This award is for a longer-standing project or initiative that has developed partnership in the quality of the learning experience over a longer period of time, including back to the foundation of sparqs
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Winner:
UWS Student Partnership Forum ~ University of the West of Scotland / UWS Student Union
This submission is about UWS’s Student Partnership Forum, originally a liaison group for staff and students which has involved into a vital mechanism to build partnership between staff and student reps. It is co-led by the students’ union president and the university pro-vice chancellor for learning, teaching and students, and with a membership that brings together different parts of the university.
In recent years, the SPF has made significant impacts on assessment policy, the international student experience, and improvements to digital learning. Praised by a recent QAA report, the authors of the nomination state that:
“the reimagined SPF stands out by recognising the influence of power dynamics on discussions.”
Judges described the SPF as “a really impactful group” that has “led to change and enhancement within and across the institution” with “strong partnership working” at its core.
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Runner-up:
UHI / HISA Student Partnership Agreement ~ Highlands and Islands Students’ Association
The HISA / UHI Student Partnership Agreement was the first such agreement to be introduced in Scotland. Since that time there has been an annual agreement setting out both the regular methods of partnership working, as well as three themes chosen each year to be the focus of joint working groups formed of students and university staff. Over the years this has evolved as FE students of UHI's partner colleges joined the university student body, while the students’ association was replaced by a new association covering all our colleges and the entire student body.
The agreement has had many outcomes over the years, directly impacting students in their everyday student experience, including during the COVID pandemic, with UHI and HISA working quickly together to enhance student community and connectivity in a very different learning environment. Students continue to be at the heart of shaping the targets of the agreement. This year sees the introduction of local ‘partnership agreements’ that set out how students can directly, as individuals, work with in partnership with their college as part of their learning experience.
As the agreement continues to evolve, it remains a core aspect of the association and university’s student engagement.
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Shortlisted:
City of Glasgow College Class Rep System ~ City of Glasgow College, CitySA
This college-wide Class Rep System began at the point of college merger and is still one of the core partnership areas between the Students’ Association and college Student Engagement Team. Each area of its journey has been enhanced over the years with further partnerships established to enhance the system’s value. Enhancements to the class rep recruitment, training and comms processes resulted in a jump from 30% to 90% of classes having reps in place with 42% completing training last year, with wider resources available to all reps on a Class Rep Hub.
In 2018 the team worked with the College’s Performance team to embed Class Rep Feedback into formal review processes, where reps are invited to meet course heads at the end of each block. Wider Class Rep meetings are themed around various elements of the student experience with responsible departments co-facilitating sessions. As the system has grown in strength so has the level of change to policies and procedures as a result and rep input into college-wide decisions is now the expected standard!
