Students’ Union wins campaign to end evening & Wednesday afternoon lectures for 2013/14
The Students’ Union has won a campaign to end evening & Wednesday afternoon lectures for 2013/14.
In October, a motion was put forward to the Student Forum asking the Students’ Union to end evening and Wednesday afternoon lectures (click here to see the motion)
Today, in a statement to the Education Officer, the University Senior Management Team told the Students’ Union that they had a full debate about the issues and that there was overwhelming support for the Students’ Union position.
Headline changes for the next academic year - 2013/14:
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On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays - the University teaching hours will now be restricted to 9am-6pm.
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On Wednesdays the University teaching hours will now be restricted to 9am-1pm.
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If a lecture is rescheduled due to an emergency, it must be ensured that the lecture is fully available in video format on blackboard for those students who have commitments outside of the official University teaching hours.
The Students’ Union Education Officer who led the campaign, said:
“We lobbied many individuals across the University to get this result. Our message has always been clear: for a lot of students, the full Student Experience isn’t just limited to what happens in the classroom but also what happens outside of it. Today, the Vice Chancellor and his team listened to our position and recognised that our arguments were valid ones.
A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes including a full timetabling and spacing review by estates looking at how rooms are currently used in the University – so thanks to all of the individuals involved with delivering this outcome.
Whilst we would like to see lectures end at 5pm, we understand that there are spacing issues to consider. For next year, 6pm is a reasonable compromise from some lectures currently ending at 7pm.
We also have a good number of students who are parents or have other caring responsibilities – this is a great step forward in meeting the needs of such students who are often forgotten about.”