feedback, or you need more information.That's fine.Just ask questions, you know, ask follow-up questions, um be curious, investigate what that student means.Um the more information you have, the better because it means you can kind of raise more detailed feedback with staff members uh after that initial conversation with students.So, those are some sort of basics, I suppose, around being an effective rep.
Explains the four main types of academic feedback: teaching, learning resources, course organization, and assignments. The section also introduces the feedback loop and emphasizes that reps should pass issues on rather than solve them alone.
Um let's move on to thinking about feedback.Uh earlier on I said that um the course rep's primary role is to gather students' academic feedback, you know, feedback about their academic experience, and then share that with staff.But what do I mean by academic experience?Like how are we defining that?Um the first thing to say is um there are kind of four main categories for academic feedback.One is teaching.The other is learning resources and support.Um the third one is course organization.And the fourth one is assignments and uh student feedback.I'm going to talk about each of these in turn.So, in terms of teaching, what I'm talking about really is anything to do with students' experience of their time spent in class, their time spent in lectures, their time spent in tutorials, their experience of the overall teaching experiencethat they're receiving.
So, some questions that you might ask students to gather their feedback on this topic are things like, you know, what do you think of the teaching quality on your course?Um are learning outcomes for assessments being clearly communicated?Uh and does course content match up with your expectations when you enrolled?These are just three example questions.There's There's many more you could ask, and they'll be quite specific depending on the pathway you've chosen.But again, anything to do with teaching, um anything to do with the content of the teaching, uh learning outcomes, and expectations versus reality, that's all relevant to to you as a course rep in terms of academic feedback.Uh the second category is learning resources and support.So, this involves anything that students need or are provided with that enables them to learn.It could be access to dedicated spaces like studios or workshops.
It could be specific software or physical resources they need to to learn and to develop their craft.It could also be wrap-around support such as academic support with essays or, um you know, checking in with a tutor about their work.Anything to do with that is relevant to your role as a course rep and comes under academic feedback.So again, some questions here that are relevant include like, do you have access to the learning resources you need?What is your experience of using Blackboard or Moodle?Um are additional course costs clearly signposted in advance?So, I think again, anything to do with learning resources and support, um comes under academic feedback.Um the third one is course organization.And what I mean about course organization is the extent to which um the course is scheduled, lessons are scheduled, um your timetable, um the extent to which you are notified by um academic teams or administrate administrative teams at
UAL about changes to your timetable.
Um anything like that comes under academic experience and is relevant.So again, some questions you might ask are things like, "Have you had any problems with your timetable?Is there good communication from staff when changes are made?And does your school or program respond to student feedback on time or, you know, or in a thoughtful manner?"So course organization definitely plays a part in terms of the academic feedback you'll be getting.
And then finally, um assignments and feedback.And again, this one is quite obvious, but in terms of the portfolios you might be submitting or specific assignments you and other students are undertaking and the feedback you get in response to that work being submitted, that isalso relevant to um academic feedback.So again, questions you might ask include things like, uh "Do tutors provide you with timely feedback on your work?Uh do you find this feedback useful?"And there might be many others you could think about asking as well.So these four categories, teaching, learning resources and support, uh course organization, and assignments and feedback, these are the four kind of broad categories that you'll be focused on as a course rep.Any feedback that you get from students that falls outside of this um outside of these categories is not strictly relevant to your role.
So for example, if a student is coming up to you um and they have feedback about the cost of coffee or the cost of food in the canteen, or they're coming up to you with a very personal uhproblem that they need, you know, resolving that might involve a member of staff or it might involve something outside of their uni life.These are not issues that you are expected to fix or solve because they fall outside the category of academic feedback.I'm going to talk a little bit later about what to do in the event that that does happen, in the event that a student brings that kind of issue to you.What do you do in that situation?Um Before we move on, are there any questions about these four categories?Uh do they make sense?Do these questions make sense?Is there anything you need me to clarify or go back over?
Okay, I'll move on for now.Bear in mind I can't see the chat, so if you do have a question um and I leave space for it, do put your mic on and ask me and I will answer it.Okay, so the feedback loop.So, the feedback loop really is a visual a visual model, I guess, a very simple visual model of what the ideal process looks like for gathering feedback, raising it, and then resolving it.So, you gather feedback, you raise it, and then you resolve it.Um in the first instance, you're speaking to students on your course and you're gathering feedback from them about their academic experience.So far, so good.Um Secondly, you're then raising that feedback with the most relevant staff member.You're sharing with that staff member, you know, what's working really well about the course, uh where there are issues, and and and where there are problems, and you're kind of working with that staff member or at least kind
of having an initial conversation with that staff member about how those issues might be resolved.Um And then finally, once you've shared that feedback with the staff member, you're going back to the initial students who raised it in the first place, and you're updating them on the outcome of your discussions with staff.This third part is the part that is very easily forgotten and sometimes missed out, but it's really important.So, once you've raised student feedback with staff, you've passed it on to them and you've explained what the issues are, it's really important to go back to those students you initially spoke to and just let them know, "Look,I've raised that feedback with staff.Um they have it.They're going to do something about it."If that staff member happens to have told you that they're going to it in 2 weeks' time or a month's time or whatever, you can pass that information on to the initial students.
And that's really important because it gives those students who shared it with you, um who shared that feedback with you, uh confidence and trust, really, um that something is being done about it.Um I want to emphasize that it's not on course reps to fix these problems.Now, you are not responsible for solving and fixing problems that might be experienced on the course.All you can do is uh share the relevant feedback with staff, make it clear to them what those issues are, and then let the students know that you've done so.You're not expected to intervene beyond that.Um so, I hope that's really clear.
Covers different methods for gathering student feedback and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. It then explains how to present feedback to staff clearly, with evidence, balance, and constructive framing.
Um so, how to collect feedback?Um we're going to do a quick exercise, um and I will ask you to share some of your thinking um as part of this exercise.You can do You can do that by just putting your mic on and saying a few words in a moment.But, there are lots of different ways um and different methods for collecting feedback, and I would recommend trying a few different things early on in your course rep experience to see what works for you and to see whatworks for students.Um you can mix it up.You can try different things.So, the first part of this exercise is I want you to grab a pen and paper or use your laptop.Um with just 2 minutes on the clock, I want you to write down as many different approaches or methods as you can for collecting student feedback.
What are all the different methods you could use in terms of collecting student feedback from the most obvious ones to maybe some of the more out there ones.Just write them down with 2 minutes to go and when we're done I'll let you know and you can you can share them back to me.Off you go, 2 minutes.
Okay, great.Thanks for doing that.Just finish up the idea that you're writing down now.Um before we move on to step two of this exercise, can I just hear a few ideas from those of you in the in the call?Um what are some of the methods that you came up with?Uh anyone can just put their mic on and and share if they want to.
Um sorry.Uh like creating an online form like Google Forms and emailing that out to students.Uh maybe maybe.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, great.I think that's a really good shout.So So yeah, create an online survey using whatever platform you feel most comfortable with.I guess Microsoft Forms might be a good one or Google Forms, whatever you think is best.Yeah, absolutely.You know, coming up with some some sort of pre um pre-designed questions, sharing it by email, maybe putting a deadline on it for when you want that feedback to be returned.Uh that's a great that's a great approach, I think.Really good.Thank you.Um anyone else?
Maybe by like a poster with like a QR code on it that like goes to like maybe yeah, like a form or something like that.
Nice.Yeah, very good.A bit like what we did at the beginning with the um you know, confirming your attendance.I think yeah, combining these two methods would be quite nice.You've got the survey, you've got the form.But also the method for accessing it then is made really simple, isn't it?It's not just email, it's a poster with a physical poster with a QR code.So, yeah, you could you could kind of dot them around the campus potentially and and and let students know it's there and invite them to use it.Great, really good.Let's take one more.Any other methods that we can
There's one in the chat Lee from Gabriel Gabrielle.
Amazing.
Um that says by email, pen and paper, verbally, group chats, or via feedback form.
Perfect.Yeah, there's a few there.I think the the in-person chats is in some ways the most obvious one and then and maybe you know, therefore it's maybe the one that we skip over, but actually in-person conversations are still really really helpful, really goodbecause you get to know the person as well when you're talking to them.Really nice.Um great, awesome.Thanks everyone.Um we're on to step two now.I want you to pick one method that you came up with and with two minutes on the clock, I want you to write down a strength and a weakness of using that method.So, I'll give you an example.If I was using in-person conversations as my method of choice, I might say that a strength of that is I get to develop a more personal relationship with the student who's giving me the feedback.
I get to know them.Um I can probably tell quite a lot about how they're feeling about a particular issue based on not just what they're saying, but also their body language or just how they're feeling in the moment.That's always useful.Um but a weakness of it is it's maybe harder to recall or to document what's being said.Unless I'm writing it down word for word whilst I'm stood in front of them, I might forget some things or I might um I might lose some of that detail later when I when I try and raise itwith staff, so that's a strength and a weakness.But choose your own one, pick a strength and a weakness and then we'll hear from each of you in about 2 minutes.Off you go.
That's great.Just finish up what you're writing down for me.
Um yeah, let's hear a few a few ideas.Um who wants to go first?
Um with the post Oh, sorry.
No, no, no, no, no, it's okay.You can go first.
Okay.Um so with the poster one, I said like cuz if they're going to be around campus, like everyone's going to walk past it every day.So like some people are eventually going to stop and like see what it is.But the cons could be cuz it costs money to print.So especially in like bigger campuses, it might cost a lot of money to get like it in like every classroom or corridor and stuff, which could be easier to send an email out to everyone at that point.
Yeah, no, I think that's a good that's a good point.Um yeah, there's a cost implication and also I suppose administratively, it's more complex than sending an email.I mean, it's not hugely complex, but it just involves more steps, doesn't it?Um I was thinking another potential weakness is that I don't know about Lime Grove.Uh I've been there a few times, but I'm not sure if it's the case there, but other campuses, there's so many posters up everywhere all the time.And so it's easy for your poster to be lost amongst the many that are there.Whereas an email is more direct, I suppose.Um but still, I think it's worth trying.And I think as a method, it's definitely worth trying even even with the knowledge of what those weaknesses are.So, yeah, good shout.Um somebody uh Luca, was it you?I think you were going to say something.
Oh, yeah.Um similarly to what I think Amelia said, um I was thinking of like, you know, physical ballot.Um I think while answers like, you know, would be really easily collected and there would be no nuance, um students I imagine could feel shy, you know, because there's no like real complete like anonymity to it like thereis online.So, I think that maybe less people would answer just because they're probably less inclined to want to answer if it's in person.
Yeah.Yeah, no, that's that's a really good point.I think I and I'm glad that you raised the the question around anonymity and identity because this is something I wanted to touch on anyway, which is I think some students, understandably, can be reluctant to share feedback becausethey're not necessarily sure whether or not, for example, if they have something quite critical to say or or something that's really bothering them about their experience, they might be reluctant to share that because they don't want it gettingback to the to someone who might, you know, take issue with it.It's unlikely that's going to happen, but that's still a that's a that's a legitimate concern.I think things like surveys or um anonymous ballots are really good for this purpose because they allow the student to go into as much detail as they like um in the knowledge that it's very unlikely uh it will
be attributed to them specifically, depending on the feedback.So, yeah, think about I suppose think about that question of when when does anonymity work in your favor when it comes to gathering feedback and when does it work against you is is is a good question to askyourself.Um thanks for that, Luca.Does anyone else have anything they want to share before we move on?
Okay, no worries.We'll move on for now.Um there'll be other opportunities later to to share back with some more exercises.Thank you all.Um this is step two to the previous exercise, but it's not actually a practical thing.It's me explaining, I suppose, a few key principles when it comes to actually raising feedback with staff.So, you know, how you choose to present that feedback um is really important.Uh and I tend to find the following guidelines are quite useful.Um the first thing to say is proving um proving the feedback is really useful.And what I mean by that is it's one thing to take a claim that a student or a group of students has made about their experience and share that with staff, but it's even better to uh share thatclaim and then also some evidence that underpins it.So, what I mean by that is if a student is claiming something about their experience, um some key examples of how their experience is being impacted by that claim, you know, some key examples of of of how it's
manifesting for them in their everyday experience is really useful.Not because they will not because they will otherwise be disbelieved, but because the more evidence or concrete examples you can give for a particular piece of feedback, the better just in terms of resolving it or fixing it orcoming up with a solution for it.So, I think what I'm trying to say there is provide some concrete examples if you can to to kind of support whatever feedback you're passing on to staff.Um I'm going to move across the screen horizontally.The second one is pre prepare, I suppose.So, when you are collecting feedback from students, whether it's via an online survey or an anonymous ballot or in-person conversations, um take a take a moment after you've done that to kind of organize that feedback.I don't mean spend hours, you know, um curating it or or like making it look all very neat.
I guess what I'm what I mean is make it as easy for the staff members as you can in terms of like sharing that feedback with them.Um take a moment to collate it, categorize it, um and pass it on in the most legible way that you can, I think, whether that's a course committee's or in person.Um precisions really useful as well, and what I mean by that is um testimonials from students.So, if a student doesn't mind and is quite happy to provide a very specific testimonial or description about their experience uh of something, that can be really really helpful cuz then you're sharing the the literal words of thatstudent with the staff member.Now, it might be that that student that that student doesn't want to do that.They don't want to uh give you a testimonial necessarily.Um uh but there are other ways of of doing that.
Maybe without attributing it to them, for example, making it anonymous and removing some some sort of identifying details from it.So, I think yeah, specificity uh and testimonials can be really really helpful in terms of sharing experiences.Um sharing positive feedback is also really really key, and not just because it makes us feel good, although it does, but also I think feedback sometimes has a negative connotation to it inherently.We think of feedback as all the stuff that isn't working.And whilst that can be true, there will be um experiences and stuff that you you know, stuff that uh is happening on courses that is really positive, that is is making a transformative difference for students, that is stuffthat's really worth highlighting and and and mentioning so that the staff know it's working well.So, I think, you know, a balance of positive feedback uh that shines a light on what's working well and more constructive feedback about the stuff that isn't working so well is always the sweet spot.
I think having a balance if you can is is always preferable to just having positive or just having constructive.Um um productive is the other one we have here.I mean I said earlier and I want to repeat this, it's not up to course reps to resolve and solve problems.All you can do is share the relevant feedback with staff and trust that they have the information they need to implement improvements themselves.And that's as it should be.Um having said that, if you do have ideas, if you do have suggestions for how issues can be resolved because you've experienced it yourself, because you have a certain insight based on your conversations with students, or because you'vejust thought of something that you might want to share, um by all means do.You know, that's that that that is welcome.Um so you do have an idea for how something could be resolved, um do pass that on to staff because they will consider it.
And then finally, just to reiterate what I said earlier, be proactive, I think, you know.Um uh once you've gathered feedback from students, um don't just wait until you happen to bump into the the relevant staff member who it's for, I think, you know, email them um and arrange a time to have aconversation with them about that feedback or email them the feedback directly and say, "Here's what I've heard from students.I'd like to pass it on."You know, um be proactive and be direct.Um that way you're kind of passing the feedback on as quickly as possible, which is good for solving problems.
Uses a feedback example to show how reps should prioritize recurring issues and distinguish between rep issues and specialist concerns. The speaker then explains how to close the feedback loop by updating students and following up with staff when needed.
Um we're now onto another exercise.Uh don't be scared by the graphs.They're not as complex as maybe they look when you first glimpse them.Um I don't like graphs, but maybe you're more comfortable than me.Um so step two is about um is step two of this exercise is about feeding back to staff.So what I want you to do is just look at this slide.I'll give you 3 minutes to do this.I want you to sort of ask yourselves two questions, really.Uh imagine that you are taking this feedback that you see in front of you into a course committee or into a conversation with your course leader.Um there's two questions.What would you choose to prioritize in terms of the feedback you want to share with the course leader.What would you choose to highlight?And how would you choose to highlight it?
So, what would you choose to highlight from this feedback?And how would you choose to highlight it?How would you choose to articulate it in that conversation with the course leader?Um this might be, for example, some of the feedback you get.And uh it might be presented in this format.So, what would you do with it, basically?Um I'll give you a few minutes to do that.If you have any questions about this task, just give me a shout and I'll clarify it for you.But, hopefully that makes sense.So, I'll give you a few minutes starting from now.
Okay, thanks very much.Um so my initial questions were um what would you choose to pick out and highlight from this feedback if you were taking it to a course committee or to a course leader and sharing it with them.And the second question was how would you choose to articulate this feedback?Um Any Does anyone want to go first?
Or does anyone have any questions about this exercise?If if in case maybe it wasn't entirely clear from the outset.
Okay.I'm going to I'm going to provide I suppose what I would do in this situation.So hopefully this will make sense and you can use this as a as a model I suppose.Um oh sorry, there's someone else There's Who's that?Is that uh Gabriel?Did you have something you wanted to share?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.So um I will start with the first one for example.Um I would double I will try to ask the student to expand on what they mean by challenging and engaging.
Yeah.
Uh the second one, um that's obviously a positive uh feedback.So again, I would ask the student to offer some details on why they think that.Um every teacher uses Moodle differently and it's so confusing.Um well, that says something in itself.Um and maybe I can ask what variations have they noticed?Yeah.Um I have had an email about my visa attendance, but I have not missed one class.Um that's not exactly a feedback.That's just a statement.Um reassuring statement, I guess.Um we need more guidance with Moodle.It's so confusing, and we have to help.It is so confusing, and we we have to no help, sorry.Um Yeah, on this one obviously there there is more guidance needed.We need to understand what kind of guidance is needed.And if so confusing, and we have no help.There is student um student um academic support.
So, that can be an instruction that can be given at that time.Um we need more guidance with Moodle.Oh, sorry.The cost of food, this is out of the list because it's not a feedback.Um the Moodle resources are out of date, and I'm struggling to know where to look for the things I need.This is again to do with the student support.Academic student support.Um The is is the attendance system accurate?I have
had three threatening emails about my visa being revoked, but I have only missed one lecture.Um this is serious.So, this one needs a lot of inquisitive a lot of questions.First of all, the email has to be shared.And second of all, also it needs to be checked how many lectures have been missed.Yeah.So, this is how I would handle this.
Yeah, brilliant.No, thank you.That was a very detailed answer.You went through each one sort of point by point.Yeah, great.Thanks for that.Does anyone else want to share their approach or their thoughts?I'm going to respond to what you said, Gabriel, cuz there's a few things I want to just highlight about what you said, which is I think really useful.But before I do, does anyone have any any other responses to this exercise?
Yeah, no, Gabriel, I I think that was that was great.I think there's a few things I would add as well and just just elaborate on what you said.I think the fact that Moodle is coming up one, two, three times in that kind of question two feedback.It's coming up a lot, isn't it?Moodle, Moodle, Moodle.So, if it was like that is a recurring issue, and so I think what I would do is I would prioritize the the Moodle feedback first and foremost because it's recurring, because there's clearly a pattern in in thatfeedback.You know, a lack of consistency across how it's used and implemented by different teachers, resources being out of date, what else is there?There's also the issue around the guidance being confusing.So, I think I would I would start with the Moodle feedback because it comes up so often.
And yeah, you were right to pick out that some of the feedback in that in that question two section, whilst it's all serious and it all deserves attention, some of it is clearly outside of the perview of thecourse rep.So, for example, the issues with these the issues with attendance and visa notifications.These are really serious.They should be addressed.They should be escalated, but they're not things that you can deal with as a course rep because they're outside of your perview.In that instance, you could signpost that student to a relevant service within UAL who can help them, and I'll talk about that a bit later as well.Um So, yeah, really good.Thank you.In terms of the question one and question three feedback, the the pie chart and also the graphs, uh just to highlight these, you know, if you receive if you choose to put put together a an online survey and
some of that data you're collecting is qualitative, you know, it's it's student testimonials that we just discussed or it's quantitative, it's actually, you know, pie charts or graphs, how you interpret those is also really key.So, in the first instance, if I was looking at question one, um my course provides useful industry talks that feel relevant to my career plans and the course, and I was looking at that pie chart, I think it'squite clear that a majority of students disagree that the um industry talks feel relevant.So, there's clearly work to be done there.I think I would follow up with those students who disagree and I would ask some more direct questions about what it is about those industry talks that don't feel relevant to them.In other words, it's absolutely fine to follow up for more feedback if you need to get a bit more information.
So, I just wanted to highlight that.Um very good.Thanks very much.We'll move on to the next part of the training.Um so, closing the feedback loop, this just brings us back to that final stage of the feedback loop.So, let's imagine that you've shared um all of that feedback we just discussed um with the relevant staff members.Could be your course leader, could be a member of the course support team, could be at a course committee, doesn't matter.Let's imagine you've done that.The next stage is to close the feedback loop, to essentially inform the students who initially shared it with you in the first place that you have passed it on and that you have um shared it with the relevantpeople.Um and there's just three things I want to highlight here.One is that do that as soon as you possibly can.
I appreciate that you're all busy, you've got jobs, you've got studies to do, so you can't necessarily do it immediately, but as soon as you've shared that feedback with the relevant staff members and they have it in handand they're going to do something with it, you know, update the students that gave it to you initially that that you've done exactly that.And if the staff member has said to you, "Look, thanks for the feedback.Um, it's going to take us 2 weeks to look at this and figure out what needs to happen, but thank you.We're going to go away and look at it."Let the students know.Let them know that, you know, who the staff member was that said that, who's taking it on, and how long it's going to take, just so they have confidence that it's being acted on.Um, the other thing to say, and this is really key, is there will be some instances when you you you share feedback with um, a staff member and the staff member will turn around and say, "Look, thank you
for showing this feedback.It is really key, but ultimately this is a much longer-term fix that isn't going to be able to be resolved within even a year.It's going to take a lot longer.It's a longer-term issue."Now, that's on the one hand quite frustrating and quite disappointing, because obviously it's not going to be so solved whilst you and your fellow students are studying, um, but it still ought to be passed on back to thestudents.So, even if a staff member is saying to you, "We can't fix this right now."or "This is a longer-term issue and it's going to take much longer to solve."let the students know that.Because it's not on you to fix it anyway.It's only on you to relay uh, the right communication back and forth.So, you can still let the students know you passed it on, even if the response you got was disappointing.
Um, and yeah, finally, um, I think, you know, don't just wait until a staff member has given you a guarantee that things have been fixed.Um, if you've if you've said to them if if if a staff member has said to you it's going to take 2 weeks to to resolve this, we'll get back to you in 2 weeks, and that 2-week deadlinepasses, and they you still haven't heard back from that staff member, it's absolutely fine to send them a friendly email and just say, "Just checking in to see whether or not um you've got an update for me interms of that feedback so I can pass it on to the student who shared it with me in the first place."Um staff members are not going to be upset with you for doing that.They will welcome that, and um I think it's a good thing to do.
So, do remind staff members um if you don't hear from them when you when when they've said they will tell you, basically.
Introduces course committees and explains when issues should be raised there versus elsewhere. The speaker then reviews example scenarios to illustrate good rep practice, including empathy, inclusion, and reporting back to students.
Um okay, we're going to look at problem-solving skills now.What does good practice look like in terms of being a course rep?Um just a quick thing to say is uh this is just a quick check, basically, before we talk about course committees and problem-solving.Um so, if the issue that you're being presented with by a student is to do with um one specific class or one specific tutor, or it's to do with um like a uh a pattern of behavior, I guess,or a pattern of things happening, that's something that perhaps you should raise at a course committee because it's something that is more structural.Meanwhile, if it's course-level or college-wide, um you can you can share it with us at the Students' Union, and we will pass it on to a college officer to look at or a school rep.So, in other words, um if there's a specific problem with a tutor, a module uh that's happening across that course, speak to your course committee.
If it's a college-wide issue, it's bigger than any one course or any one tutor, share it with our team, uh and we will figure out what to do with it um because we want to support you as bestwe possibly can.So, we're going to talk about course committees.So, I've mentioned these a few times, and I just want to kind of briefly summarize what they are.So, course committees um are committees that monitor issues related to academic content and course organization.
So, they're committees in which different people across UAL look at specific courses and they look at the curriculum, they look at what's being taught, they look at the assessments that are being set and the way in which thecourse is being organized.And they basically ask themselves the question what's working here, what's not working here, how can we fix things?So, it's a perfect space really in which to be a to be in as a course rep because you get to kind of reflect on what's working well, what isn't working so well and you can share feedback thenand there as well.Um, course committees are not organized by our team at the Students' Union, they're organized by UAL.And they're organized specifically by course leaders and program administrators at UAL.So, if you don't know when the next course committee is coming up, when your next course committee is coming up, don't ask us, speak to your course leader.
Your course leader will know.They'll be able to give you the date and the time.Um, and they take place once per term, so they're not super regular and they're usually online.Sometimes they take place in person, but they're usually online by a Teams.And like I say, they're committee sounds very formal, it sounds very stuffy, but they are ultimately a space to raise any topics that you think ought to be discussed about your course.They're also a space in which course leaders themselves can kind of update you on changes or developments to your course that you and other students should be aware of.Um, and they're also a space for you to suggest things, to advocate for change on your course if you if you want to.Um, you can propose new ideas and you can share student feedback at these committees.Um, you'll also be sent an agenda in advance of these course committees.
In other words, a document which basically describes what will be discussed in the committee, what each of the kind of discussion points are.Um which is useful because it means you can kind of see how the committee's going to flow in terms of the order of things.Um if you haven't received one of those uh and you want to see it, then contact your program administrator.Um if you don't know who they are, that's fine.Speak to your course leader, they can sort that out for you.Basically, if you don't know who anybody is or you're not sure who to get in touch with, speak to your course leader, they will always kind of put you in touch with the right person.Um and also if you're if you're not sure, you know, if you're still not sure by the end of all of this, what a course committee looks like, what it involves, how to uh participate in it, um then
speak to your course leader and ask them to sit down with you briefly for half an hour or 15 minutes and just talk through what it involves because they will usually just break it down for you, demystify it,and you'll see for yourself that it's nothing to be afraid of.It's just a kind of space to have a discussion, but they will talk you through it if you want them to.So that's my advice on course committees.
Um so we're going to look at problem solving and good practice.So I'm going to share with you I'm not going to I'm not going to go through every single one of these, but I'm going to pick out two.And I want you to listen to some examples of uh scenarios and course reps' responses to those scenarios.And I want you to let me know and decide whether you think it's good practice or bad practice, whether you think it's a good example of course rep action or whether you think it's a bad example and whyyou think that.Um so let's start with the first one in the um on the left-hand side.So the student says, "I had a deadline coming up, but I was worried that I would not have my project completed in time.I spoke to my course rep and told them that my grandmother had recently died and it affected my work.
The course rep listened and showed empathy and arranged a meeting with the course leader to explain my situation on my behalf.So, do we think that's an example of good practice or bad practice and why do you think that?Any takers?
Um I'd imagine it's good because you're taking the time to bring up an issue to the course leader on the student's behalf and instead of for example umHow do you say?Instead of for example like setting it to side such an important issue, not only are you showing empathy but as I said, you're taking the time to arrange a whole meeting with someone instead of just mentioning it.Um so I think it's definitely good.Also so that maybe the whole course and the whole teacher body can actually be aware of your situation as well.So that that can affect how they treat you and how they act towards you in your deadlines for that period specifically.
Okay, great, very good.Thanks.Is that Luca?That's Luca, isn't it?Thanks, Luca.Um does anybody have a different point of view or a different take on this particular one?
So I think with this one I I I I completely agree with what you said, Luca.Like it's really important to demonstrate to in this scenario, it's it's clearly very important to listen, to show empathy and to do something.You can't just walk away from that person and ignore them.That would be That would be very That would be That would not be good.Um however, I do think it's a borderline case because whilst I think it's good in many respects, I actually think there's one that there's one aspect of this scenario where you could argue it's not the best uh useof practice.I think the um I I can see your hand is up.Go on.
Sorry, would it be that instead of you talking about such a pressing issue should you should give the space for that student to talk to the course leader directly?
I That's right.I think I think you've hit the nail on the head.I think there's two things I I think there's it's a borderline case.There's nuance to this.I but I think you hit the nail on the head.I think on the one hand, yes, if a student's approaching you with that type of problem, of course, listen, demonstrate empathy, take in what they're saying.Um that's just being a good person as well as being a good course rep.But I think um directly getting involved and arranging that meeting on behalf of the student isn't strictly necessary.What you could do instead is signpost that student, in other words, redirect them to a a specific service provided by UAL that can help them in this instance.Um we're going to get to what signposting looks like a bit later.Um so, I'll talk about that in a bit.
But in other words, yes, demonstrate empathy, listen, be present with that student, but I think directing them to a specialist service who can really help them in a in a very holistic way is probably the best thing todo.Um so, yeah, I just wanted to put that out there.But it's a good response nonetheless.Um Very good.Let's go for the next one then.Um let's go for the one at the bottom.So, our course rep has demonstrated exceptional initiative in gathering feedback by introducing the use of Mentimeter, which allowed all students to contribute their opinions inclusively and anonymously.This method ensured that quieter voices, often overshadowed in traditional feedback sessions, were equally heard, provided a more accurate and representative view of the cohort's overall experience.Her approach fostered a consensus that reflected the entire class rather than just the more vocal participants.Um What do we think?
Is that good practice or bad practice and why?
I think this one's good practice because I think it's important that everyone in the class gets a voice.So, doing it more of an anonymous way could like promote people who are a bit afraid in like social settings to like interact, I guess.So, I think that's really important.
Yeah, no, I completely agree and I'm I'm glad you picked out that particular part of this one because, you know, in I mean, I agree it's good practice for sure.And I think inevitably there will be students who have lots of really useful insights and feedback to share, but who, either because they're a bit more shy or perhaps just less vocal, you know, less vocal than other students,they're unlikely to come forward if it's an in-person conversation or if it's um some other form of gathering that feedback.So, the use of things like Mentimeter, yeah, it does a really good job of allowing everyone's voice equal space.Um so, I completely agree.I think, you know, as much as you possibly can, again, within reason, within the time you have available, try and include as many types of students and types of voices you can, even those who are a bit quieter,
because they will still have they will often still have really useful things, insightful things to share.Um we'll do we'll do one more.We'll do we'll do one more.We'll do the middle one.Um our course rep cares about our course and is proactive in raising feedback from students.He also consults with multiple staff to solve our problems.He helps us to communicate with the tutor and also and also the school and regularly attends meetings and reports the results back to us.Um any thoughts on this one?Good, bad, and why?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I think this is a good example.This is This is an example of good practice and the the the specific thing that I want to pick out this one is the the final sentence which is he helped us to communicate with the tutors and alsothe school and regularly attends meetings and reports the results back to us.That final bit, reports the results back to us, that's all about closing the feedback loop and letting students know that you have passed their feedback on to the relevant people and any details that come out that conversation, sharingthat with the students, it goes a long way in terms of establishing that trust between course reps, staff and students.So, yeah, I just want to highlight that.Um, very good.Thank you very much.Um, we'll do um, I'll tell you what we'll do.
We'll take a short break cuz I appreciate we've been sitting here for about an hour and a half.Um, we'll take a short break.Uh, let's take um, 10 minutes uh, and we'll come back and we will um, do this exercise and then we'll kind of summarize um, a few few final things before ending the training.So, let's come back at What's the time now?Let's come back at about 20 past 3:00.Um, and then we'll pick things up and we'll finish off.So, I'll speak to you all shortly.
After a short break, the training continues with scenarios about supporting individual students and handling low survey response rates. The speaker emphasizes follow-up, inclusive approaches, and using course leaders to help encourage engagement.
Okay.
Okay, hi everyone.Um just make yourselves comfortable again and we'll pick things up where we left them before.Nice.Not long to go now.
Can you all just give me a a sign when you're when you're back just so I know I'm not speaking into the void.Amazing.Thanks, Lupe.
Great.Thanks, Gabriel.Uh I'll assume I'll assume uh those two hands reflect the rest of the room as well.Brilliant.Nice.Good stuff.Okay, um let's move on.So, this is another exercise, but we're going to I mean, we'll focus on just two of these for now because I appreciate there's a lot of these.And um you know, you're welcome to look back over this training in the future and um remind yourself of anything we didn't cover this time round, but we'll we'll we'll choose two.So, I'm going to share with you two challenges, I guess, two challenging situations.Uh oh, sorry.Um Gabriel, your hand's up.Do you have a question?
Gabriel, do you have a question?
Sir, yes, please.Sorry, you might hear something in the background.That's another course.Uh so
That's right.
Um what is crits?
Uh good question.um crits so crits is essentially this might not be something that you experience on your course.Not every course has crits, but crits is a space in which students come together to present their creative work, whatever that might be.They discuss it with their peers and then their peers critically evaluate it right then and there with them.So it's basically an opportunity to share your work and then have your work critiqued by your peers in a group session.And this is something that happens across some but not all courses at UAL.So they're quite they can be quiet.Some students find them very challenging spaces because obviously you're sharing your work and it's being critiqued.So that's why this has come up in this in this challenge.I hope that makes sense.Um
Thank you.
No problem.So we're going to start with that one.So challenge one, a course rep hears that a disabled student on their course feels uncomfortable in crits.The course rep does a survey to see if others feel the same way, but the majority of students enjoy crits.The course rep wants to support the student but it is not but the issue is not widely felt on the course.So I guess the issue here is that one particular student is feeling uncomfortable.Other students are not.The course rep doesn't quite know what to do in that situation.If that was you, if you were that course rep or if you were looking at that situation how would you go about it?How would you deal with it?What what would be your next steps?And there's no I don't expect you to come up with like the perfect answer here.
Just some ideas is is more than enough.What would you do to try and resolve the situation?
Any thoughts?
I think that um I can talk to the individual person who's feeling uncomfortable because crits are quite important for the course, obviously.
Try Try and find a way to like tailor it for them specifically.Maybe like they don't personally engage in crits, but they can still observe and still be part of the conversation if they choose to, but they can still step back if they don't want to.
Okay, very nice.Thank you, Amelia.Um does anybody else have any thoughts on this one?Maybe a different perspective or building on what Amelia said?It's okay to disagree as well.You might have different different takes on this depending on uh the reps.
I think with this one, just to come in on that, I think that's a good That's a good start, Amelia.I think um I think having a follow-up conversation with that student to to better understand you know, what aspects of crits are making them uncomfortable is a good place to start, and I think that's That was the beginningof your answer because, you know, discomfort can mean a lot of different things for a lot of different students.It might be that there's something very specific that is happening or not happening in crits that is making it difficult for that particular student to engage.Um and if that's the case, then perhaps that specific thing can be can be fixed or it can be changed.So, I think having a a follow-up conversation to better understand that student's point of view would be where I would start.
I also think this is a good example of um of thinking about what I discussed earlier, you know, taking an inclusive approach to being a course rep.Now, this is clearly a disabled student who is having this experience, and even though the major if you took a majoritarian view, the majority of the students uh in crits aren't sharing in the same challenge, but clearly thisis a student who is perhaps being failed in some way by crits as in crits is not serving them in the right way.So, I think this is a good example of taking into account that particular student's needs, and even if other students don't share the same challenges, still taking it seriously, and still listening, and still passing on that feedback toto the staff.So, I think I think both approaches could work.Um and I'm open to other students in the other course reps here to to to have a different view on that.
If they do, let let let me know if you do.Um Very good.Um let's move on to the second Let's do one more.Let's do um uh challenge two.Uh students are not responding to your survey that you sent out, and the few students who have responded are giving very little detail.The course committee is in 2 weeks, and you are worried that you will not have anything to present at the course committee.
So, what would you do if you were in this situation?Um what would be your response?
Just reach out to everybody.Um the ones that responded, just asking further questions or if they feel comfortable with the with a different format.
Yeah, brilliant.I think that's those are two good approaches.So, yeah, following up with those students who did respond, but with very little detail to ask some additional questions, get that more nuanced view from them.That's great.And then and yeah and then yes, a reminder to those students who haven't responded.I think also one other thing you could do, and this is a this is a this is a tip that I think is quite useful.If you as a course rep are having a difficult time getting that engagement from students, which will sometimes happen, you know, there will be times when you're trying to get feedback and you can't, um speak to your courseleader and say to them, "Look, I I've put this survey out.I've asked for feedback.I haven't had the response that I would like.Can you help me remind those students of this survey and the importance of giving feedback?"
And the course leader can then use their influence to do that.It's not about telling them off.It's just about saying, "Look, this survey is out there.Um take the opportunity."Um they might do that in class or after class.So, I think, you know, use other individuals who are in positions of influence to help you um drum up uh attention for the for the survey.That's absolutely fine.You can do that.Um very good.Um I would encourage you all to look over these challenges later on, uh the ones that we didn't discuss, and just sort of formulate for yourself um a a response that you might that you might that you mightbecause it's a useful habit to get into, I think.Uh let's move on.
Explains how reps should respond when students raise issues outside the academic rep role. The speaker outlines key UAL and Students' Union services and shows how to direct students to the right support.
So, we're going to look at signposting.Um I've spoken a lot about this um so far, but I haven't really discussed what it means.But this is basically when, you know, when a student brings an issue to you that um falls outside the category of academic feedback and so isn't strictly relevant to your role, what do you do?You know, you can't just I mean, you could walk away and not even engage with that student, but that wouldn't be very good.What do you do?Um where do you send that student?How do you support them?So, um the first thing to say is if a student does raise a concern that's unrelated to academic representation, it might be a health concern, it might be a mental health and well-being concern, it might be many otherthings besides that.Uh and the first thing to say is, you know, you are not expected as a course rep to address those specific issues because it's beyond your role and there are experts and specialists at UAL who can address those
issues independently.Um the best response in this scenario is to explain uh very clearly to that student where they can get expert help and support.To signpost them in other words to a specific service or a specific team or a specific department who are set up to address that that that need.Um so that might be for example the UAL advice and wellbeing service, but there are others we can talk about as well.Um and there's two reasons for doing this.We want to make sure that you as volunteers are taking care of yourselves, that you're setting healthy boundaries, that you're not um that you're not taking on more responsibility than you should really because you've got your studies, you'vegot your work, you've got other things to do.Uh and also making sure that student gets the right support they need.You know, you you I don't I mean I'm not a mental health specialist so I can't provide mental health support to a student who needs it.
Um so I want to make sure that student can go to a place where they can.That's really what I'm getting at.Um so here is uh a list I suppose of all the different um specialist services and departments that do provide those services to students.And my advice would be to print this slide out.You'll you'll get these slides um in an email attachment soon.Print this slide out and keep it on you because I think actually having this on your person and so you can share it with students if the moment comes up is not a bad idea.Um but for example, you have the UAL counseling and wellbeing service.Um they specialize in mental and physical health support.Um Chaplaincy, counseling and wellbeing resources.Um and you can see the contact details there at the bottom.There's also a disability service as well.
Um they have a team of advisors who can provide detailed and specialist advice to students who need it.They also have pots of funding as well for students um who might need access to specific resources or equipment uh to help with their studies.Um and there's also um non-medical help providers as well who uh work for them.Um library services is another one.So, for example, if a student is coming up to you and they're saying that they they're having a really difficult time getting to grips with you know, the academic format of essay writing or whatever it might be orthey're not really sure how to print something or borrow a book.You know, obviously, you can't uh you can't do that then and there for them, but what you can do is direct them to the library services where there's general academic support, English language development support, um research and library
skills support, and then also information about how to borrow books, how to book space, and how to print as well.Um careers.Uh if a student comes up to you looking for support and advice with career development, there is a career service at UAL who provides some of that support.So, they can book a one-to-one with a careers support person there.Um they can get CV support.Um there are also some employability workshops that are run on annual basis as well.And I think as far as I know, the careers service is also provided up-to-date jobs board.So, there are job opportunities that are available as well that they can kind of find out about through the careers service.And the last one to mention is a um is the SU advice service.So, this is a students' union uh advice service.Um I don't want to confuse things, but there are two advice services.
There's the UAL advice service, which hopefully you're all already aware of.And then there's also a separate students' union advice service.Um and the students' union advice service specializes in two things.One is um university issues such as academic complaints.So, for example, if a student is coming up to you and saying, "I want to make, in my personal capacity as a student, a complaint because um, I failed an assignment and I don't feel like I should have,or I don't like the grade I've been given, or I need to um, get an extenuating circumstance to extend the deadline for an assignment."If a student is coming up to you and saying that, that is not for you to deal with.Uh, that's something that the advice service at the Students' Union can deal with.So, they provide support with extenuating circumstances and academic appeals, so you can direct them to that service.
Um, the SU advice service also provides advice on housing issues.So, if a student is distressed or frustrated because um, they've got an issue with their landlord, or they're not sure how to deal with a deposit, or a contract they're being asked to sign for, you know, accommodation, um,the Students' Union advice service can provide support with those housing issues.So, these are all the services that you can signpost and redirect students to if they bring these issues to you, and that is the best thing you can do.Just to really clearly explain what these services do, pass on the contact details, and encourage them to get in touch with these services.
Provides an overview of sabbatical officers, who to contact at UAL, and the democracy and influencing team. It also introduces Rep Hub, reward and recognition schemes, skills workshops, and the annual rep conference.
Um, we're coming to the end of the training now, but I just wanted to talk about um, sabbatical officers.So, you're all pre-degree students, so, you know, one day you will eventually become undergraduate students at UAL, and you will have a specific college officer uh, who will represent you at that college.Um, and so, this is just an overview of what that looks like.Basically, every single college has a sabbatical officer who is either a current student who's taking a break from their studies, or a recent graduate.And that student represents all others Sorry, that sabbatical officer represents all other students at that college.Um you know, and they have campaign priorities and things they're campaigning on, things they want to change, things they want to improve for students.Um we also have a student communities officer, Ellie, and a union affairs officer as well.
So, I would encourage you to become familiar with these individuals over the course of your year as pre-degree students and as you move into your undergraduate lives, um you know, you'll become even more aware of these people uhand future Sabs as well as they go on to represent you.Um just quickly, who do you speak to at UAL?So, this is just a quick recap.So, um course leaders are your first point of contact for any feedback that relates to teaching and learning, uh learning resources and assessments.Um there's also a course support team um and they deal with anything related to Blackboard, Moodle, and timetabling.Um your course leader can also help with that, but course support teams are working in that area day in, day out.So, anything to do with Blackboard, Moodle, and timetabling, um find out who your course support team are and share that feedback with them.
Um school deans won't be relevant to you at this point, but when you eventually become undergraduates, they will.If you want to continue being a course rep into your undergraduate life, uh you can share um uh feedback with your school deans as well um at a later stage.Um this is the democracy and influencing team.So, this is a a students' union team that manage um elections.So, you know, every time there's an election for a new sabbatical officer or a school rep or a uh any elected student position, this team will put together the kind of democratic infrastructure to to sure that happens.Um and again, I hope that, you know, as you go through your your UAL life, uh, you become familiar with this team, and you do participate in student elections.Even if you never want to stand for election yourself, um, please do vote in student elections.
You do have a say over who represents you and who these people are.Um, we're going to do a really quick quiz, and then we're going to wrap it up.So, um, first question, um, we're going to skip that one cuz it's not relevant to you.First question, how many hours per week does a course rep volunteer?Any takers?How many hours per week does a school rep Say again, sorry?
Uh, 20 hours.
20 hours?Uh, that's that's a lot of hours.Definitely not
That's not 2 hours.2 hours.
2 hours.Please No, no, it's okay, but please do not do 20 hours because, um, that would be a lot of hours for a voluntary role.It's 2 hours, uh, maximum per week.And like I said earlier, um, we're we are not monitoring your hours.We trust that you're going to go off and and do this.Um,
it might be that some hours you work 1 week, some hours you work 3 week Sorry, some weeks you work 1 hour, some weeks you work 3.It might be that you sort of mix and match, but try not to do more than 2 per week on average because, um, you know, you've got other things to be focusing on.Um, who is the first point of contact when raising feedback with UAL staff?
Any takers?
The first point of contact is always your course leader.Um, if ever you're in any doubt about who to uh, go to, um who to share feedback with, um and who to, you know, um update with what students are telling you, uh just go to your course leaderbecause even if they direct you to somebody else or tell you that there's somebody more relevant, they will know who that person is.So, always start with your course leader if ever you're in any doubt about where to take feedback.Um I'm now going to hand over briefly to Cheyenne because Cheyenne's been very patiently sitting and listening to this training, but Cheyenne is a member of our team and uh she has put together Rep Hub, um which isbrilliant and I want to give her the time to explain what it is.Over to you, Cheyenne.
Thank you, Lee.Um hello, everyone.Um as Lee said, I'm Cheyenne.I'm a member of the Education Quality Team.Um and uh we Well, I've created this year um Rep Hub.And as the site says, it's a web page that's an online home for everything to do with reps.So, it has resources like um links to the handbooks, um but it also has an event section where you can find out what events that we're putting on for um all reps.Um next coming up, uh if I can remember, is the is the Returning Rep Social, and it is um fully booked now, unfortunately.But if you keep an eye on that space, there will be more events coming up.Um You can also use it to find any training sources.So, if you need a little a reminder about what you've covered today, you can go on on there to find that.
And then also, um there is um award and recognition, which is um which will be talked about in just a little bit, um information on that.Um uh extra rep information and also rep wins.So, what have reps been up to and what have um what have they succeeded in?That's on there as well.There's currently some from the last academic year seeing as we've just started, but it's a good way to see what reps are up to or have been up to in the past, and what they have achieved.Um, and also current priorities will be updated there as well.Um, so I'd highly encourage you to scan that QR code and check it out.Funnily enough, I have been coding it today, so there are some new things on it already.Um, so yeah, please do check that out throughout the end.Um, just to remember to, um, keep an eye on it.
Thanks, Cheyenne.Um,
Thanks.
very good.Um, and it's over to you again, Cheyenne, cuz, um, you have been present I it's a it's cut for some reason it's cut off the bottom of this slide.I'm not sure why it's done that, but if you want to briefly explain what this is, cuz, um, again, this is all your hard work, so I don't want to take up a lot of
Yeah, sure.I completely forgot it was the next slide.Okay, so reward and recognition.Um, we have rep of the month, and that is something that's continued on from last year, and basically there is a form, um, and you can, um, input, um, information about a rep, or have somebody else input informationabout what you've done as a rep into this form, um, and then we in the EQ team, and the officers as well, give that a read, and, um, we decide who gets nominated for rep of the month ina nutshell.Um, whoever gets nominated, sometimes it's two people, sometimes it's one, normally it's one, um, one person rep of the month, um, they then get a, um, a thank you, a shout out on social media, LinkedIn, and also agift card, um, for One for All, which is a it's like Love to Shop vouchers, if anybody knows them, you get discounts on lots of different, um, shops.
And then, new for this year is the reward and recognition system, and that, do do do, is a points-based system that has a load of tasks in it that, um, have are assigned points, and reps can complete thosetasks to then progress through the different tiers.So, as you can see, there's bronze for 50 po- if you get 50 po- if you get 50 points, you get to bronze, 80 points, you get silver, 120 points, you get gold, and at each tier tier thereis a different reward.I'm going to just put a screenshot of the full um of the full slide in the chat just so you can see what rewards are at every tier see as gold is cut off.But um yeah, that there will be more information on the website in the rep hub about what the tasks are and how you can achieve those in the rep hub.
But yeah, that's another another thing to look forward to for this year.
Amazing.Thanks, Shreya.
No worries.
Um Last few slides.Uh just quickly, so again in the spirit of wanting to give back to course reps like yourself for agreeing to volunteer for this role and and and putting in this um this effort, um we also program skills developmentworkshops um every year every term.And these workshops uh are usually delivered in collaboration with professionals at UAL or the Students' Union or sometimes external facilitators.And they can be in a they're often um you know, focused on a range of different things like we for example last year we did a skills development workshop that examined what decolonizing the curriculum looks like from apedagogical perspective.Um we also have workshops on how to organize communities, what community organizing looks like, uh how to manage stress and well-being as as students as well as in your own personal life, and how to create impactful online portfolios.
So we've we've done sessions in in all of these things um and we're going to continue to do so.Um one thing I will say is on November the 18th, um I'm going to share this information with you in an email, so don't worry if you haven't got a pen to hand, but on November the 18th thereis going to be a networking and making connections workshop at LCC.Um uh LCC London College of Communication in Elephant and Castle.You don't have to be an LCC rep to do it.You can be a pre-degree rep, a CSM rep, doesn't matter.You are entitled to go to that.It's a free workshop.It's in person.It's with an external facilitator called Rachel Moss.It's going to be a very hopefully very fun, friendly, quite informal session all about how to network, how to meet people in certain spaces in a way that's authentic to who you are and doesn't feel terrifying.
There'll be food as well.So, keep an eye out on your emails and you'll be getting an invitation to sign up to that if you wish to in the next week or so.Rep conference.So, every year we have this event called rep conference.It's an in-person event.Course reps from across every course and college and year group at UAL can can take part.It's free to take part in.It's taking place in February next year as it does every year.And this is a really fun event because there are workshops, there are networking opportunities, there's food and drinks, and non-alcoholic drinks I should say.And you'll get to meet people basically and you'll get to make friends and you'll get to learn new things from the workshops.And again, it's another event that we we give back to reps for all the effort they've put in.
So, do join us on the 17th of February for that.It's not currently available to book, but it will be soon.So, keep an eye out on your emails.
Summarizes what reps should do after the training, including introducing themselves to students and using Rep Hub for updates. The session ends with attendance confirmation, final thanks, and post-training wrap-up.
What to expect next?So, here's a few final things.After this training, do arrange with your course leader to introduce yourself to students on your course.Like I said earlier, let students know who you are, say hello, introduce yourself.Ignore point two.That's old information.We are no longer sending out course rep newsletters, but the rep hub, as Cheyenne I earlier, will be your go-to space really for any updates or information about the rep community.So, um imagine that number two says go online and access the rep hub.We'll update this and send it through to you.
Um we're going to send a a video around on how to create a survey.Um if you don't know how to do that, that video will tell you how to do it.Um engage engage with with rep of the month, earn those points.Um it's well worth doing.Um take part in socials if you wish to.Uh we encourage you to.And keep an eye on your calendars and your emails for any key dates that are coming up as well for additional opportunities.Um and finally, speak to other course reps.You know, if you're struggling with the role or you want advice on the role or you want to build a bit of community, we encourage you to meet other course reps and speak to them.
And that concludes the training.Um I'm just leaving this QR code here.If you were not here at the very beginning and you did not scan this, please scan it now and um just confirm that you've attended the training cuz if I if I see that you if if you don'tdo this, I will assume you haven't and then you might get an email from me saying please come to another training when you don't need to.So, please do scan uh scan this, uh fill it in and confirm that you've attended.Uh and that concludes the training.Um you are now trained.You are now course reps.Thank you again for coming along and like I said, keep an eye on your emails because uh there will be lots of other opportunities coming up, socials, events, workshops, you name it.So, um yeah, we hope to see more of you soon in the future.
Um take care everyone.Speak soon.
Thank you.Bye-bye.
Thank you.
See you all.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Gabriel is on hold.I'm not sure Gabriel was on.I'll stop recording.Give me a second.Hang on.Stop sharing.And stop recording.
Has it stopped recording?No.Hang on.How do I do that?
Come on, Lee.How long have you been doing this for?
Uh Oh, I know.I can do it.
Please do.
Got it.Okay.Let's see.