Andrew Mackenzie for SRC Education Officer

[Andrew Mackenzie]

Hello everyone!

I'm here to ask for your vote on Friday for SRC Education Officer.

St Andrews has a fantastic reputation – we have some of the leading academics and best facilities of any University in the world. As your SRC Education Officer I aim to ensure that every student is able to fulfil their potential and take full advantage of our fantastic academic environment.

I believe I am the best candidate for the job, both in terms of experience and ideas. Now, some details…

A key role of your Education Officer is to convene the Education Committee and make sure you are all represented. As President of the European Society and member of the national European Movement Council I am very adept at working with committees to make sure your voice is heard. As a class rep for the past two years I have seen the same concerns surface time and again, and am used to dealing with department heads.

We are already in a very good position, but as with any institution, improvements can always be made.

1. The class rep system is a great idea in principal, but could be so much better. It needs to be improved. Class reps are your voice on the ground, but are currently stifled by a clunky system - so let’s give them the tools to shout.

2. Lets improve access to the library. Extended opening hours (particularly during exams) and the possibility of 24 hour swipe card access should all be seriously considered. And during exam time we should set up study rooms across the University to reduce the overcrowding in the library. With the current threat to departmental libraries I will fight strongly to maintain and improve them. And we should all have proper electronic access the journals we need.

3. Introduce ‘top up classes’ (along the same lines as the evening language programmes) to improve our knowledge of subjects such as maths and English that may not feature in their degree. This would allow us to indulge our interests and expand our horizons in subjects such as history, science or politics in the evening without the stress of studying for a degree.

I openly welcome questions and comments, the role is a two way process. Come to the Hecklings, send me and email or ask in this group and I’ll get back to you.

We’re privileged to be getting a world class education. Let’s make it even better.

Please do post any questions or comments you may have and I'll make sure to get back to you. Alternatively, check out my Facebook group here: http://standrews.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9177026383

Thanks!

Andrew

[Jono]

Good Stuff Andrew! Could you elaborate a little.

How exactly would you reform the Class Rep system?

Extended Library hours; Good. IS there any indication the university is open to extending the hours, and how will you convince the university not to close the departmental libraries?

Again with top-up classes. How exactly will these be implemented? Who will teach them? Who will pay for it?

I'll Look forward to your answers.

Jonathan.

[hr]

Jonathan Davies for SSC Societies Officer

[Andrew Mackenzie]

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for so much for your questions, I think it’s vital to the whole democratic process that we get a dialogue going this week so we get a group of people in the SRC who are experienced, full of ideas, and willing to listen.

WARNING – Rather long post ahead! Let me go through one by one…

1. The class rep system. I’ve been a class rep myself for the last 2 years and I think they are a great idea. The university exists to provide an education and class reps are the best way to get the voice of the students heard by those who lecture and run the department. But it also suffers from several severe flaws. The common view about the class rep system is that they severe little purpose and can’t do a whole lot – which, unfortunately, isn’t too far from the truth. The very first thing we need to do is raise awareness of the class rep system amongst everyone. Currently the request for reps comes via email from the Director of Teaching. Lets switch it round: the emphasis should be it is run by students for students. Each year when you matriculate the SRC should have information prepared for each student explaining the rep system, how it works, and how to get involved. In other words, the Students Association should take a more active role in promoting the system.

About addressing issues with the system itself, how do we give the students more power? Well the first thing to do is to increase the frequency of the meetings. There is currently one a semester – I think it is important that this is at least doubled. The reason for this is that there is currently no mechanism for feedback. The class reps can say what they like at the meeting, and there may be promises from staff to follow things up, but there is no formal way for the students to check that their issues have been addressed. By having at least 2 meetings we develop more of a continuing dialogue with students. Then there are the issues surrounding giving the class reps more influence and making sure they are able to engage with the Education Committee…And we need some bold initiatives. I’ll save announcing these until the Hecklings – so please do come along and listen to me speak (8:50pm on Tuesday). I’ll also post some more info about them here and on my facebook page afterwards.

2. Let me answer this in two parts. First, extended opening hours, particularly during exams. As with many issues, it is hard to gauge the University’s willingness to do this before I am in an official capacity to engage with them. I think there is an extremely strong case for extended hours, and I would make it one of my top priorities to push for this. First off, simply opening the library until midnight on Friday during exams (currently closes at 10PM, even though Saturday is an exam day) and opening at 9am on Sunday would be a big start. I’d also like to see 24 hour swipe card access – if we can do it in Butts Wynd, Maths, Chemistry then I don’t see any fundamental reason why this system couldn’t be applied to the main library.

We all know how crowded the main library can get during exams, and something the University can do very easily and cheaply is open up lecture theatres/tutorial rooms as designated study rooms around the university.

Second, the current library administration is tending towards centralisation. Whilst I can definitely appreciate the merits of this policy, I think it is wrong. I’d fight tooth and nail to keep the departmental libraries and reverse their decline. I think most students agree with me and I think the SRC should become very vocal in supporting the departmental libraries. How do we convince them? We get the student population to make maximum use of these libraries. We’ve recently seen a massive downgrading of the chemistry library and a removal of the librarian, and the key reason for such closures is lack of use. Let’s mount a campaign to promote the positive points of having a library in your own department and encourage students to use them. Let’s make them satellite centres of learning by moving in careers information and exhibitions. Let’s highlight the importance and usefulness of departmental libraries and get the student body behind them.

3. Top up classes

This is something I personally am very excited about. I think it would be great to give students an opportunity to broaden their knowledge outside their chosen degree path.

But first, the cost issue. My initial model would be the Evening Language Courses that cost £80 for 10 weeks lessons. Of course, the ideal situation is that these courses and others are free for students, but we need to be realistic. The language courses are very popular, so students are obviously willing to pay £80 to improve their language skills, so I think there would be an appetite for a similar idea in politics, history, science etc.

Of course, some of these elements are already supplied (eg Saltire give maths support and IT courses are supplied by IT services) and an important aspect of this idea would be to get all these group together so it is clear what is on offer.

As to who would teach them, we’d need to work closely with the departments. Most of the staff I have encountered during my time here have had a great love for their subject, and would be willing to increase awareness and understanding of it. I’d hope we could get a mix of lecturers and postgrad students

I think we need to think big here. Could it be created as part of wider scheme? Could we use it as an element of a ‘teacher training’ package, so that the University could use this as a catalyst for a wide ranging programme in which both teacher-to be and students benefit. Could we get sponsorship for a series of classes?

Overall, I think this as a bold idea that would be of benefit to a lot of students. I understand a lot of the details need to be worked out and it would take considerable work, but I believe it would be a great addition to our academic environment. Rather than just studying your own course, your time at St Andrews could give you a more rounded education. I think that’s a wonderful idea, and something I’d fight to introduce.

I know this a very long post and well done if you reached this far!

Please do ask me any followup questions you may have, and do come along to the Hecklings on Tuesday. If you’d like to support my campaign, please do join my facebook group and lend me your vote on Friday!

Thanks!

Andrew

[sat]

What, Andrew, is your opinion on continuous assessment, with a view to its use in the sciences?

I personally have found that, although it may be useful to some students since it affords them a little less reliance on the final exam mark, it can stifle the students who are interested in more than just mark-grabbing.

[Thalia]

I don't have much to say really - just this: Your idea for top up classes sounds rather like doing college level evening courses. Surely the university's response would be that it's possible for students to do this anyway by enrolling at, for example, Dundee College or Elmwood College?

I ask this because I'm already doing an evening course in Counselling at Adam Smith College (and for free as the fee was waived because of my low income) so it just seems to me that it's kind of already possible to do what you suggest, if you only look into it.

[hr]

You've been nothing but an angel every day of your life and now you wonder what it's like to be damned...

[Andrew Mackenzie]

Sat – Could you tell me what continuous assessment in particular?

I think both have a place, and we need to strike the right balance. Whilst I take your point that it can sometimes be viewed as “easy” marks compared to exams, I think it can also be considered the other way round – exams can benefit those with good memories, whereas continous assessment can be used to allow the student to get more involved in the topic and really reward someone who wants to understand a subject indepth. So, yes, like I say, we need a balance. No one likes exams (and some positively hate them!!) but at the moment I don’t think there is a better way of assessing how much you’ve understood the course. On the other hand, exams can only scratch the surface of a topic, and continous assessment perhaps allows for specific areas to be investigated more thoroughly.

What I would say in terms of science is that I don’t think tutorials should be assessed. In my view, tutorials should be somewhere students can openly say “I don’t understand” without the fear of being marked. I take the point that some schools say your assessed on your ‘contribution’, but I think as soon as any type of grading is attached to them students begin to get wary about admitting they need help.

I’d be interested to hear more about your thoughts on this though, so please do get back in touch.

Thalia – Thanks for very much for your message. It is true that additional study classes are already offered in some forms via Saltire and IT Services and, as you quite rightly point out, other nearby educational institutions. As I mentioned in my above post, a key aspect of this plan (and, indeed, something that would be relatively straight forward to achieve since it doesn’t require setting up any new classes) would be to group everything already on offer into a clear single system. If you could go on to the Education section of the Yourunion.net website and see at a glance that courses in X,Y and Z are available at these times on these days then it makes accessing them far easier. In other words, we should be able to act as a central resource for people looking for what else they can do to further their education during their time here. I’m quite sure the different organisations would be willing to help us out here, as it would only increase the numbers interested in their courses.

So yes, making best use of what is already available is the first thing to do.

But I would argue the point that what I’m offering in terms of new classes is slightly different. (The term ‘top up’ is slightly misleading as I don’t necessarily intend for them necessarily to supplement additional knowledge, but provide a grounding in a subject that might be of interest but not feature as part of your degree.) I do think being able to offer them in St Andrews itself is key, as travelling will put people off. We’ve got some great staff here and some great postgrads and students, and I think it would be good to make use of them. Introduction of a new scheme like this isn’t going to happen overnight and will be a lot of work, but I really do believe it is something worth getting off the ground. The fact you are willing to travel to Dundee for classes suggests the appetite really is there among students. If elected I’d get started on this straight away and try to get support for a pilot programme next semester.

Let’s get a dialogue going here though and please do let me know what you think of these proposals. The role of Education Officer is all about improving your education – and I hope I’ve gone some way to explain how I’d do this with improving library access and shaking up the class rep system.

[Thalia]

Adam Smith College is actually in Glenrothes/Kirkcaldy. I mentioned Dundee and Elmwood because they're closer and would be more accessible to people without cars.

And i think i would argue that if you're not willing to travel as far as Dundee for a course then you're maybe not that interested in doing it anyway. But then i'm not just taking the course for fun, i wanted practical experience for when i graduated which, while it would have been nice if it was here in st andrews, i don't think anyone in the psychology department would have been interested in teaching anyway.

One thing, i'm not sure if you've considered it, is what would these classes be worth, qualification-wise? I'm assuming that there are guidelines to be followed for a course to count as anything like a Higher or HNC etc. One of my friends, for example, after she's graduated wants to switch to medicine. To do this she needs to do Highers next year and it's Highers that the courses in medicine are looking for, not just evidence that she's studied the subject. Would she have been able to do that part time this year under your scheme or would the courses be nothing more than learning for the fun of learning?



[hr]

You've been nothing but an angel every day of your life and now you wonder what it's like to be damned...

[Andrew Mackenzie]

Hi!

Thanks for your message!

As I said, one of the key aspects of the concept would be that we get a central resource listing all the different courses currently available from different locations and institutions. For example, rather than having to hunt around to see what might/might not be available, I think it would be extremely useful if you could take a look at the students association website and see at a glance that courses in IT, essay writing, or, as you say, something like counselling is available elsewhere. Often students don’t know where to start or have any idea of what might be available, so this would provide them with clear and consistent access. Also, if we can channel such interest through the Association, perhaps we could look at providing a minibus or some form of transport to and from the venue? There are lots of benefits to this scheme.

I really do think there is an argument for trying to create a series of classes in St Andrews itself. There already are courses available through the Open Association (like, as I said, the evening language classes). St Andrews is such a bubble that I think having to travel somewhere else in the evening would put some people off – I accept that people totally committed probably will be committed travelling a short distance, but for those who simply want to try something new I think there is a strong case for providing these resources in St Andrews. The idea behind this whole point is that it gives students greater opportunity to expand their knowledge base and explore topics that they find interesting but don’t feature in their core degree.

The election isn’t far away now so I hope people are getting excited! Please do ask me any more questions you may have. I want to convince you that I really am the best man for the job. I’ll be at New Hall tonight at 6:30PM and Uni Hall at 7PM so please do come along! If you can’t, then please do reply to this thread, ask in my facebook group, or email me on awm4.

Cheers!

[Andrew Mackenzie]

Just a quick note to say a big thanks to everyone who voted for me and helped with my campaign!

Cheers!