How Your Programme is Managed
A range of measures have been put in place to ensure that your voice is heard, and so that you can provide feedback about your programme and actively participate in its development. These include, but are by no means limited to, Student-Staff Consultative Committees (as below); module evaluation feedback procedures and national and internal surveys. More information regarding the surveys conducted at QMU may be found on our Feedback website. We always welcome suggestions about ways to develop communication and feedback channels between staff and students.
If you have any queries about a particular module, please discuss these with the Module Coordinator concerned in the first instance. If you have queries relating to the programme you should speak to your Programme Leader.
- Personal Academic Tutor
- Committee Structure
- Boards of Examiners
If you need general advice about University procedures, you should contact your Personal Academic Tutor (PAT). You can find out who your PAT is on the QMU Portal. Your PAT is there to advise you throughout your time at University.
If you experience difficulties of a personal or practical/financial nature, you can either discuss these with your PAT, who will be able to refer you to the appropriate support service, or you can seek help directly from support services yourself (further information on these services is detailed in SECTION 5 of this Handbook, or for further information on what your PAT can do for you please see the student PAT leaflet under the letter P at this link.
You can also contact the Academic Administration if you have queries relating to your programme.
QMU committees provide a governance structure that gives students and staff the opportunity to meet and talk through ideas, and possible areas of concern or development. These discussions lead to enhancements to the student experience. Full details of committees are available from our Quality website. Some of the committees operate on an institutional level (Senate, the Student Experience Committee and Research Strategy Committee, for example), whilst others operate on a programme or School level. Students are actively engaged in almost all committees (see below for an exception to this)
Institution-level committees develop key strategies and reference points. Importantly these include the Student Experience Strategy, which has recently been refreshed in partnership with students to identify priority areas that we will work on to continue to enhance the student experience. All students are welcome to participate in projects that contribute to the implementation of the Strategy. If this would be of interest, please contact the Secretary to the Student Experience Committee. The Student Experience Strategy infographic (provided below) summarises the key Strategy content.
It is important that you know the remits of key committees, in particular the Student-Staff Consultative and Programme Committees. You will also need to know who your Class Reps are and how to get in touch with them.
Details are given below of some of the committees responsible for managing the operation of academic programmes and making decisions about students' academic performance:
- Student-Staff Consultative Committee*
- Programme Committee*
- The School Academic Board*
- Boards of Examiners
As noted above, QMU is committed to responding to the needs of its students and those committees marked with a * above include student representatives. Boards of Examiners do not include student representatives because of the confidential nature of the discussions.
Student-Staff Consultative Committee
The number and format of the Student-Staff Consultative Committee (SSCC) varies a little between the Schools, however they all share the same purpose: to ensure an adequate and effective opportunity for discussion between students and staff, in a context that allows wide student participation.
The function of the SSCC is to provide a forum for constructive discussion of the programmes in general terms, of the demands of the programmes, and of possible developments. Membership of the committee is drawn from teaching staff across the School, and student representatives - there should be more students than staff. The student membership should cover the main subject areas and activities of the programme. It is appropriate for a student to convene the committee and take minutes. Minutes from the SSCC are then presented to the Programme Committee for discussion/review and action.
Programme Committee
The Programme Committee exercises the overall academic and operational responsibility for the programme, and its development within defined policies, procedures and regulations. Minutes from this Committee are presented to the relevant School Academic Board.
School Academic Board
The purpose of the School Academic Board is to provide a forum at School level for the discussion, review and promotion of School specific objectives and strategies; the receipt, discussion and implementation of University wide strategies, policies, and procedures; and discussion and approval of School specific business, which includes programme and module changes.
Boards of Examiners are responsible for making decisions about students' performance, including decisions about progression and award.
The Board of Examiners is responsible to the University Senate, via the School, for reaching decisions about students’ performance. The Board reviews each student’s entire performance across all the modules, and makes decisions relating to module and component reassessment, the progression of students into their next level of study and the classification of their award. The Board, in reaching decisions, is guided by the University’s academic regulations and any programme specific regulations approved at the time of validation and as laid out in the Definitive Programme Document.
Normally, there are at least two meetings of the Main Board of Examiners each year; one at the end of Semester 2 and the other after the Reassessment Board of Examiner which looks at the reassessment of modules and student progression.
General Assessment Regulations are made available on the QMU website. Any programme specific regulations (regulations that are additional to, or different from, the standard published Assessment Regulations) will be included in the Definitive Programme Document/Student Handbook for your programme.
