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SEETLLD AGWG-P12

REVIEW OF SCOTLAND'S COLLEGES

Meeting with Student Representatives

Central College of Commerce, Glasgow

Monday, 4 April 2006, 1.30 pm- 2.30 pm

1. Introductions

This meeting was arranged to capture the views of the current student representatives, before they leave at the end of this academic year, and share their knowledge and experiences of their role while in post.

James Alexander, Vice - President, NUS welcomed attendees and invited them to introduce themselves.

2. Why did you get involved?

• Natural progression as a class representative at school - has found it useful in enhancing their CV especially when applying to university
• Interesting opportunity to learn new skills
• Money - the post was a sabbatical post and made sense rather than getting a part-time job
• Had previously been shop steward in the oil industry

3. Discussion of student participation and their roles

There was a short discussion about student participation and the roles of each of these positions.

Some colleges were highly represented with both a President and a Vice President as well as class representatives, while other colleges were less represented operating with only class representatives, if at all. Some colleges held a sabbatical post normally at President level with a voluntary post of Vice-President. It appeared normal protocol that the President would attend Board of Management meetings, committee meetings etc whereas the Vice President would take on the more direct role of assisting students for example dealing with complaints, liaising with the student services liaison officer etc. It was apparent from representation at this meeting that representatives at those colleges with higher participation were more likely to be able to attend meetings such as this.

There were great variations of financial support given to representatives at each college and also the method for calculating this - some colleges based the amount given on an amount per student enrolment, some colleges gave a smaller amount but paid for operation costs direct such as the accommodation, lighting, phone bills, transport etc. Other colleges issued block grants with some offering staff resources such as a student support liaison officer and some colleges operated with a sabbatical officer.

While it was clear that the general opinion around the table was that colleges should have a sabbatical officer, a concern was raised over the legal basis for this and in particular around the issue of whether this would change their status to 'staff rep' when sitting on the Board of Management. Student officers considered that having a sabbatical officer produced better student representation at committees and Board of Management meetings.

A problem noted by the student representatives was the lack of continuity in representation, with the main cause cited as the shortage of time served by a representative (i.e. courses were mostly part-time and full-time courses are also relatively shorter in duration compared to that of degree level study) and little, if any, handover period from one representative to another. The timings for holding elections was also highlighted as a problem. Suggested solutions to this were that the NUS could help support the student associations with their elections, so that the turnaround time for new appointments is shortened. It was also suggested that two student representatives sit on the Board of Management as this would help build student reps confidence and also assist with continuity, if one could not attend.

What training have you received?

Student Reps had received a variety of training from the list below, although this varied from person to person:

• NUS/SPARQs training
• Weekend away with Board of Management
• ASC training
• Audit committee - financial training

What would you like to have known prior to taking the post?

• Time commitment
• Role of post
• Procedures
• Personal benefits
• Background/briefing on ongoing issues which the Board of Management were currently looking at

Have you found the experience worthwhile and what personal benefits have you gained?

• Emphatically, yes
• Developed confidence
• Gained experience of sitting on a Board of Management
• Gained experience of events management which was a requirement for the university course applied for
• Have found the experience worthwhile and hope to participate in a similar role at university

Would you consider applying to be a non-student board member?

• Do not consider myself to have enough life experience at this stage
• Expect that continuing with studies would not permit enough time commitment
• Consider a similar role as a student rep at a university to be more appropriate

Reviews Team

May 2006