Summer Progress

Hello, and welcome to the continuing blog for the RUSU VP Education. I took over from Ryan in July and everyone here at RUSU HQ has been working tirelessly to make huge steps of progress over the summer.

We've got a jam packed year planned, campaigning on issues ranging from the hidden cost of your education, extending library hours, plagiarism awareness and improving processes, and ensuring a strong student voice is heard through the QAA Institutional Audit.

A research project has helped us to gather the views of hundreds of students, course reps and supporting staff about how we can improve the Course Rep Scheme. I'm currently working on fitting all this together into a five year strategy to push this forward in leaps and bounds. This will be fresh, bright and shiny for the new term!

If you have any questions about the plans for the year, how you get involved, or generally want to talk about some issues around your university life then feel free to get in touch! My email is p.jeffreys@reading.ac.uk office number is 0118 378 4130 or mobile 07980 697089

We may be moving our blogs onto www.rusu.co.uk - watch this space!

Moving on.......Part 1

Email to Course Reps

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick email to thank you for all you hard work this year. I will be leaving the role of VP Education shortly. It has been a rollercoaster of a year with some highs and lows. The University is continually seeing the importance of student involvement and participation as key to developing the academic experience. Course Reps are the backbone of this which continues to grow year on year, your input is invaluable.

Next year will see more RUSU staff support towards the Course Rep Scheme and the continued development of the training. We have also elected a team of Education Reps, who will work at the Faculty Level ensuring student input at every level in the University.

If you need to contact anyone over the summer the details are:

Pete Jeffreys – VP Education 2007/8 – p.jeffreys@rdg.ac.uk or
Kath Davey – Advice Services Manager – k.davey@rdg.ac.uk

If you are leaving this year good luck, if you are continuing please stay involved. Next years team will email you with the plans for the future over the summer.

Thanks again for a brilliant year,

All the best

Ryan
r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk

more to follow.......

Exams over.....results time!

Need someone to talk to?

RUSU provides a free, confidential, student-centred, advice service staffed by experienced advice workers. Our student advisors offer information, advice and support to the Reading University student community.

Our aim is to empower you, so you are able to deal with your issue and decide the best course of action - whatever the problem.We offer an independent service - RUSU is a separate organisation to the University. The advisors are not employed by the University. Your issue will be discussed in confidence and not shared with any university staff or any other person or organisation without your prior consent.

Visit www.rusu.co.uk and click on student advice service for more infomation

or email stu.adv@reading.ac.uk

Education Reps

Hi all

Nominations for Education Reps have now closed. We have had a great response and you should be getting an email shortly to explain how voting works and who is standing in your faculty. Many candidates have started up facebook groups......just remember you can only vote for candidates in your faculty.

Not sure which faculty you are in - visit www.rusu.co.uk/edrep (at the bottom of the page)

Voting is all online - Friday 8th June - Monday 18th June.

As tony the tiger would say its going to be grrrrrrrrrrrrreat.

Ryan
r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk

Education Reps

Hello! The search is on for next year’s team of Education Reps. These are crucial to making sure that students are at the heart of university decisions which directly affect you.

For the first time we will be running these elections entirely online – you won’t even have to leave your revision desk to make your voice heard!

Being an Education Rep will mean a few meetings each term to make sure that the best interests of students are at the heart of university discussions. Of course this experience will look fantastic on a CV, you can use it to count towards your MASIV accreditation, and you will benefit from top quality support and training.

Much more information, questions & answers, and contacts, are available at www.rusu.co.uk/edrep - with the nomination form being all online!

Nominations close Thursday 24th May

Voting start soon.......look out for more details.

Hidden Course Costs........

Have you been hit by hidden course costs during your studies? Do you feel that hidden costs encountered through your course have had a direct impact on you gaining the full Reading University experience?

RUSU wants to know exactly what these costs are so that we can work to ensure the university provides greater assistance with these costs. We want to know the essential and optional costs you have encountered and what help, if any, you have received for these additional costs. After paying tuition fees are these costs unwelcome extras?

Let RUSU know now by filling out our 10 minute survey on the link below:

Take Survey

This first-hand research will ensure that we have a clearer idea of what extra financial burdens Reading University students currently face through their courses. RUSU aims to use this confidential information to carry out their mission to fight for greater financial and educational equality for you, its members.

Silent Students Happy Homes - SSHH

Back during my first year in halls...2003, we had day and night porters, these people enforced the 'Quiet Period' which lasted throughout students exams. It is a stressfull time for many students, and the last thing we want is to be woken up @ 3 in the morning with people on their way home. Well when i returned to halls in my third year, night porters didnt exist, and therefore the 'Quiet Period' could not be monitored or enforced by any staff. This resulted in many stressed nights on the phone to security so i could get some sleep....the system which has gone from pro-active to re-active, isnt much help to students with a final year exam in the morning......anyway the moral of this story/rant is please respect others over these long and hard few weeks.

RUSU have launched a SSHH campaign, please check the website www.rusu.co.uk/sshh

Student life is vibrant, exciting and enjoyable for many people, and no-one would want to stop that. The objective of the SSHH campaign is to raise awareness of noise disturbances, which effect everyone from revising students to young families. It takes little effort to reduce the noise you make, but the affect on others is huge.

Exam Preparation Day

Re: Vision
Exam preparation advice for all years
10.00 - 16.00 Wednesday April 25th 2007
All day workshops in Palmer 1.02 and drop-in advice in G.04

Visit the study support website for more details - click here

Good Luck

Ryan

r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk

Congratulations to the University Challenge Team 2007/8

After a lengthy selection process, it was finally decided that five people below would represent The University of Reading in next years University Challenge.


Good Luck! If you want to keep track of how they are doing in the initial pre-TV stages visit their facebook group http://rdg.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2262599997

Some of the questions people faced in the selection process can be found here http://www.rusu.co.uk/DisplayPage.asp?pageid=21424

Enjoy

Ryan
r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk

VP Education next year.........

Elected RUSU VP Education 2007/08

Pete Jeffreys

Good to see he has been keeping the bird theme going!

I still have four months left, with Pete officially starting at the beginning of July, although i am sure we will start the handover before....

It is an exciting time, next year will be a big one for VP Education, and i am sure Pete will be up for the challenge.

The other results can be found here

I am off to find a new job.....!

Teaching & Learning Awards 2006/07

Student Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning 2006/07

It’s your chance to reward the member of staff you feel has had the greatest impact on your learning. You can nominate lecturers and support staff such as technicians, postgraduate demonstrators, secretaries, librarians, study skills staff, careers and ITS support staff etc.

Fill in the online form and don’t forget to give specific examples of how the person you’re nominating has supported your learning and progress at University. Submit your nomination form and for the chance to be one of the lucky winners in our prize draw remember to give your contact details!

So who will you nominate? Click here to fill in the form

University Challenge

The quest is on to find a tip top team to represent the University of Reading on University Challenge.

Please head to this link and sign up! http://www.rusu.co.uk/DisplayPage.asp?pageid=21424

Week 8 - Monday 5th March - 6.30pm in Mojos

If you know a brainy person send them the link!

Come on.....Challenge yourself...

Finalists Fayre

Finalists Fayre....tips on exams, post grad courses, study support.....and thinking of life after Uni.... Week 9...more to follow

Watch this space.

Ryan
r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk

Course Rep Training

Course Rep Training - Week 4 - Friday 9th Feb - 12-2 in Palmer G03

Course Reps are the backbone of RUSU, and those involved in student representation from lectures to students, support staff to senior management all have the same ultimate goal, that being to improve education here @ Reading.

Most Staff-Student Committees will meet shortly or already have. Check if you haven’t heard anything already.

Ryan

r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk

Swinging Library Doors

The swinging doors.....or the doors of death as they have been called!

there are two facebook groups calling for the removal of the doors, one with over 1000 Reading Students in. This is something the student population feel very strongly about. Dave stated in a recent spotlight:

Ryan Bird, VP Education, has been working hard with the library this year to identifyissues which students feel could improve their experience of the service, this includes opening hours, PC access, social space and the doors of death at the bottom of the stairs.

After Ryan’s hard work and persistence, he was pleased to report to a recent Sabb meeting that the doors are under full review, its ‘high on the agenda’ and during the summer, as the refurbishment takes place, they will hopefully be removed."

The refurb in the summer will completely change the way students interact with faclilites on the groundfloor of the Library...and this will hopefully be without the doors of death!

ryan
r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk

Skills Online At Reading

Skills Online At Reading - www.rdg.ac.uk/soar

Whether you are an undergraduate, postgraduate, international or home student, you will develop these transferable skills during your time at the University of Reading. SOAR is here to connect you to a wealth of opportunities to further develop your skills. Explore this website to find out how you can enhance your skills, both through your studies and extra curricular activities.

This site is great, both Emily and I have had a lot of input into this along with students across campus. This was an outcome of a Transferable skills review that finished last year. The core transferable skills you find on this website will be appearing in programme specifications over the next year and will be fully embedded into your studies. Its great that all this skills that you can gain in or outside your degree can now be found in one place!

www.rdg.ac.uk/soar - Let us know how you find it.

Also RU Ready training now has its Spring Term timetable ready...Presentation skills, time management, meeting skills, elections, CV writing and interview skills. visit www.rusu.co.uk/ruready or www.rdg.ac.uk/soar

Ryan

r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk

National Student Survey

We fully support the NSS, giving students at Reading the opportunity to asses their degree experience against students against other Universities. Last year Reading University came 13th in the UK, and we have used the results to lobby for improvements within the University, particularly in the area of assessment and feedback.

The survey is for final year undergraduates ONLY, and if you lot want to do it now, you can at http://www.thestudentsurvey.com/survey.asp

The Union gets a chance to see the full results, with lots of comparative data, which for the 2006 Survey showed that younger students were more satisfied with their course than mature students, male students were happier than female students, that white students were more satisfied than black students, that the least satisfied students in the areas of Assessment and Feedback were Construction Management students and that Agriculture was seen as the best department in terms of personal development.

Please fill it in and make a difference for future students!

So whats been done since last year's survey? Click here to see the University press release of last years results

The press release above is all very good, but what it doesnt say is that the feedback & assesment results were dissapointing, as it was for most institutions....

.....so what is being done about this?

Well, the University has very quickly acted on this, the committee responsible for Exams and Assesment is currently collecting information from departments/schools of best practice and through the Course Rep system i have recieved feedback on good practice and some not so good practice! All this in turn will be fed into the planning and delivery of programmes.

Student feedback is vital to ongoing development of the student experience here @ Reading, the work done by your Students' Union and your sabbatical officers could not be done without it. Thats why our Course Rep system is so important, and why surveys like the National Student Survey are key to helping us and helping you!

For more information visit http://www.rusu.co.uk/DisplayPage.asp?pageid=21092

Ryan

r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk

Happy New Year!

New year, new plans......well work in progress...back to work to start planning at least. More to follow.

I am 1/2 way through my sabb year, the time has flown by. When reflecting on last term i am pleased to say i enjoyed it even though tough at times...!


My personal highlights of the term include: The National Demo, training more course reps then ever before, Freshers week and seeing so many students support and help with the Save Physics Campaign - it was good to see students actively campaigning on what they felt so strongly about.

The term seen some great student activism with the demo and the physics campaign, i would certainly say the education portfolio at RUSU has been keeping educational matters high on the agenda - and rightly so - as i regularly get quoted in the office:


'We are all here for an education'


Some of the lower points for me: Walking out of the University Council meeting alone, to see physics students waiting outside for the result - having to tell them that despite a strong campaign physics would be no longer at Reading was pretty tough. But having said that i was so impressed with their passion and belief in the subject, they really are a great bunch. I still struggle to understand why such a fundamental and important science can be axed in such a way. I guess also the 60-70+ hour weeks (which i always said i would never do) mid term were also hard, people sometimes think student officers have it easy, well as much as the job is great it is certainly something that becomes your life! But i would recommend it to anyone - so much to gain to learn and to enjoy!


Despite the low points, the Autumn term has been great....with each and every day so different, bring on the spring term.


So after my short reflection thoughts - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's to a great term, lots of laughs and more great work for students!

Ryan

r.j.e.bird@reading.ac.uk