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Welcome from your VP

Education

“Hello! Firstly, congratulations on becoming a

Student Academic Representative! This is a

really exciting opportunity for you as you have

the power to change things about the

University of Worcester that may not be working for your

course. By being the voice of your course, it allows the student

to be at the heart of decision making within the University, and

creates a link between the students and University. StARs are

partners in the management and quality of every university

course and therefore the input of the StARs is appreciated and

valued by all. Your role within the course team, in particular with

course leaders, allows you to have an integral role in the

development of your course.

You are now also volunteering for the Students’ Union by

being a StAR, and can therefore log your hours in a V record to

gain recognition and certification, by being a StAR you will

have a chance to influence how the University works as well as

gain valuable skills that will strengthen your CV.

This handbook is a tool for you to refer to once you have

completed your training as a StAR. Student Academic Reps are

vital for the Students’ Union and the University of Worcester so

if you have any questions don’t hesitate to refer to the

handbook or to contact me.

Thank you for choosing to represent the student voice.”

Sam Uppal

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Pro-Vice Chancellor Students;

John Ryan

“We need to be sure that there is effective

student representation. The StARs system is very important and

through it we hope that the views of students can be heard at

all levels within the University.

As Pro Vice Chancellor (Students), I will want to meet and work

with StARs to make sure that I understand well the issues of

concern to students – to find out what is going well and also

what we may need to do better. Student feedback is crucial and

StARs make an important contribution to effective feedback

through their membership of course committees and other

groups.

There are real opportunities for StARS to influence not only the

experience of students in their own year but the experience of

future students. We need to work in partnership so that

expectations are met – students’ expectations of the University

and the University’s expectations of students. The new

Worcester Charter for Students provides a good framework in

this regard. For all of these reasons, being a StAR is an

important undertaking.

The experience gained will be very marketable to potential

employers. This is especially so if individual StARs take

advantage of the new accreditation scheme that is being

introduced this year. Embrace the opportunities the role

presents and use this advantage to make a positive contribution

to the work of the University and build your CV at the same

time. I look forward to meeting and working with you and would

like to take this opportunity to thank you for volunteering to

undertake the role.”

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Professor David Green; Vice

Chancellor

“Congratulations on your election as a Student

Academic Representative. I was an elected

student academic rep in each of my 3 years as an

undergraduate student and I more convinced than ever that this

is a vital role for your fellow students, you and the University.

The University needs to know what works well, so we can do

more of it even better. We also need to know what needs to

change. Communication combined with sound judgement and

true professionalism is at the heart of each and every

successful course at University. Student feedback and

thoughtful representation is essential. All the best lecturers think

the world of high quality student reps. You make it possible for

us to be better teachers and to be a better University.

Your fellow students need a representative who will consult,

communicate and give voice to their concerns. Participation is a

vital ingredient in making sure that courses are enjoyable, high

quality and truly meaningful.

Of course, it is not just your fellow students, lecturers and the

University who benefit. You do. Each and every student

academic representative learns through doing. Your

communication skills, your teamwork, your ability to present a

case, your ability to research a problem, your ability to speak

and the quality of your professional judgement will all improve

through being an engaged, dynamic student representative.

This will really help you when you graduate. It will be a big plus

on your CV but, even more important, it will give you skills that

you will use for the rest of your life. Congratulations and good

luck!”

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Roles and Responsibilities of StARs

A StAR’s day-to-day role is to keep an ear to the ground and

talk to their course colleagues about any issues that may arise;

this could be about anything from lecture timetabling to course

content. A StAR can carry out their role using a variety of

methods including email or face-to-face chats with colleagues.

For course level problems, it is a good idea to speak to the

Course Leader, who will be able to try and find a solution to

these problems. Remember to feedback the results to the

students you represent so they know what the next steps are

going to be! StARs are also the voice of the SU, being an

effective communication channel between Students and the SU.

StARs are also full members of their Course Management

Committee (CMC). StARs are encouraged to attend VP

Forums to have clear communication between VP Education,

Institute Reps and Pro-Vice Chancellor Students.

CMC

CMC’s give you the

opportunity to feed any issues

from your course colleagues to

key members of academic

staff, and also to receive

information from them about

your course.

VP Forum

VP Forums are your chance to

speak to VP Education, John

Ryan (PVC Students) and

Institute Reps directly about

your student experience.

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Top Tips:

Make sure that students know that you are their representative

– make yourself identifiable and available.

Be proactive – seek out students’ views and ask whether they

have issues they want you to raise.

Develop effective means of communicating and consulting with

students, such as arranging to speak at the beginning or end of

lectures, using online questionnaires, comment cards, social

networking, SU website.

Provide a link between students and staff, communicating

information from students to staff and back from staff to

students.

Communicate with other Student Academic Representatives/

Institute Reps, so that common areas of concern or good

practice can be identified.

Issues you may deal with Issues you are not expected to deal with

Facilities and resources e.g. computers, books, library

Workload Course handbooks, espe-cially their accuracy and value

Hidden course costs

Feedback and communica-tions, including Blackboard, SOLE etc. Turnaround of marked work.

Welfare problems

Health and personal issues

Finances and funding Accommodation problems Issues concerning visas or im-migration

Employment problems

Disputes between individual students and academic staff, e.g. harassment, discrimina-tion, victimisation Formal procedures against a student

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Roles and Responsibilities of Institute Reps

As well as being a StAR, the Institute Reps have extra

responsibilities. The Institute Reps are the communication

channels between the StARs to and from the Students’ Union,

Institute Boards and the University.

The Institute Reps are expected to: Arrange and chair at least one meeting per semester of StARs in their Institute, providing a forum for feedback and the discussion of issues relevant to the student learning experience; Attend Institute Boards and, where possible, Institute Quality Committee and/or Learning and Teaching, and/or arrange for student representation on these and other Institute committees/working groups Attend the SU’s VP Forum, chaired by the Vice President Education Attend other feedback events where necessary and subject to other commitments they may have Help provide training for the StARs, promote the National Students’ Survey as well as other annual surveys Participate in other quality-related activities in conjunction with University staff, such as periodic reviews

It is essential that you communicate regularly with the

Institute Reps about the big issues and successes on your

course so they can take them to Institute Level meetings if

appropriate. Sending an email to an Institute Rep may only

take you 5 minutes and it can really make a difference. Your

Institute Reps’ email addresses will be under the Contacts

section of this handbook.

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StAR/Institute Rep Communication Process

Benefits of Being a StAR

A StAR’s CV includes many brilliant skills, desirable to employers looking to recruit a graduate of the University of Worcester including:

Decision-making Time management Listening skills Self-confidence Public speaking Problem solving Leadership Organisation Teamwork Meeting/Committee skills

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Accreditation

New for 2012/2013 an Accreditation system is being introduced

for the StARs to boost their employability and to evidence your

time as a StAR.

The accreditation will follow a Bronze, Silver and Gold ‘stepping

stone’ system with a StAR having to evidence that they have

attended meetings, training and write a statement explaining

their achievements as a StAR.

Once you have completed a stage of accreditation, you will be

given a certificate and attend a ceremony in ‘Celebration Week’

where your achievements will be recognised.

For more information contact Sam Uppal.

V-records

Another way to gain

r e c o g n i t i o n f o r

volunteering as a StAR is

to pick up a V-record from

SU Welcome Desk and log

your hours. As a volunteer who will put a substantial amount of

time and effort into their role, you can work towards a 10, 20, 50

or 100 hour volunteering certificate.

StARs who fill out the log can also attend the Volunteering and

Societies Awards (VoScAs) a free celebration event, where you

will receive your volunteering certificate and could receive a

StAR of the year award for your efforts!

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Main Contacts

Vice President Education - Sam Uppal

Sam will email you throughout the year and is your main point

of contact for the StAR system.

[email protected]

StAR Co-ordinators

There is a StAR Co-ordinator for each institute to support you

in your role. They will be able to support you through any

committees you may have to go to and are a point of contact

for you should you have any questions.

Joy Carroll

Institute of Education [email protected]

Maggie Andrews

Institute of Humanities and Creative Arts

[email protected]

Sue Barnes

Business School

[email protected]

Roger Saunders

Business School [email protected]

Tina Dennis

Institute of Health and Society

[email protected]

Tory Milner

Institute of Science and the Environment

[email protected]

Leverne Barber

Institute of Sport and Exercise Science

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]






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Institute Reps

Membership Services Manager – Ruth Christie

Ruth assists the VP Education in working with the StARs.

[email protected]

Institute of Education [email protected]

Institute of Humanities and

Creative Arts

[email protected]

Business School

[email protected]

Institute of Health and Society

[email protected]

Institute of Science and the Environment

[email protected]

Institute of Sport and Exercise Science

[email protected]








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Visit: www.worcsu.com/stars

StARs Handbook October 2012

Documents

Transcript of StARs Handbook October 2012