Architecture and the Built Environment
SU Forum Unconfirmed Minutes
Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 4th December 2014 in 4Q51 at 12:00
Present:
Benedict Pagani, William Manders, James Luckman, Abdush Sikder, Christopher
Udeogaranya, Harry Westwood, Jordan Palmer, Hoalin Wang, Rebecca Ewart.
In Attendance: Edd Burrell (Secretary, UWESU)
Apologies:
Holly Molcher, Andrew Frost, John Southwood, Josephine Gyasi, Rowan Speers, Stuart
Ashford, Clara-Larissa Lorenz.
022/1415
022.01
Welcome and Introductions
Edd Burrell (Secretary to the meeting) welcomed reps present to the second SU
Forum of the year.
023/1415
023.01
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The minutes were agreed as accurate by members present.
024/1415
024.01
Matters Arising from the Previous Meeting
See appendix 001
025/1415
025.01
Report from Departmental Committee
A verbal update was received from a Departmental Committee delegate. He
informed the forum that there was conversations around Academic Personal
Tutoring, there was also discussion around the possibility of integrating academic
societies together to create more FET community events.
026/1415
026.01
Report from SRC and ASQC
The secretary provided an update from the Student Representative Committee
(SRC). He informed the forum that a representative from UWE IT Services attended
the SRC and spoke about IT issues and developments. One development includes the
University changing how they do maintenance weekends, meaning that there now
will only be two maintenance weekends which are both scheduled outside of temtime (down from four throughout the year).
026.02
The secretary provided a brief update from the faculty Academic Standards and
Quality Committee (ASQC). Module Evaluation was discussed along with
conversations around the promotion of the National Student Survey and Student
Experience Survey (NSS / SES).
027/1415
027.01
Student Communications and Information Provision
A couple of Reps present stated that would not have know about many of the
services UWE operate (such as Wellbeing or Study Skills) without having been
trained on them as PAL leaders.
027.02
Reps commented that many services may have been outlined to students in
Freshers week, but there haven’t been official reminders or refreshers about these
since.
027.03
The secretary asked which ways should information like this be communicated, it
was suggested email is fine but that these messages sometimes are treated as spam
by students. Reps suggest that there needs to be a more combined effort from
faculties themselves to get this information out to students. It was suggested that
during the first lecture back in a term or near key deadlines would be a good time to
AABE – SU Forum Unconfirmed Minutes 4th February 2015
Page 1
remind students about support services. Reps present agreed it is key to have
knowledge of these services.
027.04
A Rep stated that Students need to be told about these services, especially
international students who otherwise may only find out about support very late in
the academic year.
027.05
Reps present questioned if students know about the MyUWE Study Support tab and
suggested this needs to be advertised better so that students know to look for this
portal.
Action:
Feedback on this agenda item will be collated by the Representation Team and
passed to relevant SU Presidents for consideration and further actioning.
028/1415
028.01
Reflection on the Rep System
A Rep commented that they feel it is nearly impossible to get feedback from
students in most cases. Unless there is a big issue which happens on a course, in
which case students are then very are then very keen to air their views. Another Rep
added that in their experience students can be very cold when you approach them
for feedback.
028.02
It was commented that some issues can be hard to navigate the issue if they relate
to individual lecturers and can put Reps in difficult positions.
028.03
There was mixed opinions regarding if students are aware of the Student Rep tab on
MyUWE. However it was suggested that it would be useful to embed a feedback box
into the page to allow Reps to receive feedback in this way.
028.04
It was felt that the University do listen to some feedback more than others. However
there are fixes to feedback, but sometimes these are longer term solutions
therefore Reps may not see the wins.
028.05
Reps commented that they liked being involved in the system, especially working
closely with their course staff. The main challenge is getting time to go to meetings.
028/1415
028.01
Student Rep Conference
The secretary informed Reps present of the forthcoming Student Rep Conference.
All Reps are invited to this year’s Conference, which will be held on Friday 27th
February in the ECC on Frenchay Campus. The day will last from 11:00 - 16:00
(although Reps can just attend the morning or the afternoon) and a free buffet lunch
will be provided! There will be a choice of 3 workshops to attend. This day provides
a wonderful opportunity to enhance Reps skills and share their experiences of the
year so far. Reps can find more information http://www.uwesu.org/repconference/
029/1415
029.01
Student Rep Notices
The Secretary ran through the rest of the Student Rep Notices…
029.01a
Nominations for the Student Rep and Student Led Teaching awards are still open.
Nominations can be made on the Student Rep webpage, www.uwesu.org/reps
along with full details of criteria for each category.
AABE – SU Forum Unconfirmed Minutes 4th February 2015
Page 2
029.01b
The National Student Survey (NSS, for final year undergraduates) and Student
Experience Survey (SES, for all other years) are now open. All students are
encouraged to fill in their survey and have their voice heard. In addition to this,
there are prize draws for iPad Minis for those who complete their relevant survey
plus the Students’ Union will receive £1 per completed survey for your new SU
building.
029.01c
UWESU Elections are now open! Any student can run for one of the full time
sabbatical positions or one of the part time office positions in the forthcoming
UWESU Elections. Full details about each role and the nomination process are on
www.uwesu.org/vote Nominations opened on 3rd February and close 26th
February.
030/1415
030.01a
Student Matters
A Rep asked if there was a way to park a car in car park 20 for a few days (without
moving the car) and only pay for one 24 hour fee. Other Reps commented that you
can leave a car in overnight for the same fee but not for longer than 24 hours.
It was commented by another Rep that many students are still parking in the local
area. The secretary informed the Rep that the University has a community liaison
officer who can be contacted regarding these types of comments – their email
address is community@uwe.ac.uk
030.02b
030.02
Action:
030.03
A Rep questioned if the SU was planning any end of term events? It was mentioned
that students would like to see a graduate ball, which many other University
currently do. It was added by the Rep that most students didn’t like last year’s event
Abandon Ship
Comments to be passed to the Students’ Union Trading Services Department and
the SU President for further consideration.
Action:
A Rep raised the topic of Light Boxes, stating the amount of these have decreased
from 3 or 4 last year down to just 1 across the entire department. Other Reps
questioned if there were more around the department, but it is believed other ones
may have the plug cut off.
This matter could be taken to the Departmental Committee.
031/1415
031.01
Date and Time of Next Meeting
This is the final SU Forum of the academic year.
AABE – SU Forum Unconfirmed Minutes 4th February 2015
Page 3
Appendix 001 – Matters Arising from the Previous Meeting
Number
17/1415.01-4
20/1415.01
20/1415.02
20/1415.03
Background and Action Point
Discussion on APT’s
AP: VP Education to collate feedback on APTs from across the
University. He has scheduled a meeting on January 6th with the
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Jane Harrington and the Pro ViceChancellor Jo Midgley to review the collated feedback and decide
appropriate action moving forward.
Reps report that a lot of the computers in R Block, in particular the
ones in the smaller studios, aren’t quick enough to run software
such as Photoshop.
AP: Departmental Committee delegates to take this to
Departmental Committee
A Rep for PDP commented that the course had gone through a
curriculum refresh which meant that students who have come
back after a placement year have come back to a very
different course.
AP: Rep to raise at next SRSF meeting and to update on
progress in the next SU Forum.
The state of car park 20 was brought up, especially the large
amount of potholes that are currently around the car park.
AP: Feedback to be passed to SU President to take to facilities.
AABE – SU Forum Unconfirmed Minutes 4th February 2015
Update
Update from VP Education - Thanks for all your feedback on Academic Personal
Tutoring. The comments were really useful and have been collated. We’re
currently in the process of writing a report which will be taken to the university
and VP Education will be working with the university to ensure appropriate
changes are made to the scheme to enhance our student experience. If you’ve got
anything else to add about this issue, please email vpeducation@uwe.ac.uk
This issue we don’t believe was raised at the Departmental Committee. Therefore
it is re-actioned to attend the next meeting.
AP: Departmental Committee delegates to take this to Departmental
Committee
Rep in question was not present to provide an update, however the department
are liaising with the Rep regarding this feedback.
Feedback was collated by the SU President and passed to UWE Facilities. SU
President is still awaiting a response from UWE, as soon as a response is available
this will be circulated to Reps.
Page 4