► Issues

What kind of issues might I have to deal with?

Academic staff value the input and opinions of students, as this helps them to develop and enhance the courses they teach. It’s important to use the Student Academic Representative system as a way of making positive and creative suggestions as to how things might be improved and also as an opportunity to report back to staff on what students really like and value about the course they’re studying.

The kinds of issues which might prevent students from having the best possible experience might include:

• The structure of a course and the teaching methods used
• Contact time and lecture times
• Assessment methods and weighting allocations
• Lecture rooms and changes to room arrangements
• Course deadlines, changes to deadlines and the amount of notice given
• Facilities and resources eg computers, books, library opening times
• Workload
• Course handbooks, especially their accuracy and value
• Hidden course costs
• Feedback and communications, including Blackboard, SOLE etc
• Turnaround of marked work.