COURSE
REPRESENTATION
A Handbook for Staff
www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk
CONTENTS
COURSE REPRESENTATION OVERVIEW........................... 3
MANAGING THE ELECTION PROCESS ................................. 3
UNION CLOUD PILOT .......................................................... 7
KEY POINTS OF ENGAGEMENT ........................................... 7
KEY CONTACTS .............................................................. 8
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COURSE REPRESENTATION OVERVIEW
At Leeds Beckett University, we are committed to working in partnership with all students to enhance our
courses and our students’ learning experiences.
Demonstrably effective course representation is a key element of our commitment and Course Teams have
a vital role to play in engaging students in quality assurance activities through the course representation
process.
Our approach to student engagement received affirmation from the Quality Assurance Agency during our
recent successful Higher Education Review and we need to build on that momentum in 2015/16 to ensure
we are meeting the expectation in the QAA Quality Code, Chapter B5: Student Engagement:
“Higher education providers take deliberate steps to engage all students, individually and collectively, as
partners in the assurance and enhancement of their educational experience”.
In practical terms that means that we promote opportunities for engagement at institutional, faculty, school
and course level through our Student Charter, our governance structures and regulatory quality assurance
processes like annual review, in-year enhancement meetings and periodic review.
It means we provide clear information to our students, through their course representatives and other
effective channels, regarding when and how they can give feedback about their learning experiences, about
course management and about wider institutional support and resource issues.
It means we facilitate and welcome the contributions of student representatives at Faculty and Academic
Board and that staff engage with Students’ Union supported initiatives like Faculty Forums.
It also means we clearly report back to our students those enhancements which their feedback has helped to
bring about, so they can have confidence that their feedback is being listened to and is informing
demonstrable change.
Course representation is at the heart of these activities and your on-going support in strengthening this
activity is fundamental to our approach.
In recognition of this, the Course Representation Handbook outlines:
 How Course Representative elections are to be conducted and supported;
 The key quality assurance processes through which Course Teams, and Course Leaders specifically,
have a responsibility to engage Course Representatives and by extension, our students.
MANAGING THE ELECTION PROCESS
The Students’ Union has put together guidance on the Course Representative election process which is
reproduced in this Handbook for reference and will be circulated and hosted online alongside it (see
contacts):
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Course Representative Elections Guidance:
Please read this document through prior to running your Course Representative elections.
If you would like any assistance in running the Course Representative elections or for a representative of the
Students’ Union to be present to speak about the Students’ Union please contact Jess Balme.
Please summarize the following two sections to students...
Why should you become a Course Representative:
Becoming a Course Representative is a fantastic and rewarding experience. Not only does it give you a vital
role in university decision making but you’ll also get the opportunity to meet new friends and network with
senior university staff. We’ll give you comprehensive training that will benefit you in your role and support
you on your journey. The joint aim of the SU & University is to ensure that all students have an excellent
student experience whilst at Leeds Beckett. We value all feedback, big or small.
Course Representatives gather essential feedback from their course and then work in conjunction with their
course leadership team, faculty and the Students’ Union to resolve issues and recognise areas of good
practice. In the past the dedication of Course Representatives has led to water fountains installed in the
library, smaller breaks in between classes and even campaigns against the tuition fee increase.
It’s our mission to have at least one Course Representative on every course in the university, so we need
inspired and motivated individuals with a loud voice to represent their cohort and accomplish great change,
ensuring that the Leeds Beckett experience is the best it can possibly be.
Summary of responsibilities as a Course Representative:
As a Course Representative, there are several things that are expected of you in the role, to ensure that you
are fulfilling your purpose. With great power comes great responsibility, etc. etc. etc.
We’d love for you to work closely with your course team and the other Course Representatives from your
course to improve not only your course but the overall student experience, representing the views of your
‘constituency’ (isn’t that cool?) whilst remaining impartial.
How will you find out about these issues you say? Well that’s kind of your job; we want you to work on your
own initiative and gather feedback from your course mates. This feedback will help us determine how good
your student experience is, and areas that need improvement. It is your responsibility to ensure that this
feedback is worked upon and the issue solved, or a suitable alternative solution found and then ensure any
changes are subsequently fed back to students. Don’t forget to keep your Faculty Representatives (your
support) informed of the great work that you do, as they gather this all together then pass this most relevant
information onto both the Students’ Union and the University.
You’ll be asked to attend meetings such as faculty forums or course annual review meetings; during these
meetings you should represent the views of your students. We also ask (pretty please with a cherry, and
sprinkles) that you attend as many of these meetings where possible to represent those who elected you
(don’t forget them!); so long as the meetings do not interfere with your studies. It’s not all doom
and gloom though, if your course or a tutor is doing something fantastic don’t forget to shout
about it – or feedback on a fantastic improvement to the course we like to hear about these things too!
And it’s that simple… what are you waiting for???
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Electing Course Representatives:
Please follow this guidance when conducting the election...
How many Course Representatives should you elect:
The minimum number of Course Representatives to elect per year group is 2. We advocate that Course
Representatives are elected on an approximate ratio of 1:30, or simply one per tutor group. To do this you
may find it easier to elect Course Representatives in the initial tutorial sessions rather than the induction.
If you conduct your election in the initial induction we recommend that for larger courses of 150+ we
advocate that you elect 6 Course Representatives and then an extra 1 for every additional 50 students.
Process of elections:
After you have read the previous side aloud explaining why students might want to become a Course
Representative & the benefits of the role, you should then conduct your Course Representative elections:
1. Ask for students to nominate themselves for the role,
2. Standing up or at the front of the class, each candidate should introduce themselves and speak for
1-2 minutes about what they would like to do in the role, for example one thing they would like to
improve in the University,
3. Ask candidates to leave the room and take votes for each candidate using a show of hands method,
4. The winning candidate(s), depending on how many you require, are those with the most votes,
5. Return the candidates to the room and announce the elected Course Representatives, and take
their details. Remember - those that missed out can still get involved with the SU through
societies, volunteering or even part-time elected roles such as being the Disabilities Officer!
Who do you send the elected Course Representatives’ details to:
Once the election has taken place and you have the elected Course Representatives please ensure that they
fill in their details in the space provided. Please then collate these details with the Course Representatives
on all levels of your course and email them all in one excel attachment with the subject line ‘15/16 Course
Representatives – (course name)’ to both Jessica Balme (J.balme@leedsbeckett.ac.uk) and Quality
Assurance Services (G.E.Jones@leedsbeckett.ac.uk)
Course Representative Training:
Course Representative training will take place from week commencing 26th October; the Course
Representatives will be sent an email invite at least two weeks prior to their session.
Many thanks for your cooperation,
Jess Balme
Student Voice Coordinator (Academic Representation)
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Course Representative Details
Faculty:
Course:
Level:
Student ID
Forename
Surname
33279397
Jessica
Balme
Student Email (only
write first part e.g.
J.smith1234)
J.Balme7837
Telephone Number
International
Student (Y/N)
07123456789
N
Mature
Student
(Y/N)
N
Full/Part
Time
Study
FT
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UNION CLOUD PILOT
Union Cloud is a new online platform created and designed by NUS Digital. As well as seeing the launch of the
Student Bright Ideas system and the ability for students to sign up to societies at any time online, it can be used
to support online Course Representative Elections. Using a single sign on system, every student will be able to
view who their Course Representative is and vote in the Union elections. A pilot group of courses will be trialling
Union Cloud for their elections during 2015/16, supported by our Students’ Union.
KEY POINTS OF ENGAGEMENT
The following points of engagement between the Course Leader/ Course Team and Course Representatives/
students are part of our institutional regulatory framework. Colleagues need to make every effort to ensure these
meetings are scheduled with regard for the representatives’ ability to attend and are conducted in a way which
encourages students and/ or their Course Representatives to provide feedback in a mutually supportive
environment.
A formal record of the outputs of each of these meetings should be retained and will provide a reference point for
staff feedback to representatives and students alike. This is not an exhaustive list of points of engagement. Many
other mechanisms are developed at course, School and Faculty level to enhance this threshold standard:
ANNUAL REVIEW MEETINGS
These are the formal meetings which reflect on the previous year’s student performance, student experience and
course delivery. They are generally scheduled on a course by course basis for the third week in November, once
the supporting HESA data becomes available. The Course Leader report which this meeting informs provides key
information for the Faculty Annual Quality Report.
Course Representatives have a standing invitation to these meetings, as stipulated in the Academic Principles
and Regulations. Please make every effort to liaise with your Course Representatives in order to secure their
attendance
IN YEAR ENHANCEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT MEETINGS
These are the formal meetings scheduled for each semester (Dec and May) where participants reflect on the
current delivery of the course as evidenced by available information sources: module evaluations, the
implementation of external examiner recommendations, professional body input, assessment learning and
teaching issues and student feedback.
Course Representatives have a standing invitation to these meetings, as stipulated in the Academic Principles
and Regulations. Please make every effort to liaise with your Course Representatives in order to secure their
attendance
STUDENT FOCUS GROUPS
These are meetings between representatives of the Course Team and the wider cohort of students, and have no
formally prescribed agenda. They are to be scheduled so the outputs can feed into the Enhancement and
Development meetings and provide an opportunity for the Course Team to seek feedback on specific matters, to
formally update the cohort on actions being taken forward and to open the floor to further feedback.
The constituency of these meetings is all students on the course or group of allied courses but it is anticipated
that Course Representatives would want to attend alongside their course mates.
FACULTY FORUMS
Faculty Forums are organised by our Students’ Union and provide the opportunity for the SU to bring together a
constituency of both faculty and course level representatives to discuss matters of mutual interest, including
quality assurance and enhancement activities. Although not a regulatory requirement, the importance and
relevance of Faculty Forums is recognised and endorsed through their attendance by a range of senior faculty staff
(Associate Deans) and the reports from the meetings which are made to Faculty Boards.
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KEY CONTACTS
Students’ Union:

Jess Balme: Students’ Union Education Representation Coordinator
J.Balme@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

James Starnes: Students’ Union Vice President – Education
J.Starnes@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
For details of the Faculty Representatives:
www.leedsbeckettsu.co.uk/student-council/student-council-members
Student Liaison Officer Emails:




Arts, Environment & Technology – SLOaet@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Business & Law – SLObuslaw@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Carnegie - SLOcarnegie@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Health & Social Sciences - SLOHealth@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
For the Students’ Union Advice Service:
www.leedsbeckettsu.co.uk/advice
For the university’s wellbeing resources:
www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/studentwellbeing
For support with course representation and quality assurance, contact:

Claire Chapman: Quality Officer (QA Processes), QAS
QAS@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
To submit details of your course representatives contact:

Gemma Jones: Quality Assurance Administrator, QAS
G.E.Jones@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
For the staff web page on course representation:
www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/partners/studentrepresentation.htm
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