Higher Education Student Voice Policy and Procedure

Higher Education
Student Voice
Policy and Procedure

Version Control

Version: / 1.0
New or replacement: / New
Approved by (Committee): / HE Committee
Date approved: / 13 March 2015
Title of author: / HE Manager Academic Standards
Date issued: / March 2015
Date for Review: / March 2016
Document reference: / TMC-POL-HE-STUVOC

Revision History

Version / New/Replacement / Summary of Changes

Contents

1.Introduction

2.Application

3.Module Evaluation

4.National Student Survey (NSS)

5.Induction

6.Student Representation

6.1.Student Representatives

6.2.Nomination and election of student representatives.

6.3.Training of student Representative

6.4.Removal of Course Representatives

7.Student Support & Development Committee

8.Student Staff Committees

8.1.Reporting

9.HE Quality and Standards Committee

10.Corporation

11.Periodic Review Panels

12.Annual Monitoring

13.Programme Approval, Amendment And Withdrawal

14.Other Committees and Working Groups

15.Closing the Feedback loop

16.Impact

This document outlines the commitment of The Manchester College and the Student Representatives to work together in the management of the quality enhancement and assurance of the provision offered across the College. This includes a coherent and systematic approach to student representation at all levels of the College.

In using this procedure other documents may need to be considered:

XXXRetention in Higher Education

XXXPeriodic Review

XXXApproval of New Programmes

If you need any further advice on how this procedure works, you should contact the Higher Education Management Department.

Department Contacts:Higher Education Management
Openshaw Campus, OP124
Tel: 0161 67 41406

Additional guidance can be obtained by visiting and referring to UK Quality Code for Higher Education: Chapter B5: Student Engagement 2012

This document is available in alternative formats on request to the Higher Education Management Department

1.Introduction

It is widely accepted that the views of students, individually and collectively, should inform quality systems with the purpose of improving the student educational experience both for current and future cohorts. Student involvement in quality can have a positive influence on the delivery and development of any aspect of the student educational experience, whether implemented by the higher education provider, a faculty, a department, or an individual member of staff. Aspects of the educational journey into which students can offer insight include:

application and admission
induction and transition into higher education
programme and curriculum design, delivery and organisation
curriculum content
teaching delivery
learning opportunities
learning resources
student support and guidance
assessment.

Students need to be active partners in their learning and therefore have a significant role to play in defining the academic and strategic direction of the College. By generating closer relationships and active participation with the College, students may engage more with their academic studies. All staff and students at the College have a responsibility to drive this commitment forward.

This policy outlines the formal arrangement for partners with students in the management of quality enhancement and assurance. This policy applies to all undergraduate students at the College.

The College recognises the need to be respectful of the demands made on the time of staff and students. It will ensure that its processes for engaging with students allow sufficient opportunity for students to provide the College with feedback, but that they do not make disproportionate demands on the time of students and staff

2.Application

This policy applies to partnership with students in the following mechanisms for the management of quality and standards:

Higher Education Quality and StandardsCommittee
Department and programme staff-student committees including Joint Boards of Study, student staff committee
Student Support and Development Committee
Periodic review panels
Annual programme monitoring
Programme approval, amendment and withdrawal
Other committees and working groups at Department and College level with student representation

All students will have the opportunity to make their views on their educational experience known to the College, through representation on appropriate committees and other appropriate mechanisms (both formal and informal), and the College will ensure that these opportunities are made known to students.

3.Module Evaluation

Module Leaders are responsible for the evaluation of modules, feeding into the Programme Review, Evaluation and Planning report and ensuring that the module specification is reviewed in the light of student evaluation.

Module Leaders are expected to use the standard Module Evaluative Questionnaire (MEQ) published via QDP to elicit student feedback on their module(s).

4.National Student Survey (NSS)

The National Student Survey (NSS) is completed by students who are in their final year of undergraduate study in accordance with the timetable agreed between the College and Ipsos-MORI who administer the survey on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

The HE Management department undertakes analyses and produces reports on NSS data based on results for the College, Department and programme groups.

Heads of Department are responsible for ensuring the dissemination of NSS reports to all teaching staff and undergraduate students.

Programme Leaders are required to reflect on the outcomes of the NSS in their PREP report, in accordance with the monitoring of programmes procedure.

5.Induction

The College recognises that induction plays a critical role in shaping student perceptions of what we offer and our commitment to deliver high quality provision. The College also recognises that induction often forms our students' first experience of the College. To ensure that induction continues to meet the needs of our students we will seek informal and formal feedback on the induction process.

6.Student Representation

The College is committed to developing academic communities characterised by mutual respect between staff and students, and which draw on the expertise and experience of both groups to reflect on and enhance the quality of the educational opportunities the College offers. Central to this approach is student representation on the various College committees and groups with responsibilities for the student experience.

6.1.Student Representatives

A Student Representative is a student who has been elected by others on their course and whose role it is to represent the collective voice of students to College Centre staff and tutors. The overall purpose of the role is to voice students’ compliments, comments and concerns to The Manchester College staff and whilst it is a varied role, it can be mainly split into two main areas; representation and liaison.

Representation can include:

Attending and participating in meetings
Raising students’ issues and needs at programme staff student committee
Ensuring that a student perspective and the student experience is considered in all decisions
Participating in the Institutional Review process through meeting with Review teams

Liaison will include:

Consulting, involving and reporting back to students
Liaising with other student representatives and student sub committees on issues affecting the course
Attending training and networking sessions organised by The Manchester College
Providing a link between staff and students.

6.2.Nomination and election of student representatives.

Each programme or group of cognate programmes should have one Student Representative per level of study. Departments may elect additional Representatives to represent large year cohorts.

Elections must be held in class by a show of hands. First-past-the-post is the preferred method of deciding the outcome of elections.

All names and contact details of elected student representatives must also be returned to the HE Student Engagement Manager for use in diversity and equality monitoring.

6.3.Training of student Representative

The HE Student Engagement Managermustprovide training for all Student Representatives to take place as soon as possible after the elections. The HE Student Engagement Managermustalso provide handbooks for both Student Representatives.

6.4.Removal of Course Representatives

Departments have no powers to remove a Student Representative from a staff-student committee. Concerns about non-attendance or any other aspects of the behaviour of Student Representatives should be raised with the HE Student Engagement Managerand the Assistant Principal Higher Education must be informed. Where necessary, on the recommendation of HE Student Engagement Managerand the Assistant Principal Higher Education, a Student Representative may be removed from a staff-student committee.

7.Student Support & Development Committee

The Student Support & Development Committee must be held at least once per term.

Agenda and papers (including minutes of the previous meeting) must be made available to all Student Representatives at least five working days before the meeting is held, including the date, time and location of the meeting. Minutes must be taken at each meeting by a minute taker designated by the committee. Minutes must be approved by the committee at the following meeting, and any amendments requested must be recorded.

Agenda, papers and minutes must be accessible to all members of the relevant student body, for example via moodle; minutes made available before approval at the following meeting should be stamped ‘UNAPPROVED’.

Scope of Business

The Student Support & Development Committee will focus on the following areas:

matters relating to the student experience within Higher Education
enhancement of the learner voice within the College’s Higher Education strategic and operational agenda
contribute to the development of student community
Identify the needs of specific groups of students
feedback on areas for development
feedback on areas of good practice
suggestions of the development of College policy and strategy

8.Student Staff Committees

Student staff committees must meet at least twice per annum. There should be opportunity for meetings to be held more often if the need arises. The purpose of the final meeting will be to approve an end of year report.

The chair may be a member of staff but should be a student and must be elected or agreed by the committee at the first meeting of each academic year. Students should be encouraged to take this role. The chair may be rotated by the agreement of the committee. The secretary must be a member of staff appointed to be in attendance for this purpose.

New members at the beginning of the year must also receive the previous end of year report of the committee. This should be discussed as an agenda item at the first meeting, and any issues which were not resolved by the end of the previous year should be revisited.

Departments should take prompt action on feedback where possible and communicate such action to students, via dialogue with Student Representatives. Student Representatives should alert Programme Leaders or other relevant staff of issues when they arise rather than wait until the next scheduled student staff committee meeting.

8.1.Reporting

Student staff committees must produce an end of year report as a means of drawing together issues raised and actions taken during the year. This provides both an effective briefing for new members in the following year and very specifically a sound basis on which the HE Student Engagement Manager can maintain an overview of the system of student representation. This report should be completed by a student member of the committee using Appendix 1 of this policy and must be approved by the committee at the final meeting of the academic year.

The annual reports should be forwarded to the relevant Head of Department and to the Assistant Principal Higher Education. The HE Student Engagement Manager uses these reports as well as additional data from NSS data and surveys to produce an Annual Report to HE Quality and Standards Committee.

9.HE Quality and Standards Committee

The composition of HE Quality and Standards Committee includes provision for at least one registered student of the College; however this may be increased to reflect the diverse nature of the student body.

10.Corporation

The Corporation shall include:

two members who are students at the College and have been nominated by their fellow students, or self-nominated.

11.Periodic Review Panels

Panels established by HE Quality and Standards Committee conduct periodic reviews of schools on a five-yearly rolling basis. The Procedure: Periodic Review determines that student involvement in the process must include the following:

Consultation by the department when writing the self-evaluation document
Meetings with representative samples of students by the review panel
Departmental discussion with students after the review regarding the outcomes and the departmental action plan

The department discussion of the action plan must take place through the student staff committee but need not be limited to that forum.

The HE Management department will work in partnership with the HE Student Engagement Manager to establish and maintain a pool of student representatives willing to be recruited to review panels. The HE Management department is also responsible for providing an appropriate form of induction to the work of periodic review panels for student representatives

12.Annual Monitoring

Students contribute to the monitoring of programmes indirectly through module and programme evaluation questionnaires, and by a variety of consultative mechanisms deployed by schools. Programme Leaders must show how they have directly engaged student representatives in monitoring processes and inform them of the outcomes where appropriate.

13.Programme Approval, Amendment And Withdrawal

The College’s Quality Handbook specifies various mechanisms for student participation at Department and College levels in respect of arrangements for programme approval and modification.

14.Other Committees and Working Groups

All academic areas of the College should endeavour to engage students in the management of quality enhancement and assurance wherever possible and appropriate. This policy covers major areas of formal representation. In addition the College supports the involvement of students in other committees and working groups, especially those of an ad hoc nature where students may be able to make a valuable contribution about a specific issue.

15.Closing the Feedback loop

The College is responsible for ‘closing the feedback loop’ by informing students of the action taken to address institutional issues raised by the Student Voice. This may be via internal communication channels and/or in partnership with the Student Representatives.

Departments are responsible for informing students how local matters will be/have been addressed, using appropriate communication channels.

The HE Student Engagement Manager is responsible for feeding back to students on matters brought to its attention by the student body.

16.Impact

The impact of the student voice will be included in PREPs, Department Self Evaluation Documents and the College Quality Enhancement Report and lead to improvement in relation to the student experience through the Quality Improvement Plan.

The impact/outcome of College Module Evaluation Questionnaires, National Student Survey and student staff committees will be reviewed by the HE Quality and Standards Committee and the Governing Body.

TMC- POL-HE-STUVOC