Making HGIOC work for you and your students - sparqs event on 5th November 2018 is open! 05 Oct 2018
We are pleased to announce that bookings are now open for our 'How good is our college?' (HGIOC) event - Making HGIOC work for you and your students, taking place on Monday 5th November 2018 at CDN in Stirling. Following our That’s Quality! training with college officers… Read More
Open for registration – Academic Rep Co-ordinators’ network meeting on Tuesday 27th November 2018 05 Oct 2018
The first of 2018-19’s Academic Representation Co-ordinators' (ARC) Network meetings is now open for registrations! The Academic Representation Co-ordinators’ network is sparqs’ professional forum for staff in roles relating to the support of academic representation and student engagement in quality. Under the banner… Read More
sparqs Conference 2019 - our call for proposals has been extended for a further week until Friday 12th October! 05 Oct 2018
We are pleased to announce that the call for proposals for our 2019 conference has been extended for a further week, and the deadline for submissions is now Friday 12th October 2018! #sparqs19 is taking place on Thursday 28th March 2019 at Surgeons' Hall in… Read More
Nominations are still open for the 2019 sparqs Student Engagement Awards! 05 Oct 2018
A reminder that nominations are still open for the third sparqs Student Engagement Awards! The deadline for submissions is Friday 23rd November 2018. . The Awards will take place at the end of our conference on Thursday 28th March 2019 in Edinburgh. We are inviting students’ associations and… Read More
'Talking Student Engagement' Interview with Stewart Kirkland 05 Oct 2018
In this interview, we talk to Stewart Kirkland, one of sparqs’ new Associate Trainers for 2018-19. After a 13-year career in the Royal Air Force he went on to hold a variety of positions with the police in Scotland. “Retiring”… Read More
Nominations are open for the 2019 sparqs Student Engagement Awards! 07 Sep 2018
We are delighted to announce that nominations are now open for the third sparqs Student Engagement Awards! . The Awards will take place at the end of our conference on Thursday 28th March 2019 in Edinburgh. We are inviting students’ associations and institutions across Scotland to… Read More
That's Quality! 2018 events roundup 07 Sep 2018
Over the summer we held our annual induction events for college and university student officers. The focus of both events was how to use quality to enhance students’ learning and teaching experience. It was fantastic to meet so many enthusiastic… Read More
Making HGIOC work for you and your students. - Monday 5th November 2018 07 Sep 2018
Following our That’s Quality! training with college officers in August, we will be running an event on Monday 5th November 2018 at Airthrey Castle in Stirling. The event is designed to help officers consolidate their knowledge and use the quality… Read More
How good is our college? update 07 Sep 2018
With Evaluative Reports and Enhancement Plans (EREPs) for 2017-18 due in October, we want to update you on HGIOC and our work with students this year. Student engagement in the college quality arrangements is a re-emphasised priority, with the supplementary guidance… Read More
Training for Apprentice Reps 07 Sep 2018
As the new academic year gets underway, we thought it would be a good time to remind everyone about the training package for apprentices that sparqs offers. We have two different sessions available, the first being an introductory session designed… Read More
'Talking Student Engagement' Interview with William Hasty 07 Sep 2018
In this interview, we talk to William Hasty, Quality and Enhancement Specialist with QAA Scotland. He started the role in March 2018, prior to which he was Learning Enhancement Officer at the Open University in Scotland. Previously he worked with… Read More
sparqs Conference 2019 - call for proposals is now open! 02 Aug 2018
We are pleased to announce that the call for proposals is now open for #sparqs19, our conference taking place on Thursday 28th March 2019 at Surgeons' Hall in Edinburgh. The theme for the conference is ‘Student Engagement for All’, with proposals invited for presentations, workshops… Read More
sparqs 2018-19 Course Rep Training is open for bookings! 02 Aug 2018
Bookings are now open for sparqs Course Rep Training during 2018-19 ....for delivery from week beginning Monday 17th September 2018 onwards. All the information you need is on our main CRT webpage. Please read the booking guide before arranging your sessions and requesting dates. We have a range of Course Rep Training… Read More
Welcome to our 2018-19 Associate Trainers... and other team news! 02 Aug 2018
We are delighted to announce the appointment of an excellent team of student Associate Trainers for the coming academic year. The new team, including four returners from previous years, will begin delivering Course Rep Training from mid-September 2018 onwards (for which bookings are… Read More
Launch of sparqs' new ELIR Cycle 4 Practice Guide 02 Aug 2018
sparqs is delighted to announce the publication of our ELIR Cycle 4 Practice Guide, designed to support students' association representatives and staff to have meaningful student engagement throughout the ELIR (Enhancement-led Institutional Review) process. The practice guide, launched at our That's Quality! Universities event… Read More
Launch of sparqs’ online distance learning guidance 02 Aug 2018
In June 2018 sparqs launched its new resource on Engaging Students in Online Distance Learning (ODL). It is a culmination of around two years’ work with a number of Scottish universities interested in ODL engagement, plus one institution in Dublin… Read More
Invitation for students to feed into QAA’s defining degree outcomes events in August 02 Aug 2018
An opportunity for students to attend and contribute to a QAA event around their work on defining degree outcomes has arisen and we would encourage interested student officers to sign up! QAA are running two events in August and are keen… Read More
'Talking Student Engagement' Interview with Gemma Jones 02 Aug 2018
In this interview, we talk to Gemma Jones, Deputy President of NUS Scotland for 2018-19, whose job involves leading on quality and education within the NUS Scotland executive. She has just completed a sabbatical year as President of the SRUC… Read More
'Talking Student Engagement' Interview with Oisin Hassan 02 Aug 2018
In this interview, we talk to Oisín Hassan, Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the Union of Students in Ireland (USI). Previously he was Vice-President (Education) at Queen’s University Belfast Student’ Union. He was recently re-elected to serve a second year… Read More
Save the date! The sparqs Conference is on 28th March 2019 08 Jun 2018
. We are delighted to announce that sparqs will be holding its biennial conference on Thursday 28th March 2019, at Surgeons’ Hall in Edinburgh. . Conference Theme The theme for the conference is ‘Student Engagement for All’. It will provide an opportunity to focus… Read More
