Staff Student Consultative Groups

Below is an extract from Glasgow Caledonian University Quality Assurance and Enhancement Handbook. It will outline the purpose of staff/student consultative groups, how the SSCG are run, who sits on the SSCG and the normal agenda. The full text can be found here

8 STUDENT EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK MECHANISMS

8.1 Student/Staff Consultative Groups

Student/Staff Consultative Groups are one of the principal mechanisms used within the University to evaluate the student experience on programmes and to feed back to students, details of actions resulting from the evaluation.

8.1.1 Purpose

a. to act as an effective and representative consultative forum in which students and staff meet to discuss matters of mutual interest and concern arising from the content, Caledonian University

b. to provide an opportunity to obtain views representative of teaching, and development of the programme, and any other aspects of the student experience at Glasgow students on all levels and modes of the programme, and to take these into account in contributing to the programme monitoring and development processes

c. to provide feedback to students on how the programme, or the University more widely, has responded to concerns raised by students

8.1.2 Operation

a. Groups are required by Programme Boards to meet at least once per semester, in an informal environment, with hospitality provided by the host School.

b. The Programme Organiser/Leader, acting on behalf of the Programme Board, will in the first instance make arrangements for the establishment of the group. The group will, at the start of each meeting, elect a Chair who should normally be a student. The Programme Organiser/Leader will be responsible for convening meetings of the group.

c. The Programme Organiser/Leader and Chair, in consultation with other group members, will provide an agenda for each meeting (an outline agenda is included in Section 8.1.4). Groups are required to keep formal minutes (by a Clerk who is a member of staff) and should produce a record of actions arising from the discussions. Any issues referring to modules shall be passed immediately to the Module Leader for action. One of the items on the agenda of meetings will normally be a review of the results of the actions from the previous meeting. The minutes and outcomes will be forwarded to the Programme Board (and any other relevant bodies) for information or action as appropriate. The minutes must contain sufficient detail for the Programme Board to be convinced that the group is operating successfully. The minutes will constitute the students' primary input to the annual monitoring process.

d. Groups may be established which cover whole programmes, or a single level or levels of a programme. In some cases, groups may be established which cover combinations of programmes with close academic links. In the case of programmes delivered at a distance, Programme Boards should make alternative appropriate arrangements, for example the use of web-based discussion sites or paper consultation processes.

8.1.3 Composition

There shall be a majority of student members over staff members.

a. elected students representing all levels and programmes constituting the group (it is the Programme Organiser/Leader(s) responsibility to make sure elections are conducted and the outcomes recorded among all relevant student cohorts at the start of each academic year)

b. the Dean of the School or his nominee, responsible for administering the Programme(s), and/or the Chair of the Programme Board(s)

c. the Programme Organiser/Leader(s)

d. appropriate members of the teaching staff, nominated by the Programme Organiser/Leader(s)

e. students, staff, and other individuals, such as employers associated with the programme, who are not members of the group, may be invited to attend and to participate in discussions

The above description represents a template for the operation of Student/Staff Consultative Groups. It is recognised that, particularly with part-time courses, some further flexibility may be required. However, all levels of each Glasgow Caledonian University programme (both full-time and part-time) must have representation on a group. The Programme Board should arrange induction for class representatives at the start of each academic year (they may be assisted in this by the Students' Association).

8.1.4 Agenda

a. apologies

b. the purpose of Staff/Student Consultative Groups

c. performance indicators for programmes and modules

d. the minutes of the previous meeting

e. a review of the results of action arising from the previous meeting

f. student matters

g. staff matters

h. AOCB

"Work to enhance the student experience"