22 Sep 2022

That's Quality! 2022 roundup

That’s Quality! is our annual induction event for new university and college student officers and those who support them. The events are designed to help new officers engage in quality processes at the institutional and national level.

To retain the benefits of both online and in-person delivery, in 2022 the event was split into three parts. The first part of That’s Quality! was a one-day, sector-specific online event for college and universities respectively (That’s Quality! Colleges in June and That’s Quality! Universities in July). This was followed by an online self-study module, providing officers with a more detailed overview of quality in Scotland. Finally, we held a joint residential event in August in Dundee, with delegates from across the tertiary sector.

The Twitter hashtag throughout all parts of the events was #sparqsTQ

The first event to kick off That’s Quality! 2022-23 was the online training day for college SAs staff and officers, That's Quality! Colleges, on Thursday 16th June. The training was the first opportunity for officers to get to know one another and find out more about sparqs, what quality means and why it is relevant to their role, and to meet the sector agencies, officers and SA staff they will work with throughout the academic year. The event was well attended, with a total of 25 participants.

Next up, we hosted university staff and officers for That’s Quality! Universities on Wednesday, 20th July, online. The event was attended by 28 participants, who enjoyed several sessions, including details on future quality frameworks and arrangements, opportunities to engage with sector-level projects and exploring the role of an education officer. Attendees acknowledged they liked the chance to interact with their peers, as well as sparqs staff, and that the online event provided lots of opportunity for discussion and interaction.

After both online events, all attendees were sent a link to the relevant That’s Quality! online module (one for colleges and one for universities) providing more in-depth information about the quality landscape in Scotland and remaining accessible to officers throughout the year as a useful reference.

On Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th August, participants from both TQU and TQC attended a joint residential event at the Apex City Quay Hotel in Dundee. We welcomed 59 delegates from across 31 colleges, universities and tertiary institutions.

During the first day, we had sessions on exploring the Student Learning Experience; the importance of understanding and using data; and partnership in action. In the evening, delegates met for dinner and some much-missed social and networking activity.

The second day of the residential event was given over to a simulation activity. Each tutor group became the new students’ association of our fictional tertiary institution, Central Scotland University College! Throughout the day, each group took parts in two ‘visits’ – one with Fiona Burns from the Scottish Funding Council and one with Margaret Rose Livingstone from Education Scotland and Caroline Turnbull from QAA Scotland. Alongside these scheduled visits, several ‘disruptions’ took place throughout the day, including drop-ins from Tina Harrison, The University of Edinburgh, and Ellie Gomersall, NUS Scotland.

94% of respondents to our end-of-event survey would recommend sparqs events to others. 92% of respondents said that their facilitators were ‘very good’ or ‘outstanding’. 100% of respondents said the residential event was ‘good’, ‘very good’ or ‘outstanding’.