School of Modern Foreign Languages and Cultures, University of Warwick
German
Student Staff Liaison Committee
21st January 2015, 13:00-14:00, H2.03
Chair: Grit Brendecke
Minute taker: Victoria Burgess
Members present:
Staff: Grit Brendecke (chair), David Molyneux (Careers), Richard Perkins (Library),
Annika May
Students: Maria Roca, Hanna Schumacher, Dan Anstiss, Frances Millen, Joseph
Chard, Danielle Baker, Lucy Meakin, Nadia Bazargan, Alex Ball, David Brown, Ciara
Lawrence, Desmond Huthwaite, Tom Neal-Smith, Charlie Searle, Victoria Burgess,
Emma Plummer, Emilie Dawson
1) Apologies for absence
Ian Roberts
2) Minutes of the previous meeting 19th November 2014
Minutes were read by all staff and student members present, who agreed that
nothing needed to be added or amended.
3) Matters arising
Footnotes clarification: students raised the issue of the inclusion of footnotes in the
word count for assessed essays. The ‘Guidelines for Assessed Essays and
Examinations’ file on the department website states that footnotes should not be
included in the word count. However, students have been told by some lecturers that
footnotes are to be included in the word count. The students asked for this matter to
be clarified.
Electronic feedback: students raised the issue of electronic feedback for assessed
essays. Some students have difficulty reading the handwriting on the photocopied
feedback, whereas other feedback is typed so no such issue arises. Students
request that all feedback be typed to avoid this issue.
4) Chair’s Business
SSLC for the School of Modern Foreign Languages and Cultures proposed: chair
asked for feedback from students about this possibility. Students felt that this
committee would be very large, and that there may be difficulty discussing specific
issues that are only relevant for one department. Others felt that a school SSLC
would create a lack of autonomy. The general feeling was that students feel more
comfortable raising issues at language level, rather than at a school level. It was
suggested that two separate SSLC committees, one for each language and one for
the whole school, may be a solution. The advantages discussed were tackling the
issue of joint degrees within the school, as issues would be resolved quicker in a
school SSLC. The chair asked students to feed back the idea to other students.
National Student Survey (NSS) and Warwick Student Survey (WSS): The chair
encouraged the students to take part in the surveys which are running 9 th February –
30th April.
i)
Year 1
No issues raised.
ii)
Year 2
Students in Year 2 asked the department to discuss the percentage leeway on the
word count, as the English Department allows 10% whilst the German Department
allows only 5%. This issue will be discussed in the next staff meeting.
iii)
Final Year
No issues raised.
iv)
Postgraduates
PG space: the issue of space for the post-graduate students was raised again.
Department funding for PGs: students asked for clarification as to why the funding
has been significantly reduced.
School of Modern Foreign Languages and Cultures: students asked how this will
affect their degree. As yet this is still unknown.
Uploading SSLC minutes: Minutes for meetings are available on the department
website but will also need to be uploaded onto the SSLC websites so that there is
university wide access. (H Schumacher)
5) Any other business:
David Molyneux brought a number of events to the attention of the students; the
Volunteering Fair (22nd January 2015), a Careers in the EU event (16th February
2015) and the Languages Alumni event on the 19th February 2015. These events
are/will be advertised on the Warwick myAdvantage webpage and within the
department when more details become available.