where do I raise issues my coursemates have with their course?

where do I discuss other issues?

how do I find out what my coursemates think and how can I feed back?

what do all these terms mean?

who can I contact for help?

so, what’ s a course rep?

Is there anything else I’ll be expected to do?

foreword

As your Union we’re here to improve students’ experience at UCS, whether it’s improving teaching quality on your course, improving support for students’ welfare & wellbeing, fighting for students’ rights, or campaigning to limit Cuss’s environmental impact.

As a course rep at UCS, you’ll play a really important role in helping us achieve this goal. Course reps are the strong coherent voice capable of improving all of these things as the route of students’ thoughts, views and opinions. You have the opportunities to tell UCS and the Union what works, what needs to be improved and what the problems are. With that information we can help make UCS a better place and improve the experiences of thousands of UCS students. I hope to be involved with each of you over the coming academic year working together to take UCS forward. Take advantage of all the support we can give you so you can give as much as you can to improving students’ lives.

Thanks, good luck and enjoy!

Andy SpeedPresident | UCS Union

UCS Union is a democratic membership organisation that is the voice of all UCS students. The Union makes sure that the University and the wider world are listening to what students want and works to improve students’ experience at UCS.

The Union is run and led by students from UCS. Every student at UCS is automatically a member of the Union and has a say in how it is run. The decisions that the Union makes are made by students or their elected representatives.

The Union runs a number of student-run activities, like Union sports clubs, societies and social events, as well as student-led services, like the Theta, the Union’s café, the Union Bar and the Campus Shop.

Course reps play a massive role in improving the experience at UCS. By talking to students on their course about their issues, views and opinions and raising them with lecturers and tutors they allow students to shape their own education and experience.

As the link between students and the Union, they help make sure the Union is student-led by helping set its priorities, raising issues students care about and keeping elected officers in check. They are also our campaigners, helping us to improve things across the University.

Other than improving the overall experience at UCS, Course Reps gain a wide range of skills that improve employability including increased confidence, networking and communication skills.

Shaping your own education and experienceAs well as expressing the views and opinions of your coursemates, course reps have a direct say in how their course is run, in the Union and in shaping the UCS experience.

Communication SkillsPresenting information in meetings and lectures, effective listening, note taking, writing reports and emails are all part of being an effective course rep. These are great examples for your CV of how effectively you can communicate.

Improved Self ConfidenceTalking to dozens of students on your course, becoming an expert on students’ views, and raising them to people that appear to have more knowledge and experience than you is a great achievement.

Developing NetworksMany course reps benefit socially from their role and develop new networks and meet new people.

Ability to organise and manage prioritiesReps develop skills to organise themselves and manage their time effectively to balance their representative role alongside their studies.

Things you’ve picked up from your coursemates about the quality of the course like feedback on marked coursework or deadlines for work should be raised directly with academic staff or taken to your Course Committee. Telling lecturers and tutors what works well, what the students on your course have enjoyed and what should be built upon in the future is also really useful.

Consult with your coursemates on anything to do with their course.

Meet with your Course LeaderContact your Course Leader by email to arrange a discussion of any issues your coursemates have. They’ll be keen to meet up and to listen to anything you’ve got to say

Make a decision what to do nextIf you think it might be useful to have a wider discussion about the issue with other course reps and other members of academic staff, or you would like a more formal response to an issue go to the next stage. If not go straight to the feedback stage.

Write a report or prepare an item for discussionfor the Course Committee agenda (see below)

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Feedbackany outcomes/decisions/actions to the students you represent and send the “Rep Report Form” to the Union.

Attend the Course Committee and raise the views and opinions of your coursemates in the meeting. Use the “Rep Report Form” (see below) to take notes of any outcomes/decisions/actions made.

Consult with your coursemates on the agendaWhen the agenda comes out go back to the students on your course and get their views and opinions on all the topics that’ll be discussed at the meeting.

Email or meet with the Course Committee Clerkor member of UCS staff responsible for the Course Committee to place your report or discussion item on the agenda.

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The Union has a list of all the Course Leaders and Course Committee Clerks. We will give you’re their names and contact details at training. If you didn’t attend training email su.democracy@ucs.ac.uk with your course name and we’ll send the details through to you.

Not all agendas look the same, but they all have a similar structure and order.

Welcome, Membership and ApologiesThis is where the Chair, who leads the meeting, will thank everyone for coming and take a note of who’s there and who isn’t.

Minutes of the Last MeetingThe notes of the last meeting are formally approved in this part of the agenda. You are usually asked if they were a true and accurate account of the meeting. If this isn’t your first meeting you should have been emailed the minutes and sent any changes you had to the Course Committee Clerk. If you didn’t, or your changes weren’t made, you can mention them under this part of the agenda.

Matters ArisingThis section is for any developments or updates of things that have been recorded in the minutes. This is your chance to ask about anything that was agreed at the last meeting.

Reports from Lecturers and TutorsThis item may appear under this title or may be lots of separate items on the agenda. This is lecturers and tutors’ chance to report anything they think you need to know, like any developments or things they want to change. They may just be items for discussion or may be an oral or written report. You’ll have an opportunity to share your coursemates’ views and thoughts.

Every course has a Course Committee where course-related issues (like feedback on market work or module choice) are discussed which meets once a term. Who sits on the committee can vary but usually UCS staff that play a role in running the course and all of the relevant course reps are members. Sometimes a member of the Union’s Executive Committee or Union staff will attend too.

Every meeting will have a Chair, that leads the meeting, and a Clerk, that takes notes and writes the agenda which is the order and list of things to discuss.

Course Rep IssuesThis is where the items you submitted to the Course Committee Clerk should appear. Like “Reports from Lecturers and Tutors”, this item may appear under this title but they might be separate agenda items. If you submitted an item for discussion, you should start off setting out the issue and invite others around the table to comment. If you submitted a written report, you should briefly introduce and summarise your report inviting others to comment. Make sure there is an outcome or change and that someone has been made responsible for making it happen.

Any Other BusinessThis is for anything that might have come up since the agenda was released. If a student raised an issue with you after the close of the agenda this is where you raise it.

Date, Time and Place of the Next MeetingThis is where the time, date and place of the next meeting are set.

Any oral or written reports should contain:

A WhatA description of the issue.

Feedback on students’ work is poor quality. There is no consistency between lecturers and sometimes the work isn’t returned in good time.

A WhyInformation on any problems it has caused and why it should be sorted out.

Poor feedback means students haven’t been able to make the most of their project/coursework. Feedback could be used as an opportunity to prevent the same mistakes being repeated.

Some ActionWhat you want lecturers and tutor to do about it and any ideas on how the problem could be resolved.

We want course leader to develop a minimum standard of feedback.

Sometimes students may come to you with personal problems (like financial or medical issues), academic difficulties (like wanting to appeal a mark) or individual complaints (like about a member of staff). No matter how prepared you may feel to deal with it, it’s not your responsibility to take on. In this situation it’s best to refer them to speak to the Union, their personal tutor or a member UCS staff they trust.

If someone approaches you with a confidential issue never speak to someone else without the student’s permission. If you don’t get permission, but feel the issue is important or serious, go straight to the Union with your anonymous case and we’ll advise you on the best course of action.

Once the Union has your email address you will receive an electronic copy of the “Rep Report Form”. If you fill it in the Union will have all the information we need to know. It can be useful if you take the form into the meeting with you so you take a note of all the things you need to report.

If you’re on the Ipswich campus, you can take the copy you’ve made notes on and take it over to Union reception as soon as possible. If you can’t reach Union reception you can hand it in to reception in the Waterfront Building. If you’re not on the Ipswich campus, or you’d rather send it electronically, you can fill it in and email it to su.democracy@ucs.ac.uk.

Read the agenda well in advanceThis will give you plenty of time to chat to staff about any questions you might have and get your coursemates’ views.

Make a note of when the agenda closesMake sure you know the time and date you need to submit agenda items by so you can make sure the things you want to talk about are on the agenda.

Talk to lecturers and tutors if you have any issues with their reports or proposalsBy doing this you’ll come across more constructive and not always appearing to oppose their ideas. It also means you’re more likely to be involved in the formulation of any new proposals rather than just reacting to it.

Build a strong argumentTry to use some evidence if you can and don’t rely too much on your own experience. Be polite and don’t get too emotional. Try to use positive language if you can as it comes off better and is more likely to be listened too. Think about when you speak and for how longMake your arguments snappy and don’t repeat what has already been said. You might want to focus on one or two key issues in each meeting. If there are specific things you want to say, you might want to draft what you are going to say before you speak.

Don’t be afraid to ask questionsIf you’ve got lost in the discussion or don’t know what something means just ask to help put you back on the right track.

Make sure you get an Outcome or ChangeMake sure there is a response to the issue you’ve raised and someone’s taken on some kind of action to resolve it and then make sure you chase it up at the next meeting.

Use the Union!If you ever need any help with preparing something for a meeting or are having any problems get in touch with Union’s President or the Union’s Democracy and Representation Coordinator they’ll be more than happy to help out.

Course Reps can raise general issues, that aren’t necessarily course specific, like student car parking or improving student support, at Union Council. Union Council is part of the Union’s democratic structures and is also the place you change the way the Union and its services are run.

Consult with your coursemates on their issuesGet their views on anything they want resolved.

Prepare something for the Council agendaIf you want the Union do anything about any issues you’ve picked up you can write a Motion for the Union Council agenda. To get it onto the agenda you’ll want to make sure you submit it before the agenda closes. If it’s just something you want to report and doesn’t need the Union to take action just prepare what you want to say before the meeting (see below).

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Union CouncilAttend Union Council and raise the views and opinions of your coursemates by asking questions, making reports and taking part in debates on motions. Also take notes of any outcomes/decisions/actions made.

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FeedbackFeedback outcomes/decisions/actions to the students you represent.

Union Council meetings follow the same format every meeting. There are two sections to every agenda, Section A and Section B.

Section A: Items for Report

Minutes of the Last MeetingThis is where the notes of the last meeting are formally approved. The chair will ask if they are a true and accurate account of the meeting. If you have any changes you can raise them here.

Matters ArisingThis section is for officers and course reps to report on any developments or updates of things that have been discussed before and recorded in the minutes. You can also ask about anything that was discussed or resolved at any previous meetings.

Officer Action PlanThis is where you can ask the Union’s executive officers questions about any updates or developments they’ve made to their Officer Action Plan. The plan is an outline of the officer’s priorities for the year ahead.

Executive Committee MinutesThis is where notes and decisions of the Executive Committee are formally approved by Union Council. You can ask for more information on anything that was discussed in these meetings and why any particular decisions were made.

University Committee ReportsOfficers and reps can report back anything significant from University committees they want to tell Union Council in this section.

All course reps sit on Union Council with the Union’s executive officers. Union Council is part of the Union’s democratic structures and creates Union Policy which directs executive officers and the Union’s activities. It is also a forum for course reps or executive officers to raise anything they need to tell each other. Union Council also keeps executive officers in check, making sure they do what they’ve been elected to do.

Union Council meets once month during term time. The dates and times of the meetings are set at the beginning of the year. At least 25% of the overall membership of Union Council must attend for a meeting to take place.

At the first meeting Union Council will elect a Chair to lead the meeting and manage any debate. The Chair only gets to vote if the vote is tied. Any course rep can put themselves forward to chair the meeting. Being the chair can be a fun and rewarding experience and is a great thing to put down on your CV. If you’re interested in running to be the Chair of Union Council get in touch with the Democracy and Representation Coordinator by emailing su.democracy@ucs.ac.uk.

Reports from RepresentativesIf you have something or an issue you want to raise, but doesn’t need the Union to take any action you can raise it here.

Section B: Items for discussion or action

Motions and AmendmentsIf you have something or an issue that needs the Union to take action you can raise it here as a motion. There is usually more than one motion on a wide variety of subjects like “Improving Parking at UCS” or “Fair Funding for Higher Education”.

Trustee BoardThe Trustee Board oversees the operation of the Union and its activities. The President, the Vice President/Welfare Officer, a Course Rep elected from Union Council and four people external to the Union with special expertise makes up the Trustee Board.

Union CouncilUnion Council creates policy which directs executive officers and the Union’s activities. It’s also where course reps can raise general issues like car parking or course feedback. Union Council keeps executive officers to account by scrutinising their decisions and receiving a progress report on officer’s elected aims. All course reps and executive officers are members.

Executive CommitteeThe Executive Committee is where a lot of the day-to-day decisions about the Union and its activities are made. This is also where the democratically elected executive officers take forward any issues and policies raised in Union Council. All of the Union’s officers make up the Executive Committee.

ReferendumStudents get to make direct decisions on single issues in referendums where they have the opportunity to vote ‘for’ or ‘against’ a statement like “The Union should oppose University Fees”. These votes are ultimate decisions and have to be followed by executive officers.

There are two different ways to raise an issue at Union Council.

to just report something that but doesn’t need the Union to take any actionIf it’s about a University Committee raise it under University Committee Reports. If it’s a general issue you can raise it under the “Reports from Representatives” section. All you need to do is put your hand in the air and wait until the chair allows you to speak.

If you need the Union to take actionYou propose a motion, which if passed by a vote after a debate ‘for’ and ‘against’, will become Union Policy that will direct the Union’s executive officers and the Union’s activities. So if a motion was passed that said “the Union must run a campaign on improving the quality of exam feedback” the Officers would have to organise and plan a feedback campaign. Another example would be if a motion was passed that said “investigate how viable longer opening hours for the shop would be” the Union would have to investigate the possibility and report back.

Motions can be written by any officer or course rep and is written in a particular style. A motion looks like this:

TitleA short heading describing the motion.

Proposer and SeconderEvery motion needs a course rep or executive officer to propose the motion and another to second it. The proposer usually takes the first speech ‘for’ and the seconder the second speech ‘for’ usually after the first speech ‘against’.

What?A short sentence outlining what you want to change.

Why?This is where you

Longer Library Opening Hours

Proposer: Tom Brown (Business Management Year 3)Seconder: Rachel Taylor (Early Childhood Studies Year 1)

What?1. The Library should be open for 12 hours a day, seven

days a week

Why?1. Students in full-time work from 9am until 5pm cannot

access library resources because it opens and closes while they’re in work.

2. That some students only have the opportunity to travel to the Library on weekends.

Action1. The Union should run a campaign for extended opening

hours

ActionThis is where you put what you want the Union to do about it.

outline your reasons for why you want to create the change.

Once you’ve written a Motion you need to submit it before the close of the agenda for it to be discussed at the meeting. All Motions should be sent to the Democracy and Representation Coordinator at least two working days before the meeting.

If you need help writing a Motion, the Union’s Democracy and Representation Coordinator can help you. Just email su.democracy@ucs.ac.uk.

If you want to change a motion because your coursemates think the motion should look differently by adding or deleting something you can submit what is called an ‘amendment’.

For the example opposite an amendment may look like:

Amendments to a motion can be submitted before the debate by sending an email to su.democracy@ucs.ac.uk or during the debate by writing it down and taking it to the chair. If it is before the debate you might want to talk to the proposer as sometimes they may be willing to change or add something to what it says.

Union Policy can be changed after it passes through Union Council if:

Union Council passes another policy which can replace it.

A referendum is held which takes a higher importance than policy.

The Union’s Trustee Board decides that the policy is against the Union’s aims and objectives, that it breaks the law or it’ll bankrupt the Union.

Delete “The Library should be open for 12 hours a day, seven days a week”.

Replace with “The Library should be open for 24 hours a day, seven days a week”.

Arguments ‘FOR’ Arguments ‘AGAINST’

1st speech FOR the Motion(made the proposer of the motion)

1st speech FOR the Amendment(made by the proposer of the amendment)

1st speech AGAINST the Amendment(made by the proposer of the motion)

2nd speech FOR the Amendment(made by anyone)

2nd speech AGAINST the Amendment(made by anyone)

Vote ‘FOR’ or ‘AGAINST’ more speeches (if ‘FOR’ wins there is a repeat of the above process)

Vote ‘FOR’ or ‘AGAINST’ the Amendment or you can choose not to vote which is called abstain.

If ‘FOR’ gets more than half the votes the motion is changed to include the amendment. Because the motion has been changed to say something different to what was originally proposed by the proposer, the proposer of the amendment becomes the new proposer of the motion.

1st speech AGAINST the Motion(made by anyone)

2nd speech FOR the Motion(made by the seconder of the motion)

2nd speech AGAINST the Motion(made by anyone)

Vote ‘FOR’ or ‘AGAINST’ more speeches (if ‘FOR’ wins there is a repeat of the above process)

Vote ‘FOR’ or ‘AGAINST’ the motion or you can choose to abstain from the vote.

If ‘FOR’ gets more than half the votes the motion becomes Union Policy.

Final Speech(made by the proposer)

MotionDebate

MotionDebate

Amend-ment

Debate

The best way of finding out the views and opinions of your coursemates and to feed back any outcomes or decisions is to talk to them.

Use as many different ways you can. The more ways you use the more contacts you’ll make. You could try:

Shout Outs in LecturesAsk one of your lecturers if you can talk to students at the beginning or end of one of your classes. You can ask a few questions and get a quick show of hands to give you a general idea of what students think.

Getting a Notice Board Ask one of your lecturers if there’s the possibility of putting up a notice board with a picture of yourself, your name and contact details near to where you have most of your classes.

Sending out EmailsAsk your Course Committee secretary how you can send emails to the students you represent. Make them quick, interesting and to the point otherwise they might not get read.

Holding Office Hours or SurgeriesArrange a time and a place where you are available for anyone on your course to come and chat. Try moving the time and the place around a bit just in case some people can’t make the same time and place.

Set up a Facebook GroupYou could set up a Facebook group and invite the students on your course. You can then set up discussion boards on particular topics and send out quick messages to all of your coursemates.

Set up a Twitter AccountUpdates on Twitter could be used as a great way to feed back to students any outcomes or decisions made in meetings. Get people to add you by sending out an email or a Facebook message.

Go Out and TalkTry talking to people face to face. Get a notepad and take a note of any issues, views and opinions your coursemates have.

Use PostitsTake some Postits or scrap paper out with you and ask a few questions and get your course mates to scribble down their answers and thoughts.

The Union has all sorts of data and comments as well as research done by the National Union of Students (NUS) you might find useful when representing your coursemates.

One off the best ways to find out some of the issues on your course is the National Student Survey (NSS). Taken by final year students for most universities across the country, the survey asks students 21 questions which rate the institution and submit comments on things like teaching quality, assessment, feedback on work, learning resources and facilities, organisation and overall satisfaction. The NSS can be used to back up arguments you make in Course Committees or Union Council.

You should receive some information about the NSS at training, but if you would like more information about it and any research conducted nationally by the NUS email su.democracy@ucs.ac.uk.

Course Reps will be invited twice a year to a forum held by the Library to share students’ views and opinions on learning resources like books, online resources and e-journals as well as computer resources. The Union will get in touch with you with further details nearer the time.

Every school will produce what is called a Self Assessment Review Evaluation (SARE) at the beginning part of the year. This is a review and action plan on how to improve courses and services for the years ahead.

Some course reps may be invited to feed directly into the review by being invited along to meetings by the Head of School. Other course reps might be invited to comment on the action plan once it’s released. Try to apply the views of your coursemates in these meetings as well as you can. If you think you’ll need any extra support just get in touch with the Union’s Democracy and Representation Coordinator by emailing su.democracy@ucs.ac.uk.

Academic BoardThis is a UCS committee that makes a lot of the wider strategic decisions about learning and teaching at UCS.

Course Committee(see page 6)

Course Committee ChairThe Chair will lead the Course Committee meeting. In most committees this is a member of UCS staff but some committees will have a student Chair.

Course Committee ClerkThe Course Committee Clerk will be a member of UCS staff that takes notes and writes the agenda for the Course Committee.

Joint Academic Committee (JAC)This is a UCS Committee that oversees the decisions about learning and teaching at UCS.

Learning, Teaching and Assessment Group (LTAG)This is a UCS committee that looks at education issues across UCS and makes a lot of the decisions that affect your learning experience.

Library Forum(see page 18)

National Student Survey (NSS)(see page 17)

Motions and AmendmentsA motion is something that is proposed and debated in Union Council to become Union Policy. An amendment is a change to a motion suggested to Union Council which is debated separately.

Programme Area Director (PAD)These are lecturers or tutors that co-ordinate and direct your course.

ProvostIs the lead member of UCS staff. The Provost is also known as the Chief Executive or CEO.

Self-Assessment Review Evaluation (SARE)(see page 18)

SchoolCourses that are thought to be in a similar subject area are grouped into schools. There are currently four schools at UCS: the School of Arts & Humanities, the School of Social Science & Business, the School of Health, Science & Social Care, and the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Interprofessional Studies. Each School is led by a senior lecturer or tutor known as a Head of School.

UCS BoardIs the highest level committee in UCS and oversees all of its operations.

UCS NetworkIs sometimes used to refer collectively to UCS centres in Bury St. Edmunds, Otley, Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.

‘UEA’ and ‘Essex’UCS degrees are jointly accredited by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the University of Essex and have a direct influence over UCS’s strategy.

UCS Union, UCS Students’ Union or the Union(see page 3)

Union Council(see page 11)

Union Executive Committee (Exec)(see page 12)

Union Officers/Executive OfficersA group of students elected by students in a UCS-wide vote. There are full time officers, that take are year out of their course or work for a year after they graduate to undertake the role, and Part Time Officers, that manage their responsibilities alongside doing their course.

All course reps are supported by Union officers and Union staff, never hesitate to get in touch with any of the following people.

Andy SpeedPresident | UCS Union

The President is your voice at the highest level inside UCS and outside. The President puts across your view when a lot of the key decisions are made about your education and is focused on improving things for you. The President also has ultimate responsibility for the Union and its services.

Email: su.president@ucs.ac.ukTelephone: (01473) 338157

Tom SuttonDemocracy and Representation Coordinator | UCS Union

The Democracy and Representation Coordinator is the member of Union staff responsible for supporting and developing the network of course reps. They should be course rep’s first point of call if they need any additional help or advice.

Email: su.democracy@ucs.ac.ukTelephone: (01473) 38163

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