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Undergraduate Staff Newsletter - Summer 2013

Academic Office Undergraduate Newsletter, Summer 2013

This newsletter will be issued on a quarterly basis to provide academic colleagues with an interest in, or responsibility for, undergraduate education in their departments with a regular summary of matters of policy, procedure and issues for forthcoming development in areas overseen by the Academic Office.

It is being sent to all Heads of Department, Directors of Undergraduate Studies and staff who have otherwise expressed an interest in hearing from the Academic Office on matters relating to undergraduate students on a regular basis.

This newsletter contains information on the following topics:

1) QAA Institutional Review Action Plan

2) Publication of NSS Results

3) Upload of students’ module results

4) Committee Timetable 2013-14

5) Staffing changes in the Academic Office

6) Currency of students’ contact details

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1) QAA Institutional Review Action Plan

Outcomes of the 2013 QAA Review of the University were published by the QAA in a Review Report released on 24 May 2013. The report presented recommendations and endorsements of areas of work where improvements were already in progress. As part of the Review process, the University was required to respond to the Review Report by preparing an Action Plan to address the recommendations and affirmations and give plans to capitalise on the identified good practice. The Action Plan has been approved and is now available at http://warwick.ac.uk/quality/categories/institutionalreview/acdepts/. A number of actions have already been completed with more under way. Various sections of the Academic Office, IATL, LDC, ITS and the Students’ Union, together with relevant Pro-Vice-Chancellors and Senate Committees are working on completing identified actions within given timescales. Academic departments will be notified of individual changes/developments stemming from the Action Plan; colleagues across the Institution are encouraged to review the Action Plan and contact the Teaching Quality team (quality@warwick.ac.uk) with any queries or concerns.

2) Publication of NSS Results

Key dates for the release of results from the National Student Survey 2013 are as follows:

1st August 2013 Release of institutions’ own data (under embargo);

9th August 2013 Release of all institutions’ data (under embargo)

13th August 2013 Publication of NSS data.

We are mindful that the results will be published during the week that “A” level results are released and the Teaching Quality team will be working with Strategic Planning and Analytics to provide you with data for your departments and subjects as soon as possible.

3) Upload of students’ module results

Please remember that students’ module results need to be uploaded or processed into the SITS student record system within two weeks of the meeting of the board of examiners which considered and confirmed the results. This is essential to enable the issue of Higher Education Achievement Reports (HEARs) to students, for the University’s statutory return to HESA and to enable September examinations (where required) to be organised.

4) Committee Timetable 2013-14

I am advised by the Deputy Registrar’s Office that the Committee Timetable for the next academic year should be published by mid-September. A draft will be circulated to committee secretariats to review with committee chairs by mid-August.

5) Staffing changes in the Academic Office

I am pleased to be able to advise you of two new recruits who will join the Academic Office before the start of the next academic year as a consequence of re-filling vacancies. With effect from 2nd September, Helen Greenwood will take on the role of Administrative Officer in the Examinations team, working on a part-time basis. Delphine Christie (who has a provisional start date of 22nd September) joins Student Records as Administrative Officer. We wish them well in their new roles and will encourage them to make early contact with academic departments.

6) Currency of students’ contact details

A good deal of work has been undertaken within Student Records to ensure that we adopt a more proactive approach to encouraging students regularly to check and update their contact details. Reminders to students of the importance of maintaining current contact details on the University’s central record are now regularly appearing on plasma screens across campus. It would be much appreciated if staff could also provide encouragement to students to update their details when they become aware of a change of address. Students may update this aspect of their record via the link at my.warwick

Feedback

Please let me know if this type of regular update is useful to you and, in addition to Heads of Departments, Directors of Undergraduate Studies and others who have specifically requested a copy, if other colleagues ought to be added to the core distribution list.

Kind regards,

Roberta Wooldridge Smith

Deputy Academic Registrar