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Half way through Autumn Term 11th November
I'm now sat here looking week six head on; a week of new developments and exciting new projects. Week six is of course Re Freshers' Week - a chance to catch up on all the things that passed us by during Freshers' Week. This includes clubs, societies, volunteering opportunities as well as the advice centre, and various support providers around campus. On Monday we're hosting a Re Freshers' Fayre in 3sixty, then later in the week the University will be show casing their support providers in the Carrington Building.
As well as being the first time we've run a Re Freshers' Week, it is also the first time that we will run an Enterprise Week. This is timed to coincide with National Enterprise Week; a project aimed at encouraging students to think about enterprise as a means to gain many more opportunities. Our Enterprise Week is being masterminded by Julia Horne, VP Democracy and Campaigns, and as part of it she's giving away £150 to the student group (club, society, volunteer group) who come up with the most innovative way to recruit new members. Get your thinking caps on!
We're almost finished with our R U Bovvered survey, which was the first step to find out out what Reading students feel about their academic experience here so that we can put it into a report to the Quality Assurance Agency in February. The next step of this process is to run a few weeks of more in depth focus groups to get a really good feel for what students want us to say it's like studying at Reading. Keep your eyes peeled for this!
I've been thinking ahead to the time when we submit our report and I thought it's a safe bet that most people won't want to read a 20 page report, so alongside this we'll also be producing a short film giving an overview of the results. Keep checking back on this site towards the end of January to find out what you told us and what we've said in our report. All exciting stuff!
The wide range of issues I've been working on for the last few weeks is phenomenal; from discussing the use of video-linked lecture theatres, development of stronger systems for personal development planning for postgraduate students, having a key input into the University's future strategic direction, scrutinising the Union's annual accounts, gearing up for plagiarism week, pushing forward against hidden costs, supporting the postgraduate representation group, discussing whether the University should be able to text its students to give them information, attempting to pull together dozens of student surveys across the University, training up more Student Academic Reps (StARs) and much much more. It's hardly surprising that in the last two weeks I've worked three 16-hour days and regularly work 10 hours and still take work home. But it's good to be making progress and fighting for a stronger student voice.
The next few weeks look equally as unpredictable, exciting, dynamic and full of potential. Watch this space!
Four Weeks and a Freshers26th October
While being a shocking heading, this was the most amusing thing I could think of late on a Friday afternoon! I can't think of an accurate enough phrase to describe the last five weeks since my last blog entry, but amazing, tiring, unforgettable, and outstanding would come close! This is also the first time that I'm writing a blog entry specifically for the blog; my two posts below have been adapted from other reports.
Freshers' Week was a fantastic time; as a Sabb Team we made a big effort to engage with a lot of new students as well as welcoming back many returners. On the Sunday just before Freshers' Week we visited a good number of our Halls to chat to people as they arrive - some of the people we spoke to that night I keep seeing around campus and some of them are still speaking to me!
We've seen a huge increase in the number of people getting involved in sports clubs, societies and volunteering opportunities which is a really encouraging start to the year. We've also seen the Student Academic Rep (StAR) scheme getting off to a great start with many people showing an interest at Freshers' Fayre and even more coming to us throughout the term through their department.
We've put on induction training sessions for StARs over the last few weeks and we keep getting demand for even more, which is fantastic. Our first round of ongoing training sessions will be around week 6-7 and it looks like we'll also need to run yet more induction sessions - great stuff!
The up take of students filling in the R U Bovvered online survey has rocketed in the last week - we're aiming for over 1,000 responses and we're doing pretty well so far! The results from this will be crucial to informing our Students' Written Submission to the Institutional Audit, ensuring a large student voice is heard by the external inspectors. If you haven't yet let us know what you think, why not also be in with a chance of winning £250 at www.rusu.co.uk/bovvered
With committee papers now almost entirely swamping my desk, I am already feeling that we are winning for students - every day I do my best to make sure the student perspective is considered in wide ranging discussions. This sits alongside my ongoing push on our three key education campaigns; hidden costs, plagiarism, and library hours.
Our Hidden Costs research told us that 44% of students encounter more than £250 of additional charges every year of their degree, which can be anything from books and photocopying to field trips and lab equipment. We also found that 72% of students are unaware of additional support funds such as the Access to Learning Fund. Our campaign is focussed on making the likely costs of a degree more known, and also highlighting additional sources of funding to help students in difficulties.
Plagiarism is of continuing concern particularly given the rise in online resources, and the need for good referencing. Our campaign will seek to highlight the existing areas of support and good academic practice, as well as pushing for a re-examination of the way in which plagiarism accusations are handled at a local level.
The old chestnut of library opening hours looks more hopeful this year; I am focussing on opening times of Saturday and Sunday evenings, and the Easter vacation so that the Library can be of more use to people revising for exams and finishing dissertations.
All in all - a very busy time still! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me p.jeffreys@reading.ac.uk, call 0118 378 4130, text/call 07980 697089, or drop in to my office!
Wake Me Up When September Ends28th September
It has been around five weeks since my last blog. This time has been hectically busy and very rewarding in being able to see outcomes.
Following the UROP research placement we have devised a five year embedded Student Academic Representation Strategy. This has been an intense project but along with the support of staff I feel we have developed an excellent, durable and dynamic strategy. This was launched to key University academic staff and extremely warmly received by them. The strategy has subsequently been presented to our Trustee Board for information, also to a warm reception. Our next steps include a strong push on recruitment both at Freshers' Fayre and also within departments. We will then be able to roll out our programme of training and support sessions and focus on our ongoing support.
Developments with the Post Grad group are gradual but promising; we have met with a few interested students who seem keen to get involved. I have also been invited to a number of Post Graduate Welcome talks over the next few weeks so I will take that opportunity to mention the group and encourage participation.
Earlier in September we hosted the successful inaugural meeting of Unions94, securing Reading's place as a key player within this organisation and ensuring that we can both share our experiences with others as well as learning from them. The meeting has also given us additional contacts with Officers in other Unions.
I continue to build a multi-partner approach to a number of my education campaigns. We met with a number of support providers who have fed into our Plagiarism week. I also intend to effectively lobby for improvements in the way that applications are handled to the Access to Learning Fund, and gaining experiences from others will be key to success. I am already negotiating a move towards extended library opening hours which looks promising for this year.
I continue to work on a number of projects with the Centre for the Development of Teaching and Learning, including co-authoring a conference proposal to jointly run a workshop for SEDA next May.
As we sit on the eve of Freshers' Week, I feel that I have made large steps of progress over the summer in order to strengthen our position during term time to deliver effectively for students.
Summer Reflections 17th August 2007 |
