Joint Boards of Studies, Committees and making changes to programmes
Collaborative programmes will need to establish committees that report into the ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø committee structure. The purpose of these committees is:
a) To hear from students about their experience and consider actions to take in response
b) To discuss the operation of the programme with the staff team and consider any changes that might be made.
In addition, all collaborative programmes have a Joint Board of Studies. This is a meeting involving the staff team from the partner and representatives from ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø. Student representatives may be present. The Joint Board of Studies plays a key role in overseeing the programme and is the link between the partner and ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø committees.
What do partners have to do?
Partners must establish Student Staff Consultative Committees (SSCCs). These are meetings with student representatives to allow them to provide constructive feedback on their experiences. The SSCC should meet regularly, normally once per semester. There should be more students than staff present and students should be encouraged to lead the agenda and bring up issues that are of importance to their colleagues. ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø provides training materials which partners can adapt to help student representatives to understand their role.
Brief minutes must be taken with a note of any actions agreed. See SSCC minutes template. Minutes are passed to the Joint Board of Studies.
Partners must also have some mechanism for bringing staff together to discuss the operation of the programme. For larger partners, it is recommended to convene a programme committee. This allows all of the programme team to be involved in decisions about the programme. Smaller teams may prefer to meet on a less formal basis. Whichever method is chosen, the programme team should be given the opportunity to discuss feedback from students (SSCC minutes, module evaluations, student survey results).
Minutes or action notes from programme team meetings must be passed to the Joint Board of Studies.
Joint Board of Studies
The remit of the Joint Board is to monitor and review the operation of the programme, and to make recommendations regarding any changes that need to be made. To do this, the Board receives minutes and reports from various other quality processes, including the committees and team meetings mentioned above. (See sample Joint Board of Studies agenda.)
Normally, there will be one meeting of the Joint Board of Studies per year (unless otherwise negotiated in the Memorandum of Agreement). Student representatives may be invited to attend the full meeting of the Board. Sometimes, it is preferred for ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø staff to meet with student representatives before the Board so as to allow for a fuller discussion. In either case, student reps should be given the chance to read the Joint Board minutes.
Meetings are arranged by the staff of Governance and Quality Enhancement (GQE). Normally, one of the GQE team is secretary. The Convener is normally the Collaborative Academic Lead, or a more senior member of staff with responsibility for partnerships in that School.
The Joint Board is required to approve any of the following changes before they are submitted to the School Academic Board for approval:
• major changes to module descriptors, including changes to assessment formats or weightings
• changes to programme specific regulations
• changes to admission criteria
• requests for extension to programme review period
Nominations for external examiner appointments, requests for extensions to tenure and reallocation of duties will be submitted to the School Academic Board and passed on to the Learning and Teaching Panel.
Note that some changes to module descriptors are quite minor and can be approved by the Joint Board on its own. The secretary will advise whether this is the case.
Committee structure
Collaborative programmes fit into the ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø committee structure as follows:
- Student-Staff Consultative Committee
- Student representatives
- Programme Leader
- Minute taker
- Programme committee / programme team meetings
- All members of the teaching team
- Key administrative and quality staff
- Programme Leader
- For a formal programme committee, student representatives should be invited.
- Minute taker
- Joint Board of Studies
- All members of the teaching team
- Key administrative and quality staff
- Programme Leader
- Student representatives
- Collaborative Academic Lead
- Secretary (GQE)
- A representative of the Collaborations Administration Team may attend
The Joint Board receives minutes and action notes from the SSCC and
programme team meetings.
- School Academic Board (SAB). The Joint Board of Studies reports into the School Academic Board which has overall responsibility for conduct of academic programmes within the School. The Collaborative Academic Lead should advise the partner institution as to how and when to provide documents for the Board.
Other committees to be aware of:
- Collaborations Operations Group. This group brings together ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø staff with responsibility for various aspects of supporting collaborative provision. It reviews the effectiveness of ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø’s arrangements for supporting collaborations and recommends changes to the University’s policy and procedures accordingly. It reports into the Student Experience Committee.
- Student Experience Committee. This is the senior committee which considers academic policy and regulations.
- Senate is the highest level academic committee within ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø. Only Senate can approve the award of degrees to individual students. Only Senate can approve changes to the University regulations.
Making changes
As time goes by it may become clear that changes are required to the programme. This may be a result of feedback from students, feedback from external examiners or a response to developments in the area. Any changes to the programme as originally validated must be agreed by the Joint Board of Studies and then submitted to the relevant University committee for approval (normally the School Academic Board).
Changes to a single module
Minor changes can be approved by the Joint Board of Studies:
- Change of semester of delivery
- Small changes to the amount of face-to-face contact or the balance of lectures, practicals and tutorials
- Changes to the wording of the assignment
- Minor changes to the wording of learning outcomes
Bigger changes must also be approved by the School Academic Board. For franchised programmes any changes would need to take into account the needs of all organisations delivering the module (²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø and partners):
- Change to the weighting of summative assessment components.
- Change to the length, duration or format of summative assessment components.
- Addition or removal of learning outcomes.
- Change of mode of delivery (classroom or distance learning)
The original and revised module descriptor must be sent to the School Academic Board along with a module alteration form explaining the nature of the change and rationale.
Change to programme title
A memo should be sent to the School Academic Board explaining the reasons for the change. The Board will want to be assured that there has been appropriate consultation with students, the external examiner and (where relevant) potential employers of graduates.
Normally, it is not possible to change the title of the award for existing students unless they all agree to it.
Adding or withdrawing a module
The module alteration form, available from the Quality website, should be completed and submitted to the School Academic Board explaining the reasons for the change. Module descriptors should be included as appropriate.
Changes to programme learning outcomes or to a number of modules
Advice should be sought from the Governance and Quality Enhancement, as if you make a lot of small revisions, the effect of these combined might constitute a ‘major change’ requiring scrutiny by the original validation panel for the programme (or most recent review panel). This scrutiny is usually done by correspondence without the need for a further review event.
Change to programme specific regulations
A memo should be sent to the School Academic Board explaining the reasons for the change. It is normally wise to consult the School Manager about the addition or removal of regulations for advice on how this might affect decisions made at exam boards.
Change to admission criteria
Admission criteria are approved by the validation or review panel and set out in the definitive programme document. The addition or removal of any entry requirements must be approved by the School Academic Board. As above, send a written request to the Board with the rationale for the proposed change.
Change to programme leader
The new programme leader must be approved by the Collaborative Academic Lead.
Change of premises
If the location where the programme is delivered has changed, the new site must be approved by ²ÝÝ®ÉçÇø. In almost all cases a fresh evaluation visit will be required.
