At this University we have a genuine commitment to involving students in decisions that affect the operation and the future development of their course. We want you to tell us what is going well and where we might be able to make improvements.

Student Participation

Student participation is encouraged not only in academic terms in seminars and other smaller group teaching and learning settings but also in the general day-to-day running of your course.

There are both formal and informal ways in which you can participate. The formal mechanisms for consultation include the Staff-Student Consultative Committee and the Board of Studies, and also Unit and Course Feedback Questionnaires.

Staff-Student Consultative Committee
Board of Studies
Student Representatives
Informal Feedback
Unit and Course Feedback Questionnaires
National Student Survey

Staff-Student Consultative Committee

All students are entitled to attend the Staff-Student Consultative Committee (SSCC). The meetings are organised once a semester by Year Tutors and are an opportunity for all students in a particular year of their course to get together to discuss issues of concern. Most matters will be dealt with immediately, but some, which may have wider implications for other students in the School, will be referred to the Board of Studies.

Board of Studies

There is a single Board of Studies (BoS) for the whole School. It is responsible for ongoing evaluation of the academic standards and quality of the learning opportunities on our degree programmes. It is also responsible for making recommendations for the development and improvement of the programmes. In this way, responsibility and 'ownership' of quality and academic standards remains within the School and involves the student community.

The Board of Studies meets once per semester, normally one week after the Staff-Student Consultative Committee. It receives the minutes of the SSCC and checks that action has been taken on the issues raised by students. It also receives and considers formal reports on the department’s activities in the previous year.

The Board decides what action, if any, is required to maintain and enrich the quality of the student learning experience. Membership of the Board includes at least one student representative from each stage of the undergraduate programmes in each Division of the School.

Student Representatives

Student reps are a bridge between the formal and informal feedback and consultation processes. They act as a channel for general feedback and attend the SSCC and the BoS. You can also contact them at anytime if a matter arises which you think needs to be brought to School management attention.

A full list can be found here (internal only)

Informal feedback

You can also have your say in lots of other ways: in your Study Skills tutorial; by seeing your academic or personal tutors in their office hours; or by emailing staff directly. But if you?re not sure who might be able to address an issue, you can email [SLAS.feedback@port.ac.uk]. You can also use this address to let us know about things that have gone well!

Unit and course questionnaires

At the end of each semester, for each unit you study, you will be asked to fill out a very brief questionnaire. This will be used by the Unit Coordinator to evaluate the unit and to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

At the end of each year of your course, you will be asked to complete a course questionnaire. This data is processed by the Year Tutor and the information received helps us to identify areas for improvement.

This isn?t just a paper exercise. All questionnaires are read and action is taken wherever possible. So tell us what needs improving and we?ll do what we can. But don?t forget to tell us also if you think something has gone especially well!

National Student Survey

Since 2004-5, there has been an annual National Student Survey (NSS) of all final year students in the UK. All students are contacted by letter, email or phone, and asked to complete the survey, usually in the January of their final year. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you complete this questionnaire. The results are published and they will influence future students? decisions about where to study, and they also reflect on the national standing of universities and departments. In the NSS for 2005, students in European Languages and Area Studies (most students in SLAS) ranked the School 5th out of 52 institutions (and top among the new universities) in terms of their overall satisfaction with their course. We hope that your input will help us to maintain or even improve our standing.

Contact: SLAS.feedback@port.ac.uk