STUDENT REPRESENTATION – PURPOSE, SCOPE AND VALUE
1. Introduction
The University is committed, through its Education Strategy, to providing an inspiring and enriching educational experience. Students are at the heart of our academic delivery and we pride ourselves on the level of engagement we have with our students over the course of their academic studies. The involvement of students in providing feedback and evaluation about their educational experience, the opportunities for students to participate actively in decision making and the collaboration that we foster in partnership with our Students’ Union are key features at Cardiff. The term that we give to this is STUDENT VOICE and in our Student Voice Framework we set out how this operates and how students are encouraged to give voice to their views and opinions and be partners in decision making.
Student representation is a key element in our Student Voice Framework and through our institution-wide arrangements for student representation we aim to ensure that there are effective channels of communication taking place between students, academic
Schools, the Students’ Union and the University and that students can contribute actively to decision making at these levels. Student Representation covers: i) the representative role carried out by Elected Officers in the Studen ts’ Union ; ii) iii) the arrangements for student academic representation in our Schools; the linkages that take place between School representation, and University. the Students’ Union
This document provides a brief overview of our arrangements for Student
Representation. Further details on the operation and application of the Student
Representation system are confirmed in: i) ii)
Cardiff University Student Academic Representative System Operational Guide for Schools; and
Student Academic Representatives Handbook.
2. Student Representation: the role of t he Students’ Union
A key component in student representation is the very positive and close working partnership that the University enjoys with the full and part-time Elected Officers in the
Students’ Union. The Elected Officers are appointed annually by fellow students to represent the student body locally, nationally and internationally. Locally the Elected
Officers provide support and advice to fellow students across a range of academic and welfare issues and services.
Regular communication takes place between senior officers of the University and the
Elected Officers, thus ensuring that any issues of concern relating to educational experience can be raised promptly. Students are also constituent members of key
University committees and so can input directly into decision making and policy direction.
The University and the Students’ Union also work closely together to support the student representation process operating within all academic Schools. In addition to the training and ongoing support provided to Schools’ Student Academic Representatives, the
Students’ Union also has a formal interaction with Senior Student Academic
Representati ves (“Senior Reps”) from each School via the Students’ Union Academic
Council. This forum meets at least three times a year to share best practice and discuss issues. It is chaired by the Academic and University Affairs Officer and attended by one postgraduate and one undergraduate Senior Rep from every school. Any institution wide issues identified can then be taken forward within the University.
3. Student Representation within Schools
3.1 Purpose

Student representation in Schools encourages student input into the continued improvement and development of their educational experience. It is founded on the belief that through effective representation and communication, students can become partners in their education, allowing active participation in, and ownership of their educational experience.
3.2 Scope of School Representation
Student Academic Representatives are chosen annually by their peers and they act as a formal channel of communication between the students they represent and their School.
Their role includes:
 attending meetings of the Student-Staff Panel (SSP) and other internal School committees;
 acting as a point of contact and canvassing fellow students, so that opinion from the student body can be identified and articulated within the School;

 communicating back to students on any decisions made; contributing to the ‘bigger picture’ within Schools: including inputs to strategic meetings and input to quality assurance and external validation events;
 working together in liaison with the Senior Student Academic Representative and the School to compile a short Annual Review of Business which is received by the Students’ Union.
At least one Student Academic Representative (usually a “Senior Rep”) will serve on the
Board of Studies which is responsible for the co-ordination of all academic and administrative matters associated with taught programmes of study provided by the
School.
3.3 Linkages to the Students’ Union
Connections between the Schoollevel representative system and the Students’ Union are made through:
 the key role played by the Students’ Union in supporting the effective training of
Student Academic Representatives and in providing ongoing support and

 guidance as required; the meetings of the Students’ Union Academic Council. This provides a direct interface between Students’ Union Elected Officers and the Senior Student
Academic Representatives from Schools, so that any key issues, concerns or examples of good practice can be identified and followed up with the University; the evaluation undertaken within the Students’ Union of Schools’ Annual Reviews of Business. The Annual Reviews also help inform the compilation of the Union’s overall Annual Statement which highlights any issues of concern to the
University.
3.4 Linkages to the University
Connections between the student representation taking place within Schools and the
University level are made through:
 the provision of clear guidance and support to Schools about the operation of the
Student Representation system;
 support to and interaction with the School Academic Representative Co-ordinator
(SRC);
 involvement in the provision of training and support for appointed Elected

Officers and School student representatives; regular dialogue between the University and Officers of the Students’ Union, so that any issues of concern emerging from the interaction that the Elected Officers have with student representatives can be communicated;
 the systematic application of quality assurance systems to evaluate how well the student representation processes in Schools are working;
 involving students in a range of institution level activities including: the formulation and evaluation of new policies and procedures: focus groups to gather feedback on specific University-wide initiatives and processes:

4. participation in quality assurance processes administered by the University, including Programme Approval Panels and annual and periodic quality assurance reviews.
The Value of Student Representation
There are significant benefits from the involvement of student representatives.
For SCHOOLS it provides …
 a means of communicating with the entire student body, via designated
 representatives; a direct source of feedback on the quality of their academic provision and
 services, to complement other forms of evaluation and feedback; a sounding board for staff to discuss the development of academic initiatives or administrative changes.
For the UNIVERSITY and STUDENTS’ UNION it provides …
 a direct link between the University and the Students’ Union’s governance
 structures; student input and involvement in University policies, strategies and enhancement
 activities; access to a readymade ‘pool’ of representatives for use on focus groups, working parties, etc.
For the STUDENT BODY it provides …
 a defined means for feedback on the educational experience and reassurance that they have a ‘port of call’ for any general issues;
 the receipt of information and feedback from peers relating to important decisions made within their School, Students’ Union or University.
For STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES it provides …
 an active involvement in voicing the views of students about their educational experience;
 the opportunity to contribute to the decision-making processes and functioning of
Schools, the Students’ Union and the overall University;
 personal development of a valuable set of transferable skills which will be of benefit in later life.