1. Staffing news

We have welcomed, or will shortly be welcoming, a number of new/returning colleagues to the TLSO team: 

• Isabella Fairclough will be returning to the TLSO in August to take on the role of Teaching and Learning Adviser (Peer Support). 
• Kathy Morgan will be returning from maternity leave at the start of August, and will return to her role of Teaching and Learning Administrator (Appeals and Complaints)
• Steve Luddington will be moving from covering Kathy’s maternity leave to the role of Teaching and Learning Assistant.
• We have recently welcomed a Summer Student Experience Intern who is working on distance learning. Liqing Qui will be with us until early September, mainly helping out with MOOC transitions and resolving copyright issues.
• Seven new Graduate Interns (Peer Support) will be working with TLSO for a year from September. Details of these interns can be found below.
  
  

 2.  Peer Support

Peer Support is set to storm success next academic year having appointed an amazingly enthusiastic and passionate team of seven Graduate Interns (Peer Support). They came together last month for an intensive, informative and fun two day pre induction. The new appointees have all been active PASS Leaders or Peer Mentors and are full of ideas and energy. The new Graduate Interns are: 

• Alana McNulty
• Zac Wilde
• Carys Williams
• Martha Tomlinson
• Samantha Howard
• Scarlett Ash
• Anna Baker

3.  TLSO Website / Policy & procedure changes and information 

• Revisions to the Undergraduate Degree Regulations, approved by Senate in February 2016 (for all existing and new UG students from September 2016)

Senate approved minor updates to the UG Degree Regulations (version 2.4), details of which were circulated to Associate Deans, Heads of Schools, Heads of School Administration and Faculty PSS staff in March. Details of the main changes are listed below:

• Paragraph F29 allows an Examination Board to agree that a student who fulfils the requirements for the award of a degree can be reassessed in some units in the final year in order to achieve higher marks required by a relevant professional, statutory or regulatory body.  Following feedback from the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, an amendment has been made that, in such cases, the marks should be capped at the pass mark when determining the class of degree awarded to the student.  This amendment would apply for new and current students as from September 2016.

For clarification purposes, the following details have been updated in the Regulations:

• The addition of the Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate in Table 1: Credit and Award Framework (page 2).

• Confirmation that students cannot progress onto an Ordinary degree, unless it is as a result of a decision made by a School or Faculty misconduct committee/discipline panel (page 4).
• The changing of the term ‘mark review’ to ‘classification review’ in both sets of Degree Regulations, for clarity.
  
  

The Undergraduate Degree Regulations can be found at:

• Undergraduate Degree Regulations webpage
  
  

• Revisions to the Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations (for all new PGT students registering from September 2016)

Revisions to the Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations were approved by Senate in February 2016 (version 3.3), which were circulated to ADs, HoSs, HoSAs and Faculty PSS staff in March. Subsequently, Senate approved, in June 2016, a slightly updated version 3.4 of the Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations, which will supersede version 3.3 and will apply to all new PGT students from September 2016. Existing PGT students will remain on the regulations which were in force upon their registration. Details of the main changes are listed below:

• The insertion of a new paragraph (F25) to specify that a student achieving a mark of less than 30 for a dissertation should not be permitted to resubmit.  Such students will be considered for an exit award as appropriate.  This amendment will apply to new students only from September 2016. Current PGT student will remain on the set of Degree Regulation on which they registered as this new paragraph is less beneficial to them.
  
  
• The insertion of an additional specification relating to rescinding of awards (in a renamed section C: Accreditation of Prior Learning – AP(E)L / Rescinding, page 3). In order to match up timescales with those found in current APEL guidance, rescinding of PGT awards can now take place  if the rescinding occurs within five years of the award (rather than within five years of the student’s initial registration on their original programme).

 For clarification purposes, the following details have been updated in the Regulations:

• Clarification in Appendix A (Postgraduate Degree Classification Scheme) that, for consideration of PGT Masters students within the boundary zone, both criteria must be satisfied to be awarded the higher degree classification.  Similarly, for Schools who have decided to implement paragraph H34, decisions at the boundary of a Distinction can be made to award a Distinction as long as all three of the criteria are satisfied. Clarification that Classification Review can be used in boundary zone cases where students do not satisfy the additional criteria.
  
  
• The changing of the term ‘mark review’ to ‘classification review’ in both sets of Degree Regulations, for clarity.
  
  

The Postgraduate Degree Regulations can be found at:

• Postgraduate Degree Regulations webpage
  
  

• Revisions to the Guide to the Taught Degree Regulations
  

The Guide to the Taught Degree Regulations has been updated (version 1.7) to provide clarification of a number of issues, full details of which are available on the TLSO website. These mainly relate to:

• Clarification of the versions of UG and PGT Degree Regulations relevant to students (page 3).
• A new section on ‘Rescinding Awards’ (page 7-8), including clarification that students who have received an exit award, as a result of academic failure may not rescind and be readmitted as they have exhausted all assessment opportunities previously.
• Clarification that, for students registering from September 2016 onwards, failed PGT dissertations can only be re-submitted if they achieve a mark of 30 or above (page 10)
• Updating of the section on ‘Re-sitting a failed component to meet programme or Professional Body requirements’ (page 12), to confirm that where students are required to re-sit a failed component of a unit (even though they may have achieved an average pass mark in the unit overall) in order to meet the requirements of a professional body, marks will now be capped at the pass mark, rather than the original marks being left unchanged (as confirmed in paragraph F29 of version 2.4 of the Undergraduate Degree Regulations from September 2016).
• Confirmation that credit-rated experience away from the University, such as certain types of study abroad that constitute part of the credit of a UoM programme, may be compensated (under ‘Compensation’ section, page 8).
• Clarification regarding reassessment not being able to be taken in the final year of an Undergraduate programme (under ‘Reassessment, page 10).
• Clarification under the ‘Postgraduate Reassessment’ section (page 11) that a student will have to achieve a mark of 50 to pass, but this mark will be capped at the lowest compensatable mark (40%), unless the previous mark was within the compensation zone, in which case the original mark will stand.

The updated Degree Regulations, Guide to the Taught Degree Regulations and associated documentation, are available on the TLSO website. 

4.  Policies/guidance from other parts of the University

• Guidance on Monitoring the Attendance and Wellbeing of Undergraduate Students Abroad

New Guidance on Monitoring the Attendance and Wellbeing of Undergraduate Students Abroad is to be introduced from academic year 2016/17. This guidance relates to undergraduate students who are undertaking a period abroad on an international placement (including study, work, or volunteering) or conducting independent fieldwork. These new procedures come under Regulation XX: Monitoring Attendance and Wellbeing of Students. The existing Policy on Recording and Monitoring Student Attendance and the TLSO’s Recording and Monitoring Attendance webpage have been updated to reflect the new Guidance.

Key points:

• Attendance monitoring for international placements will be conducted through My Placement, the web-based software system that is used for managing placement activity for the University of Manchester students.
• UG students on international placements are required to complete simple questionnaires in My Placement confirming their attendance and continued wellbeing at key points;
• The questionnaires incorporate reminders of actions that students on international placement need to take, e.g. updating their contact details on Campus Solutions, registering for Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice updates etc.;
• Automated reminders are sent through the My Placement system if a student has not completed the questionnaire;
• A designated contact in the School runs weekly checks on My Placement throughout the year (or as appropriate depending on School-specific placement timelines) to review questionnaire completion rates by their students.
• If students have not completed the questionnaires within the required time frame (i.e. within 7 days of arrival or within 14 days for midway checks) a series of follow up steps are taken to ascertain and record their attendance and wellbeing;
• The target is to confirm attendance and wellbeing from all students as soon as possible after a required monitoring point and within a maximum period of 21 days after arrival and 28 days at the midway checkpoints
• Students participating in group fieldwork do not come within the Guidance as attendance and wellbeing for these students will be monitored by the accompanying on-site staff.
• Training sessions for staff will be run by the International Programmes Office. Please contact Elizabeth Harris (elizabeth.harris-3@manchester.ac.uk) for further details.

Reference:

• Guidance on Monitoring the Attendance and Wellbeing of Undergraduate Students Abroad
• My Placement: Monitoring the Attendance and Wellbeing of UG students Abroad
  
  

5.            Periodic and Institutional Reviews

This month's updated review schedule for internal programmes and collaborative provision for the next six years is available below:

• Periodic and institutional review schedule       
  

6.           Information from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

•    QAA’s View on the Teaching Excellence Framework and other recent areas of news

As part of the Government's higher education reforms, a new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) will change the way in which higher education providers are assessed, and seek to highlight excellence in teaching practice across the sector.

With the Government now considering responses to its technical consultation on how the TEF will operate from year 2, the QAA presents the latest in the QAA Viewpoint series. It highlights the key elements of the TEF policy and proposals that we believe should be carried forward.  
Other recent items of news on the QAA website include their view on the reform of degree awarding powers and university title and the QAA response to the HEPI-HEA Student Academic Experience Survey 2016.

7.        Contact

If you are aware of other staff members who would like to be added to the TLSO Bulletin mailing list to receive future editions of the Bulletin, please contact Miriam Graham (email m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).

If you are from a Collaborative Partner and you are having difficulties accessing any of the linked documents or web pages, please also contact Miriam Graham (m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).

For a PDF version of the Bulletin, please see below:

• TLSO Bulletin June 2016
  
  

1. Staffing news

We have welcomed, or will shortly be welcoming, a number of new colleagues to the TLSO team:

• Diane Bennett joined us from MHS as Teaching and Learning Manager (Distance Learning) on 30 May.
• Fran Hooley has joined us from MHS and Catherine Wasiuk from MMU as Learning Technologists (Distance Learning) in June.
• Isabella Fairclough will (re)join us in the position of Teaching and Learning Adviser (Peer Support) at the beginning of August.
  
  

 2. TLSO Website / Policy & procedure changes and information

• Exam Board Toolkit

A new Toolkit for Exam Board Chairs and Secretaries has been produced, which is a signposting tool to assist Exam Board Chairs and Secretaries in their role. It contains links to the main University Regulations, policies and guidance documents which Exam Board Chairs and Secretaries may need to refer to as part of their roles. If staff members have any suggestions for additional documents to be linked to as part of this Toolkit, please contact Miriam Graham (m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).

• Exam Board Toolkit
  

• Advising Taught Students Toolkit – new link to 'HEA Academic Advising for Employability toolkit' that was developed at Manchester

TLSO’s Advising Taught Students’ Toolkit, which was launched last autumn, now contains a link to a new 'HEA Academic Advising for Employability toolkit' which was developed by colleagues at Manchester.

The Advising Toolkit can be found below, with the link to the ‘HEA Academic Advising for Employability Toolkit’ available from the ‘Employability and further study section’:

• Advising Taught Students Toolkit
  

3.  Government White Paper – Success as a Knowledge Economy

You will be aware that a Government White Paper was recently published, setting out proposals for major changes to the higher education sector in England, with the key aim of increasing competition and quality. There are three main themes of the paper which are:

• to increase the number of universities and 'challenger institutions' in England and the levels of competition between these and existing institutions;
• to improve the quality of teaching through the introduction of a new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) assessing teaching quality via student satisfaction and graduate employability and link TEF performance to the ability of universities to increase fee levels in line with inflation;
• to address the number of different organisations which currently regulate higher education by creating the Office for Students - a new regulatory body to replace HEFCE and OFFA and bringing together Research Councils and Innovate UK into a new organisation called UK Research and Innovation.

 It’s important to stress that these are proposals at this stage and a Government Bill now needs to go through the Houses of Parliament before becoming legislation. While it’s likely that the proposals will be amended during this process, what is certain is that the higher education sector will go through a number of radical changes over the next two to three years and we need to be ready not just to adapt to new ways of working, but to embrace the opportunities these changes present to ensure that we deliver on our ambitions laid out in Manchester 2020.

The University will be providing feedback on the various aspects of the White Paper in due course. University staff may be interested in a concise summary of the contents of the White Paper provided by Andy Westwood, Associate Vice President of Public Affairs, in the video contained within the June 2016 PSS CoreMunicate briefing:

• PSS CoreMunicate: June 2016 (you will have to log in with your University user name and password to access)

The White Paper itself can be found at:

• Higher education: success as a knowledge economy – white paper (external webpage)
  
  

4. Periodic and Institutional Reviews

This month's updated review schedule for internal programmes and collaborative provision for the next six years is available below:

• Periodic and institutional review schedule
  

5. Teaching Excellence Awards

Four winners were selected by the panel for this year’s Teaching Excellence Awards, which were celebrated with a ceremony at Christie’s Bistro on 16^th May hosted by Professor Clive Agnew. 

The winners of these awards will now join the University Teaching Excellence Network along with previous winners, our National Teaching Fellows and Distinguished Achievement Medallists to support and influence teaching and learning development in the future.

The panel is drawn from across the University and chaired by Professor Kersti Börjars. The winners demonstrated individual excellence, evidence of supporting and developing colleagues, impact and engagement beyond their immediate role as well as a commitment to their own development in teaching and learning.

In making the awards, the panel were particularly impressed by:

• Kostas Arvanitis , School of Arts, Languages and Cultures for hisongoing work with ‘Digital Humanities’ and the way in which he has applied this to change student learning.  Also, of particular note was the way in which he connected a wide range of external engagement activities with the teaching and learning agenda, which has had a positive impact on student cohorts.
  

• Charles Walkden, School of Mathematics for the important role he has played in the large-scale revisions to teaching and learning in the School of Mathematics. The panel were also impressed by the positive influence he has had on colleagues to develop and embrace a blended learning approach alongside sustained public engagement activities to encourage mathematics to be seen as beautiful and exciting.
  

• Tianjian Ji, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering for his ‘seeing and touching’ initiative and its demonstrable impact on students and staff alike, both locally and more widely.  The group also recognised the influence he has had by encouraging colleagues to consider how they can use the ideas behind your ‘concepts’ module in both academia and industry.    

•  Jason Hall, Manchester Pharmacy School for the breadth of his impact at a discipline, Faculty and national level, in particular recognising the difference he has made to Pharmacy teaching nationally through the establishment of the National Conference.  His contributions to the challenging area of Fitness to Practise were highly praised.

Further details of the Award winners, can be found at:

• Teaching Excellence Award Winners 2015/16

6.  Peer Support

• Peer Support Annual Celebration Awards

The annual Peer Support Celebration Evening took place on Thursday 5th May at the Palace Hotel. This academic year marks the first that Peer Support is offered to all year one undergraduate students at the University of Manchester, which would not be possible if it wasn’t for the hundreds of passionate students who advise, signpost and facilitate, many going above and beyond what is expected.

The event recognised the commitment of all students and staff involved in Peer Support, celebrating their achievements and thanking them for their efforts in helping students through their first year in Manchester. The evening was also an opportunity for students from different schemes to socialise and make new connections for future collaborations.

In addition to those students and staff involved with Peer Mentoring and PASS, the event was an opportunity to recognise new peer led self-help groups run by the Counselling service as well as partnership activities with PricewaterhouseCoopers and My Learning Essentials.

Certificates were given to all Student Coordinators, PASS Leaders and Peer Mentors at the event, and the following awards were presented:

• PASS Scheme of the Year Award: Aerospace Engineering
• Peer Mentor Scheme of the Year Award: Geology and Environmental Science

 Outstanding Contribution Awards:

• Fred Adomakoh, Luke Wheadon, Jack Willgoose (Aerospace Engineering PASS)
• Andrew Aldridge (Aerospace Engineering PASS)
• Scarlett Ash (English American Studies and Creative Writing Peer Mentoring)
• Jennarong Chanrachakul, Keshia Kon (Mechanical Engineering PASS)
• Lusanda Donnelly (Speech and Language Therapy Peer Mentoring)
• Iain Dupère (Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering PASS)
• Janet Ellis (Nursing and Midwifery PASS)
• Gautam (Vaz) Gorasia (Aerospace Engineering PASS)
• Rebecca Lancaster (Religions and Theology PASS)
• Devin Ridgway, George Vanburgh (Computer Science PASS)
• Jenny Rogal (Chinese Peer Mentoring)
• Vusal Suleymanli (Physics PASS)
• Zachary Wilde (Life Sciences PASS)
• Carys Williams (Chemistry PASS)

Peer Support Video Competition winner: Electrical and Electronic Engineering PASS

Congratulations to all of our worthy winners, and a big thank you to all involved in Peer Support for your hard work this year.

The Community of Peer Support (COPS) society hosted an after-party for all who attended the Celebration Evening, where students were given the chance to try their hand at swing-dancing.

Peer Support Celebration Evening in full swing in the Grand Room                                      at the Palace Hotel	Winners of the prestigious Outstanding Contribution to                                       Peer Support Awards

Winning Peer Mentoring Scheme of the Year, Geology and                                   Environmental Science	Winning PASS Scheme of the Year, Aerospace Engineering

7. Contact

If you are aware of other staff members who would like to be added to the TLSO Bulletin mailing list to receive future editions of the Bulletin, please contact Miriam Graham (email m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).

If you are from a Collaborative Partner and you are having difficulties accessing any of the linked documents or web pages, please also contact Miriam Graham (m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).

For a PDF version of the Bulletin, please see below:

• TLSO Bulletin April 2016

1.    Staffing news

• Becky Allen, Teaching and Learning Assistant, left us this month to take on a new role at the University of Staffordshire. We wish her all the best in her future career.

• Kerry Jones, previously based in the DSE Directorate Office, has recently joined the TLSO as Teaching and Learning Adviser.

       
2.    TLSO Website / Policy & procedure changes and information

• Policy on Marking

The revised Policy on Marking, issued for implementation from December 2015, has had a few grammatical updates made to it. The document can be found at:

• Policy on Marking

3.    Promoting the best undergraduate research – international awards programme. Could you raise awareness with students in your School?

The Undergraduate Awards is the world’s only pan-disciplinary academic awards programme and aims to identify and encourage the best ndergraduate research around the world. Students are encouraged to submit their work online to be judged by an international panel.  The winners travel to Ireland for a 3 day funded Global Summit networking event (last year’s event video is available here) and published in the Awards’ academic journal.

Last year, students from The University of Manchester submitted almost 100 applications, from the 1000s submitted across the globe, 12 student submissions were highly commended and 6 students/immediate graduates travelled to the Awards Ceremony in Ireland. There are 25 categories and submission is done online, and therefore easy for students to complete.

Please do promote this opportunity to your students and help us achieve over 100 applications this year.  Final submissions must be made by May 31st.

The Awards expect a high volume of applications and so encourage students to register their interest in the first instance – this can be done here.

We have a range of e-posters and other material; if you are able to display things around your buildings, please contact william.carey@manchester.ac.uk for material relevant to your School.

4.     Information from other areas of the University 

• Important information from the Student Immigration Team: UK Visas & Immigration Rule Changes – Academic Progression / Course Changes Action required

On 6th April 2016 the UKVI made changes to the Immigration Rules. Following clarification from the UKVI on the rule changes, we can now confirm that the changes affect: 

• students who want to move to a new course but have not successfully completed the course for which their current visa was granted. Examples of affected students include:
  • transfers from BEng or BSc to MEng; BSc to BSc with Industrial Experience; MPhil or MRes to PhD
  • students who are still awaiting results at the time that their new programme is due to start (e.g. Masters students progressing to research degrees)
• students who may or may not have completed the course for which their current visa was granted and are now seeking to study at a lower academic level. Examples of affected students include:
  • transfers from MEng to BEng or BSc; PhD to MPhil

 Full details of the rule changes are available on the Student Immigration Team intranet site: http://www.saa.manchester.ac.uk/student-immigration/. These changes have a significant impact on when to update a student’s record with a course change, and whether they can apply in the UK or not.

Please read this page and contact the Student Immigration Team with any queries.

5.   Periodic and Institutional Reviews

This month's updated review schedule for internal programmes and collaborative provision for the next six years is available below:

• Periodic and institutional review schedule

6.    My Manchester

As highlighted in the October 2015 TLSO Bulletin, a network of new microsites and other revamped service sites were introduced to replace the Crucial Guide Live. (The new microsites are Exams, Explore, Get Involved, Go Abroad, Graduation, Peer Support, Regulations and Policies, Student Support, Volunteers, and Your Say for Your Uni.)   

Following on from this development, and after 18 months of consultations and development, the new My Manchester site is due to go live on 3 May 2016. My Manchester is the online portal used by all students and accessed up to 350,000 times per day for access to systems, services and information. A £650,000 project has been underway over the past 18 months to further develop the service. The upgraded service will have a new look and feel, different navigation, and an enhanced search facility. There will also be a Resource Bank: a portlet with a database of student opportunities, as well as self-reflection tools for wellbeing and learning.

Importantly, all staff will be able to log in to the upgraded My Manchester using the link at the bottom of their own staff view of My Manchester, allowing them to see a true student view of the service for the first time.

On the launch date, students will be able to see a message announcing the launch of the new service, and information will also be available on the IT Services Twitter account. Students will also receive an email, either on the day or the following few days, welcoming them to the new My Manchester service, and explaining more about the site.

The major changes to My Manchester, and what they mean for staff, include the following:

a.    Everything starts with the Student Experience. The upgrade can be directly linked to the needs and requirements of students, with information in preparation for the redevelopment being provided from consultation and collaboration with students. The project also resulted in a new set of Principles to be applied to any student digital services and content. Everyone who creates content for students - whether that's an email about an event or a new online service - can use these Principles and be confident that they're giving students information in a way that puts them first.

b.    What you need, when you need it. One of the major improvements to the whole system is the change to the navigation and structure of the site. The tabs have been updated to reflect the three main strands of student life: Learning, Wellbeing, and Future. Apps and content are now located around these and other themes, making navigation more intuitive. The most important services - the things that analytics told us students use most often - have been moved to the Home tab or made available in the header of each page, meaning students no longer have to click or scroll around to find the things they want most often.

These changes have also meant that information can more easily be targeted at specific groups of students. For example, the Graduation app on the “My Future” can be updated through the year to let students who what tasks they need to complete in order to attend.

c.    Take control of your own development. With so many services available to students, common feedback was that they didn't know how to decide what to get involved with, or they only engaged with things promoted directly to them, meaning they're not always making good decisions that help them progress towards their goals. One of the biggest pieces of work in the new My Manchester has been the creation of the Resource Bank and a set of Self-Reflection tools for Learning, Wellbeing and Future. Using the tools, students can assess their own areas of strength and weakness, and get a personalised report with specific suggested resources to improve. They can also use their self-reflection reports with their Academic Advisor, and track their progress by repeating the questionnaires regularly.

Future developments of these apps include the creation of 'Development pathways', with notifications and milestones so students can better track progress towards their goals.

For more information about the launch of the My Manchester upgrade, or the future planned developments, contact Patricia Clift-Martin (patricia.clift-martin@manchester.ac.uk)


7.    Unit Surveys

• Semester 2 Surveys

The Semester 2 online Unit Surveys opened on Monday 25th April for students to complete, and will end on 17th May.

If you have any ideas or examples of good practice in supporting the promotion of Unit Surveys, we would be pleased to hear from you. Please contact us at: unitsurveys@manchester.ac.uk if you would like to share ideas.

We are continuing to encourage all colleagues involved in Unit Surveys to consider if they can enhance the way in which the results are fed back to other staff and students to encourage a continuation of this positive trend. If you would like to share your ideas of how you use the results from Unit Surveys and how students are included in the feedback of results, please let us know: unitsurveys@manchester.ac.uk
If you have any queries or suggestions about Unit Surveys, please also contact us at the above email address.

8.    Information from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

• Subject Benchmark Statement: Creative Writing

The QAA has recently published a new Subject Benchmark Statement for Creative Writing that defines what can be expected of a graduate in the subject, in terms of what they might know, do and understand at the end of their studies. For details, please see:

• Subject Benchmark Statement: Creative Writing
  
  

• Consultations on six draft revised Subject Benchmark Statements

The QAA are currently inviting comments on six draft revised Subject Benchmark Statements: Paramedics; Area Studies; Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry, Food, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences; Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics; Art and Design; and Landscape Architecture. For details please see:

• Consultations on draft revised Subject Benchmark Statements
  
  

• QAA Event: Evolving Student Engagement: 17 May 2016

A one-day conference is being held at The Studio, Manchester on 17 May that will bring together staff and students from UK universities, colleges and students' unions for debate, discussion and workshops focusing on strengthening partnership and student engagement. Further details can be found at: 

• Evolving Student Engagement 

9. Contact

If you are aware of other staff members who would like to be added to the TLSO Bulletin mailing list to receive future editions of the Bulletin, please contact Miriam Graham (email m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).

If you are from a Collaborative Partner and you are having difficulties accessing any of the linked documents or web pages, please also contact Miriam Graham (m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).

For a PDF version of the Bulletin, please see below:

• TLSO Bulletin March 2016

1.    Staffing news

• Elena Vergara, Project Support Intern, left us this month after working with the TLSO for a year. We wish her all the best in her future career.

      
2.    TLSO Website / Policy & procedure changes and information

• Taught Degree Regulations

Minor revisions have been made to the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations, and have been approved by Senate. Revisions to the UG Degree Regulations will apply to all current and new UG students from September 2016, and revisions to the PGT Degree Regulations will apply to all new PGT students from September 2016, with existing PGT students remaining on their current Regulations.

The Regulations have been updated to provide clarification to existing wording, with a small number of other main changes, as follows:

• Paragraph F29 of the Undergraduate Degree Regulations allows an Examination Board to agree that a student who fulfils the requirements for the award of a degree can be reassessed in some units in the final year in order to achieve higher marks required by a relevant professional, statutory or regulatory body.  Following feedback from the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, an amendment has been made that, in such cases, the marks should be capped at the pass mark when determining the class of degree awarded to the student.  This amendment would apply for new and current students as from September 2016.
  
  
• The insertion of a new paragraph (F25) in the Postgraduate Taught Degree Regulations to specify that a student achieving a mark of less than 30 for a dissertation should not be permitted to resubmit.  Such students will be considered for an exit award as appropriate.  This amendment will apply to new students only from September 2016. Current PGT student will remain on the set of Degree Regulation on which they registered as this new paragraph is less beneficial to them.

• The changing of the term ‘mark review’ to ‘classification review’ in both sets of Degree Regulations, for clarity.

• The Guide to the Taught Degree Regulations has been updated to provide clarification of issues, details of which are available on the website: http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/degree-regulations/guidetothetaughtdegreeregulations/.

The updated versions of both sets of the Degree Regulations will be added to the Degree Regulations webpage during the summer, in preparation for September 2016. Heads of School, Heads of School Administration, Associate Deans and Faculty PSS staff have been sent copies of the revised versions of both sets of Degree Regulations for information.

• Guidance for the Presentation of Taught Dissertations for UG and PGT Provision

This Guidance has been updated and revised to reflect the introduction of two policies:

The ‘Policy on Submission of Work for Summative Assessment on Taught Programmes’ states that: “all typed summative assessment, including dissertations, should be submitted online and subjected to plagiarism detection software, where appropriate” and that “Schools may specify instances where the use of online submission and/or plagiarism detection software is inappropriate. Details of the alternative arrangements in these specific instances must be published to students”.  The expectation across the University is therefore that dissertations are produced and submitted electronically, and the new version of the Guidance reflects this.

In addition, the ‘Policy on Additional Costs incurred by Students on UG and PGT programmes’ has been introduced, leading to the decision that, should Schools require hard copy, bound dissertations to be produced, the cost of doing so should be borne by the School.  This requirement has also been reflected in the new Guidance.

The updated Guidance is for immediate implementation for PGT provision but may, for UG provision only, be deferred by Faculties until September 2016 if necessary. This flexibility has been introduced because certain areas of the University might experience problems implementing the guidance for UG dissertations immediately.  The guidance has been expanded to include UG provision for the first time and so it might require a significant change to current, local practice.  In addition, the publication of this guidance has not come at the start of the academic year. 

The revised Guidance can be found at:

• Guidance for the Presentation of Taught Dissertations for UG and PGT Provision
  
  

• Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Vision

The Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Vision has recently been published. The document forms part of the University's Goal 2: Outstanding Learning and Student Experience. For full details, please see below:

• Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Vision
  
  

• Guidance on External Examiner Procedures

The Guidance has been updated to clarify a number of areas and reflect new practices. The main changes are that the Guidance now:

• describes the role of the External Examiner (EE) as a ‘critical friend, not a marker’ to emphasise that Externals must not change individual marks.  It is not intended to devalue the role in any way;

• highlights that EE reports are shared with students;

• clarifies that the normal period of engagement is 4 years, and that extensions to 5 years are exceptional and must be approved by Faculty;

• reflects the legislative change that has moved EEs to casual employee status and explains the practical implications of this;

• emphasises more clearly the grounds and process for termination of engagement.  This is to highlight the University’s expectations of the role and ensure that instances of termination are kept to an absolute minimum;

• reflects changes to the University’s ‘Policy on Marking’, ‘Policy on Mitigating Circumstances’ and ‘Guidance on Examination Boards’;

• clarifies communication channels to ensure that EE reports reach the correct people, and are acted upon, in a timely manner;

• removes references to PGT dissertation assessment ‘Method B’.

The updated Guidance can be found at:

• Guidance on External Examiner Procedures
  
  

• Assessment Framework

An updated version of the full Assessment Framework has been added to the website, to reflect various policy/guidance updates which have taken place recently. The updated PDF version of the Framework can be found at:

• Assessment Framework
  
  

• Annual Report to Senate of Student Appeals, Student Complaints and Student Discipline Cases 2014-15

The latest annual report to Senate providing details of student appeals, complaints and discipline cases for the last academic year, is now available on our website at:

• Reports to Senate on Student appeals, complaints and discipline

3.    Periodic and Institutional Reviews

This month's updated review schedule for internal programmes and collaborative provision for the next six years is available below:

• Periodic and institutional review schedule

4. Peer Support

Inspired by a workshop run by Paul Redmond for Peer Support Student and Staff Coordinators in Semester 1, Peer Support has encouraged Peer Mentoring and PASS activities to make connections to the ways of wellbeing to enhance the student experience.

This semester, the Peer Support Graduate Interns have been sharing the Wellbeing theory with our new intake of Peer Mentors in their initial training sessions, and has also planned events in order to actively implement the ideas surrounding Wellbeing. The first of these is an exciting new competition, which encourages students to ‘Take Notice’ of their surroundings on campus.

Students will submit a photo of areas of beauty on campus and the winning photo will be included in the final issue of the Peer Support Newsletter. On the 23rd April, we will also be holding a Dodgeball tournament, in collaboration with Sporticipate, Sport Manchester and the e-gaming society. Open to all students involved in Peer Support, this event will show Peer Mentors and PASS Leaders how fun it is to ‘Be Active’ at University, even if they are not involved in a sports team.

• Recruitment for Peer Mentors and PASS Leaders

The task of ensuring the amazing work of our PASS Leaders and Peer Mentors (approximately 1600!) continues year on year is never ending and we’re pleased to say that the training and recruitment process has already started for September 2016.  Peer Mentor training is due to commence very soon with sessions taking place over the next few weeks (day and evening sessions are available for students to identify the best time for them) and our ‘Intro to PASS’ workshops will start after the Easter break.

• Peer Support Annual Celebration Awards

Each year the Peer Support programme holds an Annual Celebration Awards
event in order to reward and recognise some of the outstanding contributions made by students and staff involved in Peer Support activity. The event is always a fantastic way of celebrating the impact that both PASS and Peer Mentoring has on the student community; it is safe to say that many of our new students have been able to manage the transitions into and within University life through the targeted support that higher level students provide in our schemes!

So, the date is set, Thursday 5th May, 18:00 at the Palace Hotel. It is always fantastic to see a number of colleagues from across the institution in attendance and the event is a great way to feel encouraged and inspired by what partnership can achieve!

If you are interested in attending or would like further information please email peersupport@manchester.ac.uk

5. Information from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

• Four revised Subject Benchmark Statements

Revised Subject Benchmark Statements have now been published for Accounting, Computing, Finance, and Social Policy. Full details can be found at:

• QAA information and guidance

• Consultation on draft Subject Benchmark Statement for Sociology

The QAA is inviting comments on a draft Subject Benchmark Statement for Sociology. Any responses are requested to be returned to the QAA by 18th March 2016. Full details can be found at:

• Consultation on draft Subject Benchmark Statement for Sociology

For a PDF version of the Bulletin, please see below:

• TLSO Bulletin January 2016
  

1.    Staffing news

• Julia Smith

Julia Smith joined us on 5 January as a ‘Student Engagement Intern’ as part of the MGIP programme.  She will be working on a number of student engagement areas including ongoing consultations (including work related to the My Manchester Improvement project) and the further development of the Student Charter.

• Kathy Morgan/Steve Luddington

We give a warm welcome to Steve Luddington who has joined the TLSO on secondment, covering Kathy Morgan’s role of Teaching and Learning Administrator (Appeals and Complaints) during Kathy's maternity leave. We would like to congratulate Kathy on the safe arrival of her new son, Samuel, on 23rd January.

• Farewell to Justin Kennedy

Farewell to Justin Kennedy (Teaching and Learning Adviser, Peer Support) who left the University of Manchester at the end of December 2015.

      
2.    TLSO Website / Policy & procedure changes and information

•    Taught Degree Regulations Glossary of Terms

The Glossary of Terms has recently been updated to clarify a number of areas, including the change in terminology from ‘Mark Review’ to ‘Classification Review’.  New inclusions also include a description of the Graduate Certificate (GCert) and Graduate Diploma (GDip).

The Undergraduate and Postgraduate Degree Regulations are due to be considered by Senate in February 2016 in relation to a small number of updates. Revised versions of the Regulations will be publicised once they are approved.

• Continuous Monitoring of the Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught Student Experience and the Annual Review of Teaching and Learning

The guidance document on continuous monitoring has been revised slightly to incorporate reference to the Manchester Induction Framework (p12).

• Guidance for the Periodic Review of Taught Provision

The guidance document on periodic review has been updated slightly to incorporate the following:

• the indicative agenda now includes the suggestion that the School/programme team might wish to start the ‘staff discussion’ section of the event with a brief overview of the provision under review and give any major contextual info.

These updated guidelines are for immediate implementation, although since Reviews are scheduled throughout the year there will unavoidably be cases where colleagues have started to prepare for an event using the previous version of the guidelines.  In such cases programme teams should agree with their Faculty whether the former guidelines should be used in order to avoid any disruption to preparations.

3.    Unit Surveys

We are pleased to report on another fantastic Semester for Unit Surveys, after a great effort from all involved.

All units are now surveyed online and we are pleased to report an overall University response rate of 37.4% across the 42 different areas operating surveys, with a few units continuing to be surveyed. We are also pleased to note that approximately 28% of all courses surveyed obtained a response rate of 50% or above.

We are encouraging all colleagues involved in Unit Surveys to consider if they can enhance the way in which the results are fed back to other staff and students to encourage a continuation of this positive trend.

How do you use the results from Unit Surveys? How are students included in the feedback of results? We want to share your ideas, so please let us know: unitsurveys@manchester.ac.uk

TLSO will shortly begin collating all the relevant information for Semester 2 surveys and colleagues are asked to ensure this is returned as promptly and accurately as possible. As always, any suggestions for increasing response rates, raising awareness of activity in the student or staff cohorts, are always welcome! Ideas and questions are gratefully received to: unitsurveys@manchester.ac.uk


4.    Periodic and Institutional Reviews

This month's updated review schedule for internal programmes and collaborative provision for the next six years is available below:

• Periodic and institutional review schedule

5.    Peer Support

For the first time the University of Manchester offered Peer Support to every year one undergraduate student through Peer Mentoring or Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS). A total of 1779 higher year students have been trained as either a Peer Mentor or PASS Leader to work with year one students in providing support and development.

The level of student engagement has been high with regular first year attendance in weekly PASS sessions varying by scheme with many schemes averaging 60%+ attendance in semester one.
The recruitment and training cycle for next academic year will begin in February with schemes being asked to identify their new Peer Mentors and PASS Leaders.

• Date for your diary: The Annual Peer Support Celebration evening will take place on Thursday 5th May 2016.

6.    Information from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

• QAA's Response to the Green Paper - Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice

QAA have provided a response to the BIS Green Paper, which sets out proposals to change the UK higher education landscape. For full details, see:

• QAA's Response to the Green Paper - Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice

7.    External events

The following two events may be of interest to staff members. Please note that any attendance costs should be met locally.

• “Improving Student Experience and Engagement” (Understanding ModernGov) – Thursday 25 February 2016

Universities continue to operate in an increasingly competitive environment, with students and parents demanding greater value for money, given the increase in tuition fees.

This Improving Student Experience and Engagement course will give delegates the necessary tools to improve services for their students, through utilising data to effectively measure their engagement.

Led by student engagement expert Dan Derricott, delegates will leave the day with clear strategies and tools, to effectively measure student experience, utilise data to enhance their experience and design better services for students. For full details, click here. To register, click here.

• “The future of STEM subjects in higher education: increasing student numbers, engaging with industry and improving female representation” (Westminster Higher Education Forum Keynote Seminar) – Thursday 14 April 2016

Timed to follow the release of the Government-commissioned review of STEM degree provision and graduate employability, this seminar will look at the recommendations of the review and the challenges they would pose for universities, industry and Government in their implementation. For the details of the event, including agenda and booking details, please click here.

1.        TLSO Website / Policy & procedure changes and information

• Policy on Examinations and Examinations: Guidance for Student

A few minor amendments were made to the Policy on Examinations and the associated Examinations: Guidance for Students, at the request of the Student Services Centre/Examinations Team. These relate mainly to the use of electronic devices, students found in possession of any unauthorised and/or undisclosed material once the exam has started, and the fact that students cannot normally leave an exam room during an exam which is one hour duration or less.

• New Policy on Interruptions and slight revisions to Staff and Student Guidance on Interruptions

A new Policy on Interruptions to Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught Programmes of Study has been produced from the existing document: Principles and Guidance for Granting Interruptions to an Undergraduate or Postgraduate Taught Programme of Study. The remaining wording of the existing Principles and Guidance document has been rebranded as Guidance for Staff on Interruptions and some slight updates to wording have been made to this Guidance to Staff and the associated Guidance for Students on Interruptions document in response to changes provided by the Funding Team (Student Services Centre), the Student Immigration Team and the national introduction of shared parental leave, and also to enable Schools to consider applications for interruptions for more positive reasons. All the updated Interruptions documents are available on the TLSO website:

• Interruptions to Taught Programme
  
  

• New Policy on Ethical Approval of Research in Taught Assessment

Senate has approved a new Policy on ethical approval of research in taught assessment which aims to ensure a consistent approach is applied when dealing with ethical approval of research in taught programmes. The new Policy can be found on the TLSO website:

• Policy on Ethical Approval of Research in Taught Assessment
  
  
  
• Revised Policy on Marking

Following recommendations from the ‘Practice’ Sub Group of the Review of Marking and Assessment Steering Group and subsequent discussions at the Teaching and Learning Gorup, revisions to the Policy on Marking were approved by Senate in November. The revised Policy is now available online, for implementation from now onwards. The amendments relate mainly to the structure of the document, and also to defining roles and responsibilities in marking and providing clarity on what is expected from the moderation process.

The revised policy is available at:

• Policy on Marking

• Revision to Programme Withdrawal Form

An additional question has been added to the Programme Withdrawal Form to remind programme teams to inform External Examiners about the withdrawal of a programme. The new question reads as follows:

“Have External Examiner(s) been informed of the withdrawal of the programme, and have their duties in respect of current students been made clear?”
Programme withdrawal guidance is available at:

• Withdrawal of a programme
  
  
  
• Revised Guidance for the Periodic Review of Taught Provision

An updated version of the Guidance on Periodic Review has been introduced. The changes include the following:

• restructuring to present the activity in a timeline form;
• information relating to collaborative partners and eLearning has been integrated as far as possible into the main text; 
• reference has been made to local disaggregation of the process in cases where Schools are large and complex;
• sections on Continuous Monitoring have been updated to reflect revised University guidance and terminology and make more explicit the role of SEAPs in both processes;
• the role of the TLSO panel member has been modified to give it a more general and flexible remit;
• the SED section on ‘Student Support’ has been broadened to cover ‘Student Support and Experience’;
• SED content has been broadened to include references to employability, SSRs, assessment load, effectiveness of promotional material, sharing good practice, and the management of joint provision and collaborative links;
• there is a requirement to provide any local documentation that relates to variations to University policy and guidance;
• there is an explicit reference to the expectation that Heads of School and Heads of School Administration will attend at least the final summing up session on the day in order to comment or advise as appropriate on points raised;
• the ownership and responsibility for producing (though not necessarily drafting) the SED is stated explicitly as being that of the Head of School and Head of School Administration.

The updated Guidance is available on the TLSO website at:

• Periodic Review
  

 2. Teaching Excellence Awards 2015-16

Submissions are invited for the 2015-16 University of Manchester Teaching Excellence Awards.

The Teaching Excellence Awards focus on achievement in relation to teaching, learning and the student experience over recent years. A case should include evidence of an academically rigorous approach, coherence and evaluation of activity.  The Award consists of a £5000 grant to be used by recipients to develop teaching and learning activities or to support their own career development in this area. The period of award is three years. The University makes around 6 awards annually and may also issue commendations at the discretion of the decision panel.

Both academic and related colleagues involved in the delivery of teaching or the preparation of material for teaching at undergraduate or postgraduate levels are eligible for these awards.

The awards will be decided by a panel chaired by the Vice-President (Teaching, Learning and Students) or his nominee. The panel will have representation from across the University.

The criteria for award are:

• Individual Excellence: evidence of promoting and enhancing the student experience.
• Raising the Profile of Excellence: evidence of supporting colleagues and influencing support for student learning in (and, if appropriate, beyond) the University, through demonstrating impact and engagement beyond the nominee's immediate academic or professional role.
• Developing Excellence: the nominee's commitment to her/his ongoing professional development with regard to teaching and learning and/or learning support.

These criteria are based on the criteria used by the Higher Education Academy for the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme.

In the first instance, nominations should be sent to the listed Faculty administrative contact by the Faculty-specific date:

For further information on the operation of the Teaching Excellence Awards please visit the Teaching Excellence website.

3. Unit Surveys

Unit Surveys across the University are now run wholly online. For Semester 1 students can access these from Monday 7th December until Sunday 3rd January via Blackboard. If your School has any questions about the online Unit Surveys, please contact unitsurveys@manchester.ac.uk.

We are also particularly keen to hear from colleagues who are piloting new promotion initiatives or have promotion strategies that they have found to be effective, as we want to identify areas of good practice and promote these activities across the University.  Again, please get in touch to share your ideas or strategies for promoting the Unit Surveys (unitsurveys@manchester.ac.uk). 

4. Periodic and Institutional Reviews

The updated review schedule for internal programmes and collaborative provision for the next six years is available below:

• Periodic and institutional review schedule

5. Information from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

Two new Subject Benchmark statements have recently been agreed:

• Subject Benchmark statement for Biomedical Sciences

• Subject Benchmark statement for Biosciences

For further information about the QAA, see the QAA website.

6. Contact

If you are aware of other staff members who would like to be added to the TLSO Bulletin mailing list to receive future editions of the Bulletin, please contact Miriam Graham (email: m.graham@manchester.ac.uk).

If you are from a Collaborative Partner organisation and are having difficulties accessing any of the linked documents or web pages, please also contact Miriam Graham.

1.            Staffing News

We have welcomed seven new Graduate Interns to the TLSO for the start of the academic year. Please see the Peer Support section for further details.

Ian Hutt joins the TLSO in a full-time role from 12 October.  Ian has been working with us in the half-time role of MOOCs Project Manager but is now moving into a two year, full-time role of Head of Distance Learning Operations.  Ian will be based in the TLSO and will work closely with Pam Vallely, Academic Director for Distance Learning.  The key objectives for the role are to project manage the development and implementation of the University’s strategy to expand distance learning provision and to manage relationships and communications with the various stakeholders.

We are pleased to announce that Wayne Eden will be joining us in early December to take up the role of Teaching and Learning Adviser (Business Processes). We look forward to welcoming Wayne to the office.

2.           TLSO Website / Policy & procedure changes and information

• Academic Advising Toolkit

A new ‘Academic Advising Toolkit’ has been developed, which is a signposting tool to assist Advisors in their role, and which underpins the Policy on Advising Taught Students. More detailed information on the role and expectations of Advisors can be found in the Policy, which was approved by Senate in April 2015. Implementation was from September 2015.

The Toolkit contains links to various internal and external sites containing information which may be useful for Academic Advisors in their role. These are separated under the headings of General Resources, Academic and Regulatory, Pastoral/Practical and Employability and Further Study.

The Toolkit also contains ‘The Academic Advising Model’, which has been developed to assist Advisors in their support of their advisees. It aims to generate a constructive conversation which motivates and directs students to take action and encourages reflection on their development. The Academic Advising Toolkit can be found on the following webpage:

• http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/advising/     

Academic Advisors can also access the Toolkit via My Students. My Students is a dashboard where Academic Advisors can view information on their taught students, using data from Campus Solutions and other University systems. The Advising toolkit has been launched as a supplementary resource that links from the My Students dashboard and is also accessible as a standalone resource. For further information about My Students, see:

• My Students
  
  

• Guidance on Examination Boards

New wording has been added to the Guidance, to confirm that one of the responsibilities of the Chair of an Examination Board is to ensure that Programme External Examiners are involved in any decision taken by Chair’s Action following an Examination Board that could affect a student’s progression and/or classification. This includes actions taken as a result of the consideration of student appeals and complaints cases. The new wording has been added as the final bullet point to paragraph 11.1:

• Guidance on Examination Boards
   

• Revised Academic Appeals and Student Complaints Procedures came into effect in September 2015

Following on from the last TLSO Bulletin, a reminder that the amended versions of Regulations XVIII (Student Complaints Procedure) and Regulation XIX (Academic Appeals Procedure) have now come into effect. The updated versions can be found below:

• Student Complaints Procedure

• Academic Appeals Procedure

Details of the changes were listed in the July Bulletin.

3.    Policy/procedure changes from other areas of the University

• Mitigating Circumstances Campus Solutions codes

So that Campus Solutions is in alignment with the Codes outlined in the Mitigating Circumstances Panels: Terms of Reference document, new Exam Board Notes (EBNs) have now been introduced in Campus Solutions.  These are available to use both in Gradebook and against the Student Term Record.
Full descriptions of the Applying Mitigation Recommendations Codes can be found on pages 6-7 of the above mentioned Terms of Reference Document. A Quick Guide for using these Exam Board Notes is now available from the Student Systems Office:

• Mitigating Circumstances Recommendations – Exam Board Notes

Further information is also available in the Student Systems Office Bulletin:

• SSO Bulletin 18 September 2015
  

• Developments in the delivery of online information and advice to students (information from Student Communications and Marketing, Directorate for the Student Experience)

The way the University delivers online information advice and guidance to students has changed. Crucial Guide Live has been replaced by a network of new microsites and staff are asked to update their bookmarks and any links they provide to students or colleagues.

As part of a major upgrade project to deliver enhanced access to information, advice and guidance services to students online through My Manchester, colleagues from across the Directorate have been working hard over the summer months to create a brand-new network of thematic sites.

The microsites have been created to better meet the needs of our students, with each one following the same principles for digital student content. Most importantly, the new sites put the needs of the users - our students - ahead of any other concern, meaning content should be simpler and quicker for students to find and navigate from a number of starting points, whether that's My Manchester or Google.

Content on the new sites has been developed - and will continue to be maintained - by teams across the DSE, with support from the Student Communications and Marketing Team and IT Services. The Disability Advice and Support Service, Counselling Service, Volunteering and Community Engagement, University College for Interdisciplinary Learning and Accommodation websites are also undergoing redevelopment.

The new microsites include Exams, Explore, Get Involved, Graduation, Student Support, Peer Support, Your Say for your Uni and Regulations and Policies. The Regulations and Policies micro-site houses formal student-related policies or regulations owned by the DSE, with a summary of the content of each one. The Your Say for your Uni site provides information to students on how they can get more involved in the University.

Further information about the changes, and links to all the new micro-sites, can be found at:

• Student Communications update
  
  

4.    The Peer Support Programme

• Peer Support for all Year one Undergraduate Students

Peer Support is invaluable to our institution and an important part of the experience of being an undergraduate student at the University of Manchester. For the first time we are able to offer Peer Support through either Peer Mentoring or Peer Assisted Study Session (PASS) Leaders to every individual year one undergraduate student.

We have been busy training all of the student volunteers in their roles as Peer Mentors, PASS Leaders and Peer Support Student Coordinators and we have an astonishing 1712 student volunteers trained and working within these roles.

Peer Support provides connections with students from within their discipline area, supporting the transition into and within higher education, assisting socialisation and orientation, academic integration, enhancing the student experience and academic performance, aiding retention and improving employability.

We also have an increasing number of PASS schemes for higher year students and will be exploring support for postgraduates.

For more information about Peer Support please go to: http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/peer-support/

• askme

The askme campaign has been a resounding success, which was in no small part to the significant number of Peer Support students across the University who contributed their time and energy to support the activity. All Peer Mentors and PASS Leaders have been within their Schools, running help desks and wearing their askme badges around campus.  
 

• Welcome and Induction

Each year a huge amount of peer support scheme activity takes place during Welcome Week. In particular our Peer Mentoring schemes see this as a critical time for new students to manage their initial transition into University life. The aim is to get students connected so they feel a sense of belonging and community that acts as a massive support mechanism for them across their 1st year with us. Volunteers organised tours, scavenger hunts, lunches, quizzes and other social events to welcome new students.

For a snapshot of welcome week activity please visit: http://peersupportuom.tumblr.com/

• Start of Year Fair

At the Peer Support stall (based in the Start of Year Fair tent outside Uni Place) there was a lot of interest from students - asking about both PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions) and Peer Mentoring.  Many had already heard of Peer Support in their discipline and a significant number of those approaching the desk had already met or were about to meet their Peer Mentor or PASS Leader and the stall helped us provide any clarification needed about PASS or Peer Mentoring to the new students.

Although the stall was primarily aimed at first years there was a lot of interest from higher years wanting to know how they could get involved and help support the other students at the university, including many postgraduate students.

• Staff Changes

A very warm welcome to our 2015-16 Graduate Interns who will be working with Schools in delivering the Peer Support programme across the University.  The new Interns are:

Eleanor Parfitt
Isobel Zimsek
Imogen Durant
Megan Whittaker
Dale Spratt
Thomas Hillsdon
Martin Campbell
 
We welcome them to TLSO and look forward to working with them during the coming year! We would also like to thank the outgoing Sabbatical Interns who worked so hard during the past year.

5.    Periodic and Institutional Reviews

This month's updated review schedule for internal programmes and collaborative provision for the next six years is available below:

• Periodic and institutional review schedule

6.    Information from the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

• QAA publishes revised Subject Benchmark Statements

QAA has published revised Subject Benchmark Statements for Linguistics; Optometry; and Languages, Cultures and Societies. Further information can be found at:

• Revised subject benchmark statements
  
  

• Assuring consistent levelling of UK degrees

QAA has published new and updated Qualification Characteristics Statements that help ensure that there are clear differences and consistent levelling for foundation, master's and doctorate degrees. Further information can be found at:

• Assuring consistent levelling of UK degrees