A big part of supporting the sector is the work we do at national meetings, including committees of Scotland's sector agencies. This support takes three forms.
Our work on committees
Firstly, we attend a number of sector committees ourselves, to put forward our perspective as sparqs where this is useful. We sit on a wide range of committees, including several tertiary sector committees while the sector implements the new tertiary quality framework. Several key QAA Scotland committees include the STEP Steering Group and related sub-groups, the committee on Quality Arrangements for Scottish Higher Education (QASHE), the Teaching Quality Forum (TQF) and the Scottish HE Enhancement Committee (SHEEC). Committees led by other sector partners include SFC's Tertiary Quality Steering Group; CDN's Quality Development Network; the Anti-Racist Education Network (run jointly by QAA Scotland, Advance HE and CDN); and several SQA committees - plus a range of other specific committees and working groups. We also sit on Scottish Government committees as and when required, e.g. the Student Mental Health and Well-Being Working Group from 2019-24.
Supporting Student Engagement & TQSEG
Secondly, as part of our mission to support student engagement in key decisions, we provide support to national student representatives who also sit on these committees. This support is provided jointly by both NUS Scotland and sparqs, providing guidance and advice, as appropriate, to those attending committees.
Since Autumn 2023 this support has been provided via our Tertiary Quality Student Expert Group (TQSEG) as the sector worked towards developing the single tertiary approach to quality for colleges and universities. The rationale in setting up this group was to provide a joined-up approach to student voice within the move to Scotland’s Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF), enabling students to discuss and influence the developing approach. Read more about the Student Expert Group on our TQSEG webpage, including the meeting dates for the current academic year.
sparqs also provides practical central support in terms of comms, appointments and papers, to try to help maximise preparation and engagement. We act as a point of contact for all sector committees attended by sparqs, NUS Scotland and student reps from colleges and universities. Every Monday we send out a summary to all those involved (including staff who support the student reps) detailing the meetings coming up the next again week, which serves as a reminder and sense-check of what is coming up.
National Education Officers' Network
Thirdly, we periodically engage student officers in discussions around issues arising from national meetings, via our National Education Officers' Network (NEON) meetings. The process aims to help officers and their students' associations gain a fuller understanding of national policy developments, and enable them to contribute to national discussions as appropriate, using that knowledge to help shape the learning experience.
The network also provides an opportunity for officers to share best practice, and allows for cross-institutional working on initiatives and projects. It historically met three times each academic year, but as a result of the pandemic it now meets monthly to provide additional network opportunities.
For examples of the sorts of issues we engage with at the sector level, see our Quality Arrangements page.
For more information, please contact Eve Lewis.
