HGIOC reports released
The first pilot year of HGIOC has been completed with college Evaluation Reports and Enhancement Plans (EREPs) for 2017 published and available on the Education Scotland website.
The reports are interesting and provide a wealth of information which will prove valuable and we recommend that student officers should:
- Thoroughly familiarise themselves with the content of their EREP and be specifically aware of items mentioned which should involve students, staff, and partners working together to improve and enhance the student experience.
- Discuss the self-evaluation process and content of their EREP at their Students’ Association exec and course rep meetings.
- Consider the self-evaluation process and content of the EREP when developing the Students’ Association’s strategic planning, Student Partnership Agreements and evaluative activity.
- Use them in preparation for upcoming meetings with the college, including formal boards and meetings where it is likely they will be discussed.
- Engage in discussions with key college staff about how the Students’ Association can help take forward key pieces of work and how they can be engaged in this year’s processes.
We would also encourage officers to familiarise themselves with other institutions’ EREPs to gather insight across the sector and for comparison and development opportunities.
CDN “How Good is Your Quality?” event
On Friday 26th January 2018, we delivered a session on how student engagement could be further embedded into the new arrangements at the CDN “How Good is Your Quality?” conference. The event was well attended, with reflections on the first year from the Scottish Funding Council, Education Scotland and colleges. The day stimulated lots of beneficial conversation and we were particularly pleased to have 8 student officers attend and share their input, which was hugely valuable.
Inverness College UHI and sparqs project on How good is our college?
sparqs' project with Inverness College UHI and HISA to develop a practice guide for the college sector on how to engage students as partners in How good is our college? began with an introductory workshop on Monday 19th February 2018.
This workshop was a chance for around 30 staff and students from across the college to shape the direction of the project by identifying good practice and priorities for development in both the tools of student engagement used in the college and the topics in which students are engaged. The day was facilitated by sparqs with valuable input from Education Scotland.
We look forward to working on this project with the team.
Next steps
sparqs is inputting into the developments of the arrangements through our membership of the SFC’s College Quality Arrangements Steering Group (CQASG) and its short-life working group. The next CQASG meeting is on 23rd April 2018. We will be working to address issues that have been identified related to student engagement, including developing Students’ Association engagement with the evaluative processes and enhancement planning, and the role of the Student Team Member.
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If you have any general queries, please contact Steph Kirkham, Development Consultant, steph.kirkham@sparqs.ac.uk
For any queries about our Inverness project, please contact Simon Varwell, Development Consultant, simon.varwell@sparqs.ac.uk
