Student reps

Welcome to the School of Social Sciences Postgraduate Student Rep Intranet page

Student Representatives are students who are chosen by their peers to act as the representative for their particular Programme, School or Faculty. They act as a formal channel of communication between the students they represent and the University staff involved in their Programme, School or Faculty.

The system of student representation in the School of Social Sciences is designed to give you every opportunity to establish and maintain dialogue, both formally and informally, with academic and administrative staff in order to resolve any matters which arise and to provide input into the decision-making processes of the School.

The School is committed to receiving and responding to student feedback in order to bring about improvement in the quality of the student experience and the development of teaching and learning across all its programmes.

Student representatives therefore fulfil an important function in the School management structures and we actively encourage student involvement in a range of programme and School-level committees.

Your Programme Administrator will co-ordinate student representation in your Discipline Area and Bernadette O'Connor (Postgraduate Manager) will co-ordinate student representation across the School. You will find details on this page on who your student representative is, what committees they sit on, and their contact details. You will also have access to the dates and minutes of all staff/student liaison meetings which take place in the Discipline Area and in the School.

The student union web site for student reps provides information about the vital role that student reps play, where they fit in the structure, reasons why you might wish to be a rep along with details of Student Rep Training. This year our Student Reps will be asked to sign up to one of nine training sessions which will be available online. They also intend to run a scheme to recognise the work that reps do and to encourage effective engagement in the role. If you do become elected as a student rep you can sign up for training at the Student Rep Portal.

More information is found below in the Student Rep Policies on the role of the Student Representative.

Who is my Student Representative?

Relevant University Policies

What meetings are Student Representatives invited to?

Your student representatives will be invited to represent their Discipline Area cohort at the following meetings

All reps attend their Discipline Area Staff/Student Liaison meeting
All reps attend the School level Staff/Student liaison meeting to be held on Tuesday 6 December at 2pm ane on Wednesday 2 May 2012 at 12 noon (venue to be confirmed).

Students normally participate in full in the business of committees and represent the perspective of their peers. Where an item of business is reserved, e.g. when it involves discussion of a named individual student members will be asked to withdraw from the meeting.

From the cohort of student reps within the School of Social Sciences a rep will be sought to represent all students within the School at

The School Postgraduate Taught Programmes Committee (PGT)
The School Postgraduate Research Programmes Committee (PGR)
The School Policy and Resources Committee (All PGs)

From the cohort of student reps within the Faculty of Humanities (of which SoSS is one School) a rep will be sought to represent all students in the Faculty at

The Faculty Teaching and Learning Committee (PGT)
The Faculty Research Programmes Committee (PGR)
Faculty of Humanities Policy Resources Committee Student Representatives (all PGs)
Various other forums.

Here you will find more detailed information on student representation in the Faculty of Humanities.

All reps are invited to attend the Faculty Staff/Student liaision Groups. You will receive an email from Faculty with the details.

If you are on a Masters or Postgraduate Diploma programme you will be invited to attend the Faculty’s Staff: Student Liaison Group (SSLG). The first meeting is scheduled to take place on 2 November 2011, at which the Dean of the Faculty will be in attendance. View details of the terms of reference for the group.
All Postgraduate Research Programme student reps are invited to a Faculty student forum - This takes place twice a year and you are invited to it to contribute your views on ongoing Faculty projects and initiatives. The first meeting will take place on Thursday 27th October from 2pm till 4pm in Jean MacFarlane building G306A (behind University Place). Professor Nalin Thakkar, the Associate Vice-President for Research Integrity, will deliver a talk on research integrity in postgraduate research for the first hour. The second hour will be dedicated to discussing PGR issues for Humanities students and setting up working groups and discussion topics for the future PGR rep meetings. Also this will be an opportunity for the students to meet their colleagues in other schools and elect their reps for the Faculty Postgraduate Research Committee and the Humanities Policies and Resources Committee.

When are the Discipline Area Staff/Student Liaison meetings scheduled to meet?

If you click on the link above in Who is my Student Rep you will find the schedule of meetings.

What is the purpose of the Discipline Area Staff/Student liaision meetings?

Your Programme area organises these meetings which normally meet twice a year. These meetings give student representatives an opportunity to collate and give voice to student views on any matter relating to the organization and delivery of the programme. It provides students with an opportunity to shape and develop the programme and to act as a channel of communication between the Discipline area and the student body. It is at these meetings that student represenatives can raise any issue relating to their time at Manchester as we will escalate issues to the appropriate level within the University.

What is the purpose of the School Level Staff/Student Liaison meetings and when do they take place.

All Postgraduate Student Reps are invited by email to attend meetings of the School Staff/Student liaison meetings. The purpose of these meetings are to provide student reps with an opportunity to meet with each other and with the School PG Director Professor Martyn Andrews (School Director of Postgraduate Studies), Paul Smith (Student Support Officer) and Bernadette O'Connor (PG Manager). This forum gives everyone an opportunity to gather feedback and take action on common issues which affect students across the School. Your Student Rep will raise issues on behalf of the students they represent either at the Subject Area meeting and/or at the School level meetings.

What is the role of the Student Rep on the School Policy Planning and Resources Committee

The Committee receives periodic reports from the Head of School (HoS) and various Directors on developments at University, Faculty and School level. It scrutinises and approves new School Policies and advises the HoS and Directors on issues of the day. It also receives reports from the School Accountant on financial matters. The student rep's role is largely observational role but with input invited.