Thursday 12-07-2018 - 11:40

This is your students’ union manifesto for educational change taken from what you have told us you want from your departments, which we give to Lancaster University.

 

We consult students from all levels of study across all faculties throughout the year. Academic reps from all of the faculties come together in regular forums and loads of the info here comes from them speaking on behalf of the students they represent.

 

We have made separate faculty reports that the elected faculty reps will take to their faculty staff. We usually meet with FST and FHM reps together so they have a joint report, but next year we will separate these out. We also spoke to research students from across the faculties, and they have a separate report all to themselves.

 

Key findings in the report include:

• Concerns about overcrowding and room allocations, lack of diversity in the curriculum and bunched assessments
• FASS students have said they would like to see for communal study or ‘hub’ spaces around department and faculty spaces
• LUMS students have said they would like to see a more consistent approach in Moodle
• FST and FHM have said they would like the faculties to agree a standard referencing style
• Postgrad research students have said the university to provide a PGR newsletter to include careers information

 

The report also includes some of the great stuff that’s already been done:

 

• We asked the university to invest in students’ digital futures by committing to digital assignment submission and feedback, improving digital learning and improving the use of the virtual learning environment in course content. They have developed a ‘Digital Lancaster Strategy’ and are able to offer digital resources for assessment and feedback and PGR appraisals.

 

Some things that we are fighting for that haven't happened yet like:

 

• The Postgraduate Code of Practice. It needs to be clearer what rights and responsibility PGRs have. It’d also be great if PGR students knew what to expect from their supervisors and how to raise issues.

 

The report includes ten recommendations based on your feedback  to the university, one of which is:

• Ensure that Graduate teaching assistants are paid fairly for all the work they actually undertake, including preparation time, teaching or labs, and marking time.

 

These are just a few key points from the review and you can read the full thing here. 

 

Alternative Education Review 2018

 

We are super keen to hear from you about your educational experiences anytime. You can contact our Rep Admins at reps@lancaster.ac.uk to find out more about opportunities available.