Department of German Studies, University of Warwick
Student Staff Liaison Committee
20 November 2013
1.00-2.00pm, H2.03
Members present
Staff: Sean Allan, Grit Brendecke, Ian Roberts [minutes], Richard Perkins [library]
1st year: David Brown, Joseph Chard, Dan Anstiss, Desmond Huthwaite (?)
2nd year: James Ward, Daria Klima, Anna Liddell, Becci Ayling, George Stingemore, Jess Walker,
Emily Powell, Rachel McLeay, Jackie Lockinger
4th year: Christopher Brown, Ellen Moser, Gemma Wilson, Beckie Palfreyman, Lousie Northcott,
Olivia Hill, Kathryn Harrop, Andrew Jones, Hannah MacCarthy, Helen Kinloch, Lyndsay Colquhoun,
Tamsin Coleman, Neli Staneva
Andrew Jones nominated as chair
1) Apologies for absence: Andrew Tickle
2) Minutes of last meeting & matters arising (SA queried a missing page?)
6vi) SA reported that concerns re. English & German degree have now been looked into.
5ii) AJ mentioned attendance at other SSLCs, some members have now spoken to French & will
attend French meetings, Business is prepared to accept one representative - not yet determined
who will represent German there.
6i) AP reported that library training has now taken place.
6ii) KH reported re. Alumni evening, next Tues @ 5.15pm. All years welcome - what about
school/6th formers
All other items discussed were as per agenda.
4) Assessment strategy
SA reported on a proposed university strategy which reflects a new emphasis on interdisciplinarity &
choice, many new modules based in IATL e.g. making a documentary film. It has required a shift in
assessment strategy (document attached to agenda gives more details). The Dept. proposed
adopting the university’s draft formulation, and invited AJ to sign on behalf of the student body. It
was universally agreed to accept the proposal.
SA also canvassed student opinion re. assessment. Views: Good to have choice of essay or exam
rather than both every time. Some felt all should do the same assessments (level playing field etc).
Some depts. examine T1 modules in the summer, whereas the business school has some exams for
T1 modules in January. SA pointed out this has some admin issues in terms of registering practice,
but there was general enthusiasm for this possibility. Concerns were raised about the balance of
exams with a heavy coursework/essay load over Christmas. Also some students have a
disproportionately heavier load in one term or the other. Most favoured the maximum flexibility/
choice, even in 1-term modules.
5) Essay writing lectures. Confusion was reported about requirements in the skills writing class.
Concerns included matters relating to the use of cover sheets, the lack of an obvious point of contact
in the module, queries not really answered/principles not explained satisfactorily. It was also
suggested that this module has come too late in term to really be of help.
It was suggested that the module needs clarification in terms of requirements, that there was a lack
of perceived structure, little detailed feedback, that the seminars didn't seem to tally well with the
workshops and that they merely repeated online material.
6) MLang - SA explained the proposal to 'over-CAT' in order to be awarded a 4 year Masters
qualification; this is not quite a full MA, but it would be very close. An average mark in German of
65% would be required at Y2 to apply to enter this MLang track, at the required additional credits
could be gained e.g. while on the Year Abroad (either through course attendance or an essay) plus a
final year dissertation (work could start on this during the YA). It would be possible to switch back to
a BA track if not enough credits were gained during Y3, but students could take Masters level
components in their final year to over-credit (from 15CATs to 30). Joint Honours students would
need to drop one module in their other subject in Y4 (cf 'with' degrees now). If successful students
would gain an MLang in German Cultural Studies.
In discussion some concerns raised, asking whether students who wanted to teach or work on the
Year Abroad would be barred from the scheme, some suggested they would be reluctant to drop
modules from their other subject. But students generally approved of the idea, as it could set
Warwick apart from other unis, the scheme would be particularly good for the academically inclined,
and the notion of gaining a Masters at no extra cost would be attractive to many. One member
wondered whether students who had opted to teach abroad could take modules with the Institute
of Education here instead, or even register at a local uni? There was clear support for proceeding
with this idea.
7) It was suggested that some students might be interested in this event, but there was some
confusion over timing (deadlines). SA asked students to give their names to Marie if interested.
8) SA offered to provide more details about this matter if anyone were interested.
9) Students expressed some concerns with the structure of the 2nd year essay writing class. They
stated that the material can be not challenging enough at times. They were concerned about the
amount of grammar work in this module (not a bad thing in itself) since this detracted from the time
needed to examine concrete aspects of writing essays per se. SA recommended passing a list of
concerns to GB (she had left shortly before this item) for further discussion.
The meeting closed at 13:57.