End of Term Report.
Hi everyone.
So it’s the end of the first term of the new academic year, and many of the new students will now be fully settled into Ravensbourne, and hopefully you’re all enjoying yourselves.
It’s been a busy term for us on the Student Union and firstly i’d just like to thank all the students for the support we’ve received from you all, whether it’s simply coming to our events, volunteering for us, providing valuable feedback at liaison committee meetings, parliaments and various other meetings. We’re here to serve you and we cannot do it without the strong support of the students, so we cannot thank you enough for making our job as rewarding as it is.
Throughout this report, i’ve highlighted and bolded some of the news that i think will be of the most interest to all students at Ravensbourne, so if you dont want to read through it all, just look out for the highlighted paragraphs.
Student Liaison committees
Earlier this term we had our first Student Liaison committees, they were spread out over a week and each one was focussed on either Design, Production, Postgrad, Further Education & Content. I’m going to give a brief run down of what was covered in the committees, so you have some idea of what issues Ravensbourne have been made aware of.
Post Graduate
An issue many part time Masters students are currently facing is the fact that many of them are juggling their time between their part time studies and a full time occupation. This leads them to miss bonding & teamwork exercises, and causes trouble focusing on group projects. This was noted and Janthia Taylor herself, the Deputy Director of Ravensbourne, suggested that Ravensbourne could be more facilitating to its MA students.
Students on the Masters Design course feel that as the course is new, it’s in a ‘test’ phase and it isn’t satisfying given the amount they’re paying.
John O’Boyle explained that there is no ‘Testing phase’ and every course is in a constant state of ‘Beta’ as there’s always going to be improvements. But course perception is that it’s getting better, so it’s something to review in the new term.
There was a lot of chaos during induction week, as i’m sure many of you experienced when trying to enroll. There was much confusion, and many people were unsure of what they needed to do.
To combat this the RSU have put forward what we’ll hire mentors before the end of next year that will be there to explain to students what to expect from their induction, what needs to be done, and generally help with any queries they may face.
We will also try and ensure there are activities led by the Student Union on the 4th floor during enrollment week for students while they’re waiting. Obviously this may be problematic as by this time it will be a different Student Union, run by a completely different team.
They expressed that Masters students would enjoy sessions & projects that cross courses so there’s more collaboration between the M.A students and the M.Des students, so they can gain better understandings of the fields they’ll be working with in industry.
There have been issues with getting to know Pathway leaders, as the staff are not always available. It was suggested that Pathway leaders and tutors do induction videos for their students so everyone gets to ‘meet’ them.
Postgrads feel they need full day intensive workshops that go into the workings of specific softwares & Programmes.
It was explained that Postgrad is not a software training course, so it is not its priority to do these workshops, but if there’s enough demand it will be made possible, but the students need to commit as an issue is ensuring a reasonable turnout.
Ravensbourne are currently trialing lynda.com, the online training resource, and Janthia Taylor has promised they’ll get the funding for it to be used widespread throughout the university.
There was the issue with acoustics raised again, and as usual Ravensbourne are looking into different acoustic treatments & Solutions.
Design.
The issue of this years NSS results was brought up by Senior Management, and they explained that they were putting together action plans for every single course on how to address issues, and they acknowledges that there’s institution-wide issues they need to iron out. They expressed that students need to Liaise with Subject Leaders more. This is something i will push for as well, as one of my main objectives this year is to increase student/staff liaising.
It was suggested that Governors attend Student Parliaments, and we invited them to the most recent parliament but unfortunately it conflicted with schedules. Not put off in the least, Bryony then organized a meeting between students & governors that went down incredibly well and covered a lot of ground, and a copy of the transcribed notes are available from your Student Rep. They have been sent to Governor Tamara Howe, and a 3 year action plan for Ravensbourne will be written up to be presented in march.
It was brought up that Students feel that Ravensbournes profit is being put before their education, but it was explained that Ravensbourne is a not for profit, state funded institution that is regulated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and they would take an interest if Ravensbourne began making a profit. There’s a certain amount of surplus that needs to be generated each year, which goes right back into your education. We must remember we’re all struggling with the Budget Cuts, and that includes institutions such as Ravensbourne.
Lighting was also an issue, and it’s an issue that’s being steadily remedied. Blinds are being rolled out throughout tine building in areas where lighting is an issue.
Ravensbourne are also looking into how different areas can be used differently so noise from surrounding courses doesn’t clash.
Again, much like the Post Grad SLC, the issues with Enrollment was brought up. It was explained that most of the trouble was due to moving enrollment as close to the term as possible, probably an after effect of the Olympics meaning the peninsula was otherwise occupied. The possibility of online enrollments being available for second and third years was brought up, but there’s no certainty as of yet.
It was brought up that the IT staff leave too early, as many students stay late to complete work and this means they’re using the printers. The printers do tend to go have problems as soon as IT leave, so perhaps it would be better if they could do a quick check of the main printers on level 5 before they leave, or even stay later. This is something we will have to review in the new term.
Extended opening hours was brought up, and it was explained that there are a number of safety issues that prevent us from being open overnight, but they’re looking into what can be done for the times in which students have assessments and deadlines and need to be in the building overnight the most. We as an SU have proposed that we could have a Student Union Rep oversee and supervise, as staffing is a major issue for overnights.
Further Education
There was, to no surprise, confusion in regard to the importance and necessity of Learning Journals. It was explained that the learning journals, contextual studies, and the visual work all contribute to the grade. It i not any individual project, and learning journals are evidence towards the assessment. It’s important for the tutor to be able to accurately gauge your progress and development, and learning journals assist that massively.
Again Moodle was brought up, and it was explained that there have been drop-in sessions for teaching moodle in the past, and over a period of 5 days, only 6/7 students actually attended. Thats not 6/7 a day, that is over the entire period. While Moodle is an issue that Ravensbourne need to work on themselves, in regards to updating and maintaining quality assurance, it’s a 2 way street and we as students should be accepting the assistance they offer, especially when we’re so vocal about the issues we face.
A few students complained that the computers on level 7 are not up to date, this is not the case and each one runs on XP. The space is due a refresh and Ravensbourne will be working on it over the coming months.
Production
It was brought up that the studio is under-equipped in regards to set pieces, that there’s no storage for storing previously used set pieces, and that there is no furniture that’s actually authorized for use, therefore limiting creativity and the things you can do in the studio. Ravensbourne will be looking into appropriate furniture that can be authorized for use in the Studio, and furniture can be stored by the green room.
Acoustics in the building were brought up again, more specifically the availability of Acoustic Screens, and It was explained that taller acoustic screens that cannot be moved from floor to floor, and will be less mobile are being brought in.
Software training was brought up, and apparently Students have been approaching the IT desk for training. This isn’t what IT are here for, they maintain, replace & Fix equipment and are not certified to give software training. As i mentioned before, they’re working on getting students access too lynda.com, which is a software training website that will be accessible from within Ravensbourne.
Students have asked for more technical tutors, as they feel there aren’t enough staff who’re in line with the technical side of what they’re learning. It was suggested that Ravensbourne could perhaps look into employing alumni for training such as this.
And lastly, CLR! As we all know, it’s a massive inconvenience that we cannot book equipment from the CLR from outside the university, but that’s all set to change. The previous system was written by an ex student and for some reason it could not be altered, but we have a new system being introduced that will be linked with the libraries system, it WILL be accessible from outside Ravensbourne and it will be implemented by christmas!
Student Parliaments
More recently we also held our first Student Parliament of the year, in which all the student reps, and other students who wanted to, could come and listen to reports from the students union and higher management. Students can discuss issues that they feel are affecting their experience at Ravensbourne, and they can mandate the Student Union to act for whatever reasons.
We opened with a talk from John O’Boyle regarding the change of Validator. It was announced that Ravensbourne are currently negotiating with the University of the Arts, London. If this goes through, the process will be completed by the end of next term. Level 1 & 2 will be asked to change and 80% must agree for the change to go ahead.
Ethan Chapman-Ames then followed with a report on the Student Charter. A script has been written, and it will be given to students from all disciplines to approach from different angles. Hopefully, they’ll be ready by the next Student Parliament.
Janthia Taylor then lead on with a report on Ravensbournes Technology & Learning. She explained that they’re currently designing a new master-plan on how learning is delivered at Ravensbourne. In the New Year they would like to arrange a panel of students to discuss a range of themes and help shape how the ideas are taken forward. Subjects tackled will include how to incorporate more technology into the education of students at Ravensbourne, feedback on Dissertation assistance apps, and an app for new students that will rely on QR Codes around the university.
There have also been issues in regards to the control over the render farm, and a number of Cloud Rendering companies have approached IT to discuss it further.
We then moved onto points of discussion with management, in which we discussed the response to the penrose festival. The quality of the products on display were commended and it was expressed that some would like the opportunity to have more of these events at Ravensbourne. Robin Baker suggested the possibility of a ‘pop up penrose’ in which we can have mini-markets occasionally set up in which students can display work as well as sell products they’ve made.
It was mentioned that if it returns as a compulsory unit, course deadlines will need to be taken into consideration.
Students also expressed that they would like more transparency in regards to Ravensbournes budgeting, especially given the fees students are paying now. This is something I personally will be working on in the coming term as it’s something I personally wanted to happen since I began running for my position on the student union.
We then had the Exec Reports from the Student Union. Kamal Shaddad, our Activities officer reported that he’s currently working on a new poster policy, working on getting more noticeboards around the university, and working on getting the Mininet used to benefit the students more.
Rumil Shah, our Ethics & Sustainability officer spoke about how successful ‘paperless freshers’ was, as we pledged to cut our use of paper over the year drastically.
Lily Pond, our VP for Welfare spoke about her work with nightlife, and her progress with the confidential surgeries, her work on world Mental Health Awareness day, Children in Need, and TFLs safe traveling at night.
We also had to apologies because there were a number of motions agree’d at the last Student Parliament in the last academic year that were not acted upon this year as they were motions that we had not been made aware of until it was too late. They’re now being remedied, and in the new year we will ensure that Student Reps will elect a Chair for each parliament from now on.
We got feedback from the Student Reps on our Advertising & Promotion as a Student Union, and it’s something we will be working on.
3rd year knitwear students expressed concern that they do not have enough tutors. I will follow this up with John O’Boyle in the new term.
Happy Holidays.
So as you can see, we’ve got our work cut out for us in the next term. We’re doing this for you guys, and we appreciate feedback whenever it comes. We’ll see you all in the new year, and we hope you enjoy your holidays.