Policy in the Spotlight: E-submission of Coursework and Improved Use of Blackboard

Currently, modules in some schools make significant use of Blackboard, uploading PowerPoint presentations, notes, organising blogs and so on. However, others use it far less. I will push to have more information and reading uploaded to Blackboard wherever possible. A large part of my policy on Blackboard is focused on the electronic submission of coursework, and from speaking to students on the campaign trail, many would support its implementation.

Various British universities, such as Southampton and Sheffield University use e-submission, as well as many universities overseas. While studying abroad at the University of Oregon last year, I used electronic-submission and it was an incredibly easy and straightforward way of handing-in work. UEA will soon be undergoing an upgrade to Blackboard, but the University has not committed to integrating e-submission as part of that upgrade. It is vital that we push for it to be included and, if elected, I will work hard to achieve this. It would not only benefit students who live on and near campus, but also those who commute, and international students, who may wish to go home before the end of the semester, and should be able to submit their work from wherever they are.

On the campaign trail, various students have raised questions about how the system would work. There are options that could be explored, such as whether e-submission might be optional, where those students who want a hard copy of their work could submit a paper-version, while others submit online. Some students have asked how e-submission would affect feedback. At this point, it is presumed that feedback would be provided electronically in the margins as currently happens with those tutors who look over electronic drafts of students’ work. I would be able to explore this further if elected, looking towards other universities for examples of best practice, and work with students and the University to reach an outcome suitable for both groups.

On the Campaign Trail: Day 5

After a three-hour Supreme Court seminar, the team and I were back out campaigning. I’ve been speaking to a lot of people in Zest and Blend, which tend to serve a fairly diverse section of the student body. It’s important to interact not only with the traditional, 18-21, Golden Triangle students, although I’ve been speaking to many of them too, but also to sections of the student population that have different needs and who may not be so involved with the Union. Now that the elections have started, my job is not only to talk to people about my policies, but to make sure they have received their personalised voting links and that they know the elections are happening. Some students have voted already, but I’ve been checking that they did so after 10am on Thursday, spreading the word about the voting error that happened yesterday in the Academic Officer election.

In Zest, I chatted with a group of Social Work students who only came to campus once a month when they are on placement. They complained about something that several other students have mentioned to me – that the library seems to only send emails once a book is late, and doesn’t send email reminders when it is due to be returned. I will look into this. They also suggested having short-stay parking spaces so they could come to the library in their limited time and not have to deal with the headache of parking during the day. Some Pharmacy students were particularly keen on earlier exam timetables, since they have so many exams and need to start planning. One of them was an international student and wanted to be able to book travel before prices became too high. These Pharmacy students, like some Nursing and Midwifery students I spoke to, said that the printing credit they are given does not transfer to the library – it only works in their academic building. This is something else that, if elected, I will investigate further, to see whether it would be possible to transfer the credit so those students can print anywhere on campus with their printing allowance. 

A group made up of students from Norwich Business School and the School of Political, Social and International Studies discussed their experiences of feedback. Those from PSI said they largely had good feedback, but sometimes it was of poor quality, while the NBS student wanted more detailed feedback. It’s good to hear that feedback is good in some schools, but there needs to be more consistency, so that students in every school of study get what they need to help them progress. A mature Geophysics student who lives in Hopton, about 30 miles away from UEA, would like to see more software available for students’ own computers, such as modelling software, a version of Matlab beyond the limited licence and that works on Windows 7. For commuting students, having such software available would mean they need not commute in for every piece of work that uses the programmes.

All candidates were called to an emergency meeting by the Deputy Returning Officer in the afternoon, who explained that 900 students had not received their voting tokens (the personalised voting links sent to the UEA email addresses), and as a result, voting will be extended until Wednesday 30^th March at 5pm. If you have any issues with voting, please email su.communications@uea.ac.uk or su.vote@uea.ac.uk.

If you have any thoughts or questions for me, please email me (academic[AT]kirstycallaghan[DOT]com) or write on my Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/KirstyforAcademic.

Policy in the Spotlight: Improved Library Facilities

The library underwent a refurbishment in 2010. While the new seating areas and layout are welcome, there are some major issues students have with the library, which need to be properly addressed if the library is to serve as an effective place for students to work.

Anyone who has worked in the library carrels during the winter knows how cold they can get, especially those which face Union House, where the windows don’t close properly. This isn’t good enough. Students are entitled to a comfortable working environment, no matter what time of year it is. I will push for a solution to the problem of draughts. Although I would aim for a replacement of the problematic windows in the long-term, since windows are expensive, there are simple short-term solutions that the library could implement, such as foam that seals window frames.

I will undertake a review of the new carrel assignment system, since my discussions with students seem to indicate that many are unhappy with the new system whereby you can reserve carrels ahead of time, but cannot lock them. This defeats a significant reason for having carrels – the ability to lock your belongings up and to not have to pack everything up when you need to leave briefly. Furthermore, when library-users need to ask others to leave the carrels they have booked, it is uncomfortable for those asking, and inconvenient for those being asked.

I wish to gauge student interest in extending library opening hours during the busiest times in the semester and the assessment period. If this proves to be a popular idea, I will work to extend the hours during which the main part of the library is open to students. My experiences of talking to students on the campaign also reveal a desire to have longer hours on the weekends. Currently, the library opens at 11am on Saturdays and Sundays, and several students have said that this is too late for them – if they have a large piece of coursework they are working on, the current hours mean they can’t even start for the day until approaching lunch. This is also an issue that I would explore the popularity of and based on the results, take appropriate action.

On the Campaign Trail: Day 4

Today, voting opened! After an initial problem that meant the Academic Officer voting had to be reset, voting began again at 10am. Any of those students who voted for Academic Officer before 10 will unfortunately have to re-do their vote. Laptops have been set up in the Hive so that students can vote there if they want, and ‘Union on Tour’ has begun, so some Student Officers will be going to a different academic building each day, in areas where often union involvement is lower, to raise awareness of the elections and provide laptops for voting. We’re hoping to raise turnout even more this year, so fingers crossed!

When I first came onto campus, I spent a bit of time at the UCU picket line, and BBC Look East came along to film for a while, to report on the strike. As a result, this evening, current Academic Officer Rachel and I (with my ‘Kirsty for Academic’ t-shirt) appeared on the evening news! (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00znwt9/Look_East_East_24_03_2011/ - at about 18:35, but I don’t think it will stay up for long on iPlayer)

Me and Rachel on the BBC Look East

You may be noticing a pattern here, but today was yet another beautiful day. Plenty of students were outside, in great moods and we were able to talk to many more. I chatted to a group of MED students, who expressed some of the same concerns as Medics I’d spoken to earlier this week, such as library opening times during July, when they still have work to complete. This is something that, if elected, I would definitely look into further and try to remedy. A group of mature students in Blend were particularly interested in the changes I would like to make to IT services and the implementation of e-submission, and I spoke to students from pharmacy, LIT, Art History who were all frustrated that they hadn’t yet received their exam timetables. Two American Art History students, who are based in the Sainsbury Centre, said they weren’t sure they would vote in the Union elections as they didn’t feel that connected to the Union and were hardly ever near Union House. I discussed with them what the Union does, how it supports, advises and represents students and how voting in the elections was a way of feeling more involved in the Union, of having a say in how it was run. After we had talked for several minutes and I discussed my policies with them, I think they were convinced to vote! When I went to the final blocks in the Village I didn’t reach last night, several students complained about printing issues and we discussed the ways in which my policies of improving printing services and e-submission would both help this issue.

Students enjoying the sun in the Square

As ever, if you would like to find out more about my policies or when I’m going to be about to chat to you on campus, please email me (academic[AT]kirstycallaghan[DOT]com) or write on my Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/KirstyforAcademic.

Policy in the Spotlight: Reading Lists and Exam Timetables

Students need access to early, clear, helpful information on their courses – earlier reading lists, exam timetables and exam feedback.

Currently, some schools provide their students with reading lists and syllabi well in advance of the start of the semester. This is great, but it needs to be done across all schools in all faculties. Students need to know which books their modules will require so that they can source the cheapest books, and make a start on their reading if they want to, so that the work doesn’t have to pile up later on in the term as it so often does. While many schools have an area on the website where past module syllabi are uploaded, some of the links are dead. Similarly, it is not uncommon to find links to past papers broken. If students are to get the most from their academic experience at university, the University needs to be doing all it can to make sure this information is available to students when they need it. I will push to get earlier reading lists/syllabi.

It is Week 10 (by the traditional UEA calendar) and the vast majority of students don’t have their exam timetables. We have been told that they will become available next week, just 5 weeks before the assessment period begins. This is simply not good enough. Not knowing when exams are is inconvenient for all students, but is especially inconvenient for those who have caring responsibilities and need to arrange childcare, students who need to work during the summer or head into post-graduation employment, international students who need to arrange flights back home. While it is no easy task scheduling exams across the University, we need our timetables sooner than 5 weeks before they begin. If elected, I will work with the University to get exam timetables out sooner, exploring the possibilities of a new system for organising exam times.

The Union has been campaigning for several years for exam feedback, with the ‘Hungry for Feedback’ campaign. After working on this issue for some time, the Union has begun to see some results – the University has agreed to pilot exam feedback in some courses within the Social Sciences Faculty. I would push to have this extended beyond SSF and across all possible faculties.

As always, if you have any questions about this policy or others, please email me (academic[AT]kirstycallaghan[DOT]com) or write on my Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/KirstyforAcademic.

On the Campaign Trail: Day 3

Today was Derby Day, so campus was buzzing with excitement, and the continued nice weather meant everyone was in a great mood! Doug and I took the opportunity to venture west of campus, to Edith Cavell, the Nursing and Midwifery (NAM) building. On the walk there, we spoke to various students who had come out to support the sports teams (although we had to keep checking if they were UEA or Essex students!) and reminded everyone that voting starts tomorrow. It’s really important to me that we involve as many students as possible in the Union. The Union of UEA Students has been making efforts for several years to involve students who are traditionally less involved, but more work can be done. Going to NAM gave me the opportunity to find out about issues that, as an AMS student, I wasn’t familiar with. I spoke to a group of students on the nursing ‘Return to Practice’ course, who are on a rapid 20 week course, and have not been told yet if and when they will be receiving bursaries. I chatted to mature student Sarah, who commutes to campus from 20 miles away and who was therefore very keen on my e-submission policy.

Derby Day football match in the bright sun

Two students who commute to UEA from Thetford had concerns about childcare. They said the daycare centre by the Edith Cavell building was too expensive for nursing students who already have to spend 37 hours a week on placement and can’t get an additional job. While this is an issue that may not directly fall under the Academic Officer’s remit, it is still important for me to understand these issues and see what the Union can do to help, to enhance and improve the student experience of all students. Many students were enjoying the sun by the lake, so we spoke to several groups, some of whom had already seen us earlier this week!

Talking to students near the lake

This evening, I went to The Village, and managed to speak to residents in all the blocks apart from those in the Courtyard and the family houses, which I’ll return to tomorrow. I talked to many of the students who were unfamiliar with our voting system about how it all works – the AV system we use, voting links and so on. E-submission and earlier exam timetables continue to be popular with students I talk to and when people ask questions, I’ve been glad for the opportunity to explain how some of my policies will work in practice. If you have any of your own questions, please contact me: academic[AT]kirstycallaghan[DOT]com or find me on Facebook: Facebook.com/KirstyforAcademic.

Policy in the Spotlight: IT Services

In December 2010, UEA experienced a significant network failure (dubbed by many students the ‘Techpocalyse’), an issue that affected students and staff across the University. Non-functioning wireless and printing, however, are problems that extend beyond the Techpocalypse – they are issues that affect UEA students every day.

It is Week 10 (by the semester dates most students follow), and we still have printing that works only intermittently. This is not acceptable. Students trying to print work for submission regularly have problems and then have to wait in the IT Helpdesk queue for a solution that is often only temporary. UEA has wireless printing, but this is not something most students know about. I would work to raise awareness about this, so that fewer students need to use the library computers to ease strain. However, it is also crucial that whatever technological issues that keep occurring are fixed. If elected, I would work to ensure that these problems do not continue.

Poor wireless affects many students. It is unreasonable that a large organisation has such unreliable internet service. When it’s not cutting out completely, it is often so slow that it is impossible to load pages on Google Books, for example, download articles or load videos. One of the issues here is that it does not seem that IT systems and issues are managed effectively. There are industry-specific management training courses available (such as ITIL – Information Technology Infrastructure Library) which would help IT services at UEA, in enabling IT staff to recognise issues and put into effect the right processes to counteract these issues.

If you have any questions about this policy or others, please email me (academic[AT]kirstycallaghan[DOT]com) or write on my Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/KirstyforAcademic