A key part of our work includes fostering effective links and communication channels with our members, practitioners and stakeholders, to ensure they are able to inform and influence our work. This, of course, includes ensuring a strong student voice remains central to our work.
As noted on our Governance webpage, our Trustee Board and Members' Steering Group provide sparqs' direction and governance, with input from the sparqs Tertiary Advisory Group (STAG), which acts as a “critical friend” to sparqs. Alongside this, we support both staff and officer networks, SESN and NEON respectively, as well as our Tertiary Quality Student Expert Group (TQSEG) which facilitates a joined-up approach to the student voice during the development and implementation of Scotland's Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF).
While our governance structures involve a more formal appointment process, there are various other opportunities to get involved in our other groups and networks, as outlined below. As well as providing key input and direction to our work, they aim to keep members informed about sector developments and issues, enable networking and facilitate contribution to national-level opportunities.
Terms of office
Trustees are appointed for an initial term of four years and are eligible for re-appointment for a second and final term not exceeding four years.
There is no maximum term of office for STAG, SESN, NEON and TQSEG - members are welcome to sit on these groups for as long as they are in a relevant role. Indeed, we have many long-standing members on STAG and SESN, which brings valuable, historical sector knowledge to the groups.
sparqs Tertiary Advisory Group (STAG)
In previous years our college and university advisory groups met together as a Joint Advisory Group (JAG). As of May 2025, we have made this joint arrangement permanent, rebranding under the new tertiary title of sparqs Tertiary Advisory Group (STAG). The group provides a valuable tertiary networking space, with a mix of meetings in person and online, around four times a year. It includes members from relevant sector agencies, plus a wide range of invited student officers, institution staff and students' association staff, based on their expertise and experiences.
From time to time we invite new members to STAG to fill gaps in expertise and we annually recruit student members from among newly-elected officers. See our STAG members’ guide, aimed at those who have joined or who have received an invitation to join. While membership is usually by invitation, if you are particularly interested in the group, please feel free to get in touch if you would like to check if your institution/SA is represented and/or if there are gaps in experience we are looking to fill.
Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN)
SESN is a professional network for staff in colleges, universities and students’ associations with roles relating to the co-ordination and development of student engagement in quality. Relevant staff are invited to join our SESN mailing list to receive sparqs comms and appointments for forthcoming meetings and allow them to keep in touch with other SESN members.
As lynchpins to student engagement in quality, student engagement staff require substantial knowledge, skills, experience and support. The SESN meetings aim to provide that through discussion around key sectoral developments, consultation on new initiatives within sparqs, and opportunities to share and reflect on personal and professional practice in supporting academic representation.
See our SESN webpage for further information, including meeting dates, and keep an eye on our website and news articles for updates! If you have any queries about the network, please contact us at admin@sparqs.ac.uk.
National Education Officers’ Network (NEON)
NEON is a network for student officers in universities and colleges who have an education-focused remit. Education officers are invited to join our NEON mailing list to receive sparqs comms and appointments for forthcoming meetings and allow them to easily contact other NEON members.
The network was set up to engage officers in discussions around key learning, teaching and quality related sector developments, providing an opportunity for officers to share best practice, and allow for cross-institutional working on initiatives and projects. After the success of a new student expert group, TQSEG (see below), we carried out a review of the purpose of NEON, also considering the latest changes in the sector. Consequently, since 2024-25 NEON meetings are focused on officer development, building on what they had already learnt during That's Quality! and ensuring that they were further equipped in engaging with the new review method.
See our NEON webpage for further information, including meeting dates, and keep an eye on our website and news articles for updates! If you have any queries about the network, contact us at admin@sparqs.ac.uk.
Tertiary Quality Student Expert Group (TQSEG)
TQSEG was established by sparqs at the beginning of 2023-24 to provide a joined-up approach to the student voice during the move to Scotland's Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF). The role of the group in providing a cohesive student voice as the TQEF develops, remains one of its key purposes now that the TQEF has been implemented across Scotland. TQSEG also operates as a key space for the sector to engage with students on projects and areas of policy related to learning, teaching and quality.
At the beginning of each academic year, we put out a call for students interested in quality to join TQSEG. Students interested in getting involved can contact Chase Greenfield.
Other opportunities
Many of our areas of work involve working in partnership with the sector, particularly when developing new pieces of work and resources. While this is often done through our Advisory Group and networks, there are often additional opportunities for engaging in short-term working groups, pilots, workshops or contributing views through consultations.
As and when they arise, these opportunities are advertised on our website, news articles and social media channels, as well as via targeted emails and via our NEON and SESN mailing lists.
As noted above, our more formal governance structures involve an appointment process. Periodically, we recruit new Trustees, which is well-advertised via our regular comms channels and on various external recruitment sites.
If you’re not already signed up to our news articles, you can sign up to our mailing list and you can find our social media channels on our Contact us webpage.
The contributions from across the sector to all of our groups and networks is hugely appreciated and we hope members continue to find them as valuable as we do.