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Committees and representatives

Students sit on committees at all levels of the institution, shaping education policy and contributing to decision-making.

At a local level, Student Academic Representatives Co-Chair Student Partnership Committees (SPCs) and sit on Departmental and Faculty Teaching Committees. 

At an institutional level, students are members of a number of committees including:

  • Professional Services Committees
  • Education Committee
  • Student Experience Committee
  • Academic Board.

More information about student academic representation, including SPC Terms of Reference, can be found in Section Six of the Academic Manual.

How you can support students in these roles

To enable students to contribute to committees in meaningful ways, it’s vital that they have the opportunity to learn about the context of the meeting and the purpose. A pre-meeting to discuss the Terms of Reference can be a useful starting point.

Incorporating an overview of the function of departmental committees into a training session for Lead Department Representatives, in Term 1 can also help set a collaborative tone and make meetings, such as SPCs, as effective and action-focused as possible.

Resources and training

7 tips for running effective SPCs
  1. Aim to create a fun and informal atmosphere at SPC so it feels less daunting for the students and make it clear what we really value what they have to say and want them to be strongly part of the process of positive department change. 
  2. You can use the meetings to test out ideas on other key changes, not just those flagged in student feedback. This gets students directly involved in change. 
  3. You don’t need to answer all the questions or solve all issues in a meeting, but after the meeting consider if there are there any quick-fix or urgent matters arising that can be dealt with (and communicated) quickly, then make sure other issues are followed up and communicated within the agreed timeframe. 
  4. It may help to schedule Departmental Teaching Committee (DTC) meetings to follow the SPC meetings. Once issues have been fully discussed both at DTC and with individual staff members where needed, a departmental written response could we communicated to the SPC chair(s) and posted on Moodle for circulation to the student body.
  5. Review communications and consider how are you letting students know about the meeting outcomes and actions. Is this just reaching SPC members, or your whole student body? What about other key networks and groups such as departmental societies?
  6. Talk to your students and ask them what they think of their SPC – is it effective?
  7. View it as a long-term process of change. It’s not just about changing the meeting format, cultural change dirven by open dialogue and building trust maybe be needed to help develop a community spirit, with open dialogue. 
     

Student Partnership Committees Principles: achieving excellence through working together

Working in partnership with our students is critical to ensure UCL continues to be a world-leading university achieving excellence in education.   

The institutional and national landscape for student engagement and partnership working has progressed significantly over the last few years. Changing our Staff Student Consultative Committees to Student Partnership Committees helps reflect this change, putting students first and sets a clear intention as a community of learners to co-create the educational experience of students at UCL.  

Student Partnership Committees should be the jewel in the crown of our staff-student partnership landscape. They should be transformational spaces, which provide an accessible platform for staff and students to build on good practice as well as work together to co-create and effect change to enhance the student experience. 

The Students’ Union and UCL have worked together to agree the Student Partnership Committee Principles to make sure the SPCs put students at the heart of our approach to partnership.

Agreed Principles for Student Partnership Committees 

These spaces should champion the following principles: 

  1. Students are included from the outset – co-creating their educational experience, not just when addressing problems.   

  1. Support continuous, open dialogue between staff and students informed by evidence and insight from student feedback mechanisms.   

  1. Raise the profile with all students, so that they know who the academic reps are and what you are working together on.   

  1. Agree actions and track progress.   

  1. Consider how to support wider engagement with students through developing Departmental Hubs. 

Departmental Hubs  

Departmental Hubs are a commitment in UCL’s Student Life Strategy to deepen students’ sense of belonging in their department.  We can work with staff and students together to develop or enhance aspects of student life including:   

  • Academic Reps: student leaders elected to represent the students’ academic interests and concerns across their programme, department, or faculty.  

  • Departmental Societies: access support and resources for existing groups and setting up new groups.  

  • Departmental Volunteering: connecting UCL departments with our community partners across London, to engage students in enriching volunteering opportunities. 

Please reach out to the team in the Students’ Union at reps@ucl.ac.uk if you would like to discuss this further.