Academic Standards and Quality

Student Staff Liaison Committees

Overview

Student Staff Liaison Committees (SSLC) are made up of elected student representatives and members of staff. They provide an accessible arena for students to discuss with staff issues connected to teaching, learning and student support. They also provide an opportunity for the academic department/school/centre to consult with students and receive feedback on new proposals.

Key Principles of Student Staff Liaison Committees

All SSLCs are guided by the following principles, which aim to ensure that SSLCs:

  • Provide an accessible forum to enable students to discuss teaching, learning and student support issues with staff in an open manner, within the framework of the formal structures. The academic department should consult with SSLC on new proposals, including changes to courses. 
  • Encourage the resolution of issues and improvements at a departmental level. Issues raised through the SSLC should be discussed regularly and promptly at staff meetings.[1]
  • Ensure that discussions and resulting actions are documented and disseminated to the student body represented through the SSLC. This is key to the success of SSLC.
  • Ensure that issues which remain unresolved are escalated where necessary to the relevant Faculty Education Committees. This is to ensure that such issues can be escalated within the University and debated more widely.
  • Produce an annual summary of the operation of the SSLC which should feed into University and Students’ Union decision making processes and encourage action at an institutional level.

Aims and objectives of Student Staff Liaison Committees

  • To facilitate greater communication between students and Academic Staff;
  • To identify areas of concern to students and/or staff;
  • To assist student input at all levels of decision making;
  • To disseminate examples of good practice within the department;
  • To promote engagement of student participation in quality assurance and enhancement.

Student Staff Liaison Committee membershipstudents learning

  • The Head of Department shall be a member of SSLC ex-officio. Relevant Directors and Tutors may be included in the membership. It is recommended that students should be in the majority present at all SSLC meetings.
  • Student membership of SSLCs should be drawn from each of the different cohorts in a department; undergraduate and postgraduate (taught and research) programmes, each year and course of study (where possible) and means should be adopted to ensure that representatives can obtain the views of part-time and distance learning students (where appropriate)[2].
  • SSLCs shall be chaired by the Head of Department (or his/her nominee), normally a member of academic staff. The Head of Department is responsible for any decisions reached by the committee and that specific action points from the meetings are fulfilled.
  • The secretary to the SSLC shall be nominated by the Head of Department (typically the Departmental Administrator).
  • Observers shall be invited to attend the SSLC at the discretion of the Chair.

Student Staff liaison committee meetings

  • SSLCs should normally meet three times per academic year;
  • SSLCs must be publicised to the wider student body so that they may inform the student representatives of any issues;
  • It is recommended that the agenda for the SSLC should include the following as a minimum for the standard items:
  1. Chair’s report on developments or updates from any actions points from the previous meeting;
  2. Departments/Schools/Centres should consult students on Annual Review of Courses reports, External Examiner reports, Satisfaction survey outcomes and Student assessment of module teaching;
  3. New and revised programme developments (if any).
  4. Review the relevant handbook annually.
  • The unconfirmed minutes of an SSLC meeting, as approved by the Chair, should normally be posted on the relevant department/school/centre webpage or any another appropriate places normally within 10 working days of the meeting.

Policy Review

The policy is reviewed annually by Senate and/or an appropriate Senate sub-committee to ensure it remains fit for purpose and continues to meet effectively the needs of students, the University and the Students' Union.

 

 

[1] The Student Members must be the official Representatives of the Department(s) elected through the Students’ Union.

[2] SSLCs are not the place for students to air their personal grievances

 

Approve by Senate June 2013.

 

Page last updated: 16 August 2013