Student Representation Opportunities 

The University places great value on the opinions of its students and there are various opportunities for you to get involved, both to have your say and also to represent the views of other students. Being a student representative is rewarding work and can help you develop useful skills such as communication skills. It can also give you a greater understanding of how the University works as well as enabling you to play a role in decision making in your department and/or Faculty.

What student representation opportunities are available?

In the School of English

The Staff-Student Committee is a forum for the discussion of students´ views on courses and other matters. It is chaired by a student and its membership comprises 2 or 3 representatives from each Level, and representatives of groups such as Dual Honours students. Elections are held each year and members are offered training by the Student Union. The Learning and Teaching Committee is a committee of the academic staff whose brief is all matters relating to learning and teaching. The Staff-Student Committee is represented on it. Student representatives also attend the regular programme-related meetings of academic staff.

Getting involved means you will be able to take part in discussions and decision making about a range of issues e.g.

• Student feedback on teaching;
• Changes to programmes;
• Departmental/school services (e.g. hand-in arrangements, office opening times, study facilities, availability of personal tutors);
• Communication with students 
• Assessment
• The library, IT and learning resources

For more information about the SSC please look at the School of English StudentSpace in Uspace.

In the Faculty of Arts

Student Forum

The student Faculty Forum meets two or three times a year and is an opportunity for Faculty staff and students to discuss faculty-wide issues in a fairly informal way. For example, Faculty staff may wish to ask students their views on a new Faculty initiative or students may wish to raise issues of concern to students across the Faculty such as personal tutoring, work-life balance, environmental initiatives. Representatives for other Faculty Committees will be elected from the Forum.

Faculty Committees

All Faculties have a Learning and Teaching Committee which has a number of places for student representatives. In addition to this, some Faculties have other committees on which students are represented. The Faculty Learning and Teaching Committee is made up of academic staff from all departments and discusses a range of issues relating to Learning and Teaching e.g. new University policies, changes to university regulations, new programme proposals, annual departmental reviews of Learning and Teaching. Being a student representative on a Faculty Committee is your chance to put forward the student view on issues relating to learning and teaching and this is always valued by committee members.

Additional opportunities

There may be opportunities for students to play a role in Faculty working groups on specific issues e.g. a Faculty working group on giving feedback on assessments.