The Role of Students in Internal

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The Role of Students in Internal External
Quality Processes in Scotland

• Duncan Cockburn
• Senior Development Advisor

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the scottish quality enhancement framework

• three key principles of a quality system
• high quality learning
• student engagement
• quality culture
• quality enhancement framework based around 5
  pillars (more than just external review of
  institutions)
• institutions responsible for internal
  subject-based review
• public information on quality
• student involvement in the management of quality
• enhancement-led institutional review
• enhancement themes

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student engagement (draft)

• that colleges and universities support the
  development of students as co-creators of their
  learning who take responsibility for their own
  learning
• that colleges and universities actively support,
  encourage and push students to become more active
  learners, more interested and engaged with their
  learning, and hungrier for more learning
  throughout their lives
• that institutions, particularly at course team
  level, engage with students to obtain feedback,
  perspectives and insights that will help them
  learn how to serve their students better in the
  future
• that students are involved in decision-making
  about their curricula, teaching and learning, and
  all aspects of the student experience
• that students are central to the college and
  university sectors approaches to quality and
  quality enhancement.

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student involvement (i)

• institutions responsible for internal
  subject-based review
• students met with as part of the review process
  (all)
• students involved in producing a reflective
  account of their learning experience within that
  subject area (a few)
• students involved as review panel members (most)
• public information on quality
• aim to provide clear information to prospective
  students and current students to help assist
  making choices
• longitudinal survey of learners views of their
  learning experience

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student involvement (ii)

• student involvement in the management of quality
• guidance issued to institutions on how to
  involve students
• sparqs (Student Participation in Quality
  Scotland)
• enhancement-led institutional review
• students met with as part of the review
• students involved in the construction of
  institutional reflective analyses submitted as
  part of the review process
• student members of review panels
• enhancement themes
• students involved in the resulting discussions

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student involvement withinscottish institutions

• developing conception of partnership between
  students and institutions
• student membership of key institutional
  committees
• governing bodies and their sub-committees
• major (and minor) academic committees
• student involvement in many processes
• internal subject reviews
• academic appeals and complaints panels
• appointment of senior staff

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student involvement at the departmental / course
level

• most departments hold regularly (termly) meetings
  of staff-student liaison committees
• students elect course representatives to attend
  meetings and feed back comments on their courses
  to staff
• some departments have students on their
  departmental committee alongside staff
• in addition to these representative structures,
  mechanisms such as questionnaires and focus
  groups are used to collect student feedback

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structure of students associations

• students associations in Scotland have
• a wide remit (academic representation, welfare
  services, volunteering, societies, sports clubs
  bars)
• elected students form an executive committee who
  are trustees of the organisation
• sabbatical presidents and vice-presidents who
  take a year out of studies and are paid a minimal
  salary
• permanent staff employed by the institution on
  the behalf of the students association or by the
  students association
• budgets provided by the institution for
  non-commercial activities
• automatic membership of the students association
  unless students choose to opt-out

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structure of students associations
sabbaticals non sabbatical officers institutio
nal committees working groups
faculty/school representatives faculty/school
boards
course representatives staff-student liaison
committees
students providers of feedback
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sparqs a quick introduction

• work strand 1 embedding support for
  representatives
• core and end of year course representative
  training
• other training for student representatives
• support materials and resources
• staff workshops in both colleges and
  universities
• work strand 2 facilitating sector-level
  collaboration
• briefings to student officers (HE officers
  college student governors)
• support to staff on effective representative
  systems
• national conference on student involvement
  (April 2008)
• clearing house of information on student
  involvement
• work strand 3 supporting individual
  institutional agendas
• pilot approach to support 20 institutions in the
  North of Scotland

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sparqs funding management
sparqs STEERING COMMITTEE
independent member
student representatives
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involving students the how
Principles of Student Involvement
Outcomes of Student Involvement
Methods and Tools
What Topics
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involving students the what
JUST DO IT AND DONT TELL ME ABOUT IT
JUST DO IT, BUT TELL ME ABOUT IT
BEFORE YOU DO IT, ASK ME WHAT I THINK
BEFORE YOU DO IT, INVOLVE ME IN THE
DECISION-MAKING
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the knowing, doing feeling
KNOWLEDGE
EMOTION
PRACTICAL SKILLS
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The Role of Students in Internal External
Quality Processes in Scotland
further information www.sparqs.ac.uk