Resources for Developing and Supporting Student Representation

This report examines NStEP’s Student Training Programme between the years 2016 to 2020, which is responsible for providing introductory class rep training to students across the country.  The report examines key milestones, summarises participant feedback, explores the findings of a broad sectoral consultation on the programme, and sets out next steps for the programme’s future.  

In 2017, the National Working Group of the National Student Engagement Programme (NStEP) Pilot selected five national projects as a focus arising from the themes identified in the Pilot Institutional Analysis report.  The objective of each project was to establish guidelines, suitable for the diversity of the sector, on the project area.  This report is the result of work by a project team led by NCI and NCI Students’ Union on the role and recruitment of class representatives.  

The project also produced the following resources to support facilitated conversations between student representatives and institutional staff, with the ultimate aim of development and enhancement to class rep systems.

The Student Learning Experience (SLE) is a tool that can be used by student representatives and staff to collaborate on collecting, evaluating, and communicating feedback on undergradate courses and programmes.  The SLE was developed in partnership with Student Partnerships in Quality Scotland (sparqs), and was revised by NStEP for the Irish higher education landscape in 2020.

This toolkit was developed by NStEP to complement the ‘Governance and Student Representation’ online module which can be used to support the work of student representatives. It includes a glossary of common abbreviations and terms, descriptions of common committees and institution staff, an example of a committee meeting agenda and minutes with descriptions included, and a student representative diary and meeting log. Physical copies are also available upon request.