Providing the essential link between Course Reps and senior members of staff, Institute Representatives perform a vital role in ensuring that students' ideas and concerns are voiced at Institute level.
English Literature student, Kevin Brooke, provides us with some of his 'Top Tips' that he has learned during his time as Institute Representative for Humanities:
Top Tips from an Institute Rep
Words by Kevin Brooke, Institute Representative for Humanities
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It was useful to gain university e-mail addresses for the Course Representatives at the start. Once I'd gathered them into a group, I could communicate on a range of topics such as giving notice of upcoming meetings and providing feedback on issues within the Institute.
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The Students' Union are a great source of knowledge and don't think you have to do everything on your own. Their assistance in dealing with a rooming issue along with guidance in dealing with the split lecture / seminar issue, for example, has been invaluable.
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You are the eyes and ears for your Institute and the Students' Union will be grateful for your feedback, so try and fill out your online Journals as much as you can.
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Try to work closely with your fellow Institute Reps and Course Reps. Bouncing ideas between each other can make even the most difficult issue become easier to deal with.
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Requests for you to attend meetings on multiple themes will be difficult to fit in with studies and part-time work. Even so, try to attend as many as you can to gain a full understanding of what is going on and to enable you to feedback to students.
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Another benefit of attending meetings is that you get to know the Course Leaders. This is important as these are the people you will need to contact about student concerns.
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When students raise an issue about a module, write down as many details as you can - module name, module number etc. This will help when you send the information to the Course Leaders.
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Always go back to students when an issue has been raised, even if it is to say "I'm waiting for feedback and will update you as soon as I can." Not only is it good practice, it will help to build a good working relationship with the Course Reps.
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Try and be as diplomatic as possible. It's easy to take things personally, but the Institute Rep position is one of mediation and you should never forget that your main role is to represent students, not yourself.
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In terms of representation, try and gain feedback from all the Course Reps within your Institute. As an English Literature student, it was far easier at times to collate feedback from within my subject area. However, it's important to assist as many students on as many different topics as you can.
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Most of all, be organised, keep a diary and wherever possible, do your best.
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To find out more about the role of Institute Reps, please visit the following webpage.
If you are an Institute Rep or Course Rep and would like to write an article for the Rep News webpage, please email j.stilgoe@worc.ac.uk