LSESU Education Officer: Jon Foster

A crucial part of successful revision is letting your brain recharge: it needs downtime to process all the information you’re putting in. It’s pretty much impossible to find a nice place to do that on campus, so we’ve reserved the 6th Floor Studio in the Saw Swee Hock Student Centre, which we’ll turn into a relaxing cinema space. On three evenings (Thursday 26th, Wednesday 1st June and Friday 10th June) you can come along to chill on the beanbags, grab some free popcorn and watch movies. Which ones? The choice is yours...

You can choose which films are shown by voting on the options below!

You can place your votes here!

Thursday 26th May

The Lion King vs Inside Out

6.30pm - 9.30pm

6th Floor Studio, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre

Wednesday 1st June

The Pursuit of Happyness vs Cool Runnings

5pm - 8.30pm

6th Floor Studio, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre

Friday 10th June

Forrest Gump vs The Shawshank Redemption

5pm - 8.30pm

6th Floor Studio, Saw Swee Hock Student Centre

How to vote:

Click here to vote for one or more.

More informationDe-Stress Fest is running right up till the end of exams, with opportunities to relax, de-stress and - eventually - to celebrate.

Head to the Facebook event for the full schedule of activities and events.

Cheers,

As I’m sure many of you are now aware, the LSE Summer Exam Timetable was released yesterday evening. This is the first time it has been released on time since 2013, and I know it comes as a massive relief to students. It is available at the link below:

http://www.lse.ac.uk/intranet/students/registrationTimetablesAssessment/examinationsAndResults/examTimetables/LSE-Summer-Exam-Timetable-2016.pdf 

Despite being released on time, I realise this is not an ideal solution for students. In my three years as an LSE Undergraduate, the late release date of the Exam Timetable was a source of constant frustration and I know it continues to cause difficulties, particularly at an institution as international as LSE. An earlier release was something I began discussing with the school at the start of this academic year. This has been underlined this year by the passing of both a UGM motion and an emergency motion calling for an earlier release. Whilst it was not possible to deliver an earlier release this year, the ongoing demand by the student body has prompted a review of the processes involved. In the coming months I will be continuing to work with the Registry and my successor Jasmina with a view to moving to an earlier release from next year. 

In the meantime, I will be working closely with Aysha, the Library and the Registry to ensure the exam period is as smooth as possible. In the coming weeks, there will be exciting news regarding study space and the biggest ‘De-stress’ Fest in SU history. We want to do everything we can to make your exam period as effective and easy as possible. 

I want to thank the entire student body for their support and patience on this issue. I hope you have a great Easter and that revision goes well! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch at [email protected] 

Cheers,

My number one priority for the term ahead is reform of the Academic Advisor system.

Academic advising at LSE is inherently flawed; there is no centralised standard, no method of assessing the performance of academics and no way of guaranteeing consistency across the school. 

For every great Academic Advisor, there is one who cannot even remember their advisee’s names. This can have a profound impact on a student’s overall experience, academic performance and even their mental wellbeing. As part of my contribution to our Students Union Welfare Campaign, this term I will be lobbying the school to review the system, implement the appropriate reforms and provide LSE students with the academic and pastoral support they deserve.

As part of last terms Education consultation and the ongoing Welfare Survey, we have been gathering your experiences of and opinions on Academic Advising here at LSE. These insights and what you envisage as the ideal role of an Academic Advisor will form the basis of my campaigning for the rest of the term. If you have yet to offer your insights you can still do so by filling out the Welfare Survey (https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3CKV86N) which is open till February 4th or by emailing me directly at [email protected]  

In Michaelmas term 2014, LSE formed the Academic Advisor Review Group to examine the role and report back before the end of the academic year with any recommended changes. Nearly 15 months later, the review group is yet to report and has not met once since I became Education Officer in July. Already this term, I have lobbied the school to reconvene the group and raised the issue with the Academic Student Affairs committee and directly with Paul Kelly (Pro-Director of Teaching & Learning). I have been assured that the review group will be meeting in the near future and using your insights I am confident we can make concrete, positive changes to the role when the review group reports back before the end of the summer term.

The final element of my work on Academic Advisors this term is to work with the Teaching and Learning Centre to review the published guidance for both students and academics of what to expect from the role. In an institution with as much departmental autonomy as LSE, it is natural that there will be some variation in the role across the school. Despite this, there has to be a clear and published definition of what staff and students can expect.

Academic Advising is one of the most fundamental tenets of the LSE experience, it is vital the school fulfils its promise to all students and provides effective academic and pastoral support.

Cheers,

Are you:

passionate but critical in your use of technology for study and for leisure?

looking to improve your digital literacy skills for study, the workplace and your daily life?

someone to inspire and share their ideas with others?

If so then we need you!

LSE has some incredible opportunities for personal development and this is your chance to get involved!

The Student Ambassadors for Digital Literacy (SADL) project explores the use of new technologies in an academic context. You will receive training on writing for blogs, maintaining a social media presence and managing information resources; these skills will be vital in your future career. Participation in this project will also be recognised in your LSE Personal Development Aide Memoir (PDAM). Check out the SADL blog to discover students’ experiences from the previous two years.

All undergraduates and postgraduates can now access 32LIF study spaces on weekends from 8am to 9.30pm. All rooms on the Basement, Lower Ground and Ground floors will be unlocked for students to study in!

   This follows some problems that occurred this weekend: some of the rooms LSESU booked were locked during the weekends – so there were empty rooms that students looking for space couldn’t access. As well as this, 32LIF had a no-undergraduate entry policy on Saturday and Sunday. After negotiation with the School, both of these issues have now been sorted.

  The study spaces we’ve booked in 32LIF have been used well during the week, and there are two further rooms added from next week.

  This is something that may (MAY) be extended to computer classrooms next year following the loss of C120.

That’s it! The General Election 2015 is over, and seemingly to everyone’s surprise, Britain has a Conservative majority government - and a new minister for Universities: Jo Johnson (aka JoJo)

   Not this JoJo

 Thanks to everyone who took part in our General Election campaign, whether you were one of 6000 or so people who viewed our election videos, took part in a debate, attending our Bankside hustings or were lucky enough to get yourself one of our 200 ‘remember to vote’ cupcakes - you helped to encourage your fellow students to vote (many for the first time). 

In one week alone in April 320,000 young people registered to vote. Early signs are that more young people (6 out of 10) voted than in 2010 (when it was closer to 5 out of 10) – which is incredible given the changes to the way first time voters register to vote. (Although those figures are not quite as good as a YouGov poll which suggested that 69% were ‘absolutely certain’ to vote – but as we now know you can’t trust polls!)

So thanks to all those LSE students who registered and voted and those who couldn’t but still got involved in the ‘Voter Registration’ and ‘Post Study Work Visa’ campaigns. I hope everyone enjoyed the election night party and will continue to engage with British politics to make LSE students’ voices heard.

This week see’s the launch of the 2015Teaching Excellence Awards!

 Last year we saw 993 individual nominations made,and over 450 members of staff recognised. This year we’re looking at extendingthis even further, to identify all members of staff who have an impact on your lives at LSE.

Nominations are open until 5th April, so make sure you recognise someone excellent while you can. Click here to nominate - http://www.lsesu.com/yourunion/teachingawards/

Who can I nominate? Provided the person you nominate is an employed staff member at the LSE, you can nominate them. Last year we introduced categories recognising the brilliant welfare and career support staff provide. We want to hear even more about your wardens, mentors and administrators as well as the excellent academics at the institution.

What if my nominees don’t win? Although it’s fantastic to win an award, not everyone can. This doesn’t mean your nominations will be meaningless. We are fully committed to letting all good nominees know that they were nominated by a student (anonymously, of course). We will be using the information you give us to let excellent educators at LSE know that they are appreciated and valued by students and in what areas their strengths lie. Just one nomination from you can make someone’s teaching year worthwhile.

What do the different categories mean?

1. Award for Inspirational Teaching: This award is for someone who is really charismatic, drives you to learn more, challenges your perceptions and encourages you to apply your knowledge to the wider world.

2. Award for Engaging Teaching Delivery: Someone who demonstrates a broad knowledge and variety in their teaching, facilitates engaging debates and dialogue and takes time to ensure you understand.

3. Award for Excellent Feedback and Communication: Someone who is approachable, responsive, provides excellent feedback and is willing to use innovative communication to help you develop and understand.

4. Award for Research Guidance and Support: Someone who is personally invested in your education, recognises your value as an academic equal and provides you with fantastic guidance.

5. Award for Innovative Teaching: Someone who goes beyond the traditional model of teaching, providing exciting perspectives and cutting edge research to your learning and can enhance your learning with technology.

What are the LSESU Welfare, support and development awards? These are additional two categories awarded by the Students’ Union for people who excel in the ‘extra-curricular’ side of your education. 6. LSESU Award for Excellent Welfare and Pastoral Support: Someone who cares about your personal welfare, is a constant point of support and has been able to signpost you to appropriate support services. 7. LSESU Award for Professional Mentoring and Personal Development: Someone who has added value beyond the traditional academic reach, helping you to develop professionally and helping you to add value to your skill set.

Can I nominate someone in more than one category? Absolutely – As long as they meet the criteria of the category specified, you can nominate them in as many as you like. After all, if they’re outstanding, they may excel in many ways.

Can I nominate multiple people? You can submit more than one nomination. If you’ve had multiple excellent teachers and supporters then please feel free to recognise all of them and nominate them for awards. Each new nominee will require a new submission form to completed.

  Our department is quite small; surely my nominee will never win? They have just as much chance as everyone else. We wanted to make sure that smaller departments and staff with fewer student interactions had just as much chance to win. It’s the quality of your nomination and the reasons you give that will make the difference, not the number of nominations alone.

If you have any questions about the awards or the process please contact me at [email protected] or Nicky at [email protected]

The next General Election is the most important and unpredictable for a generation. If David Cameron is Prime Minister after the 7th May we will have a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union, and may leave the EU. If Ed Miliband is Prime Minister he may have to rely on the SNP, Greens and/or the Liberal Democrats for a majority, meaning we could end up with any number of policies. If a right wing government is formed it is likely the welfare state will be cut back hugely and if the left wing gains power deficit reduction will be slowed and the highest earners will be taxed at the highest level since the 1980s. The two party system of Conservative/Labour which has reigned supreme since the 1920s, cracked at 2010 election, may be destroyed forever at the next, with UKIP, the Greens, the SNP and/or the Lib Dems possibly in the next UK government.

Young people are on course to have less of a voice in the General Election than the old. The over 65s had a far greater turnout in the last general election (76%) than 18-24 year olds (only 44%!) and therefore political parties pitch their policies far more to the elderly than the young, or us students. That, combined with the fact that it is estimated that one in four young people may be missing from the electoral register, means that young people are in danger of having less of a voice in this election than any other in recent times. In total 100,000 fewer people are expected to be registered to vote in London alone, following changes to the registration process, meaning that universities can no longer automatically register students living in halls.

You don’t have to be British to vote in the General Election! In the General Election British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens can vote. LSE is a massively international university but not many Malaysians, Irish, Canadians, Australians, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Jamaicans, Kenyans, South Africans, Ugandans, Botswanans and Cypriots at LSE, know that they are entitled to a vote. And they will only be able to do so if they register to vote before the 20th of April.

LSE students can have an impact in their constituency elections. The most obvious example of this is those students living is Bermondsey and Old Southwark (including all students in Bankside, Sidney Webb House and Butler’s Wharf halls) where the latest polling have the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates neck and neck. Obviously then if all LSE students eligible to vote in these halls get out and vote it is not impossible that their votes could decide who wins this seat. In the Holborn and St Pancras constituency (home to the main LSE campus, Carr-Saunders halls, Passfield halls and High Holborn hall) the race is on between Labour’s Keir Starmer (the ex-director of public prosecutions) and Natalie Bennett (the leader of the Green party). This should be a safe Labour seat but could under 25s (22% of whom say they will vote Green in the general election) make the difference here?

In what will soon be new postgraduate study space on the first floor of the LSE Library, students and library staff discussed their vision for the future of the library. Students were told that the lower ground floor, fourth floor and parts of the first floor are being transformed in the next few years and gave their own thoughts on these and other changes.

Some developments were clearly welcomed, including the abolition of library fines, the extra study space in the course collection area and the plan to make the fourth floor student study space. Others were not, such as proposals looking at reducing numbers of fixed PC points and banning all food from the library. Interestingly, many students also highlighted the behaviour of other students, such as the practice of ‘saving’ desks for hours on end, as a major problem in the library, as well expressing the perennial desire for more study space and plugs.

So what happens now? Well I am taking the feedback from the event to the Library Services Committee next week, where I will ensure that progress is made on the issues highlighted and push for students’ views to influence the plan for the future of library.

I would like to thank everyone who attended and the library for making the event possible. If you have any feedback on the library or anything else at all, email me at:

The Library is somewhere that, famously, students spend a lot of their time.

*

The library has changed this year; there is more study space on the first floor, a new, simpler, printing system and no more library fines.

However it will be changing much more. Over the next few years almost all of the library floors will be altered and the library needs YOUR input on these changes.

Do we need our study space to be quieter? Do we need more space for group study or is it just about more seats and desks? Are fixed PC points a thing of the past with seemingly every student having a laptop? Or is the real problem other STUDENTS SAVING SEATS AND THEN LEAVING FOR HOURS?!?

For PhD students especially the way you use the library will be drastically changed. Next year the school is opening a PhD academy on the 4th floor of the library, i.e. a PhD only space to relax, study and learn. What should that space look like? What services do you want to available there?

Between noon and 2pm on Monday, February 9th the students union will be working with the library to let you have your say. Let us know what you think and what you want from your library in the future. Hope to see you there!

This is an article I wrote for the Beaver last week letting everyone know what I've been up to this term - there's a couple of updates on this in brackets.

Feedback

If there’s one thing that LSE students consistently find to be inadequate it’s the feedback on the work they complete and that’s the thing I’ve worked most on during this term.

The first thing I’ve done is won the argument to change the school regulation so departments will soon be required to publish their minimum feedback standards on each course moodle page. This means that students will know exactly what these standards are and when those standards aren’t being met. In addition this increased transparency will mean that we can, if necessary, campaign to improve those standards where students feel there not as good as they should be!

Another common complaint about feedback at LSE is how it is not best linked to summative assessment (i.e. those assessments which contribute to your final mark). This would change if we got individualised feedback on our exams. Some departments already provide exam feedback namely, International History, Geography and Environment and, this year we’ve encouraged IR to offer exam feedback for their first and second years. It’s one of my main priorities to get more departments on board with offering this sort of feedback; a couple of weeks ago it was agreed that the school will start a working group with a significant student membership to look how provision of exam feedback can be expanded beyond these few (these happy few) departments. If you want to help with this please do get in contact and spread the word!

Space

Space is such a huge issue for LSE students and it’s only going to get bigger, or rather smaller. Over the next few years LSE is undergoing a huge change – the East Building and half of Saint Clements’ is getting demolished this summer to make way for the magnificent looking centre buildings. These centre buildings will be great when they’re finished but for the next five or so years Houghton Street will be a building site – not only that, but we’ll be losing the C120 study space and around 270 computers across campus. As well as this the 5th floor of the library will soon not be accessible to students, as it was during exam time last year. So as you can see student space on campus, especially study space, is going to be very tight indeed.

I’ve been working on ways to change that. One of the short term goals is finding enough space for students in the exam periods, and I’ve worked with the school to agree to booking out some permanent space for student space only throughout the summer term this year (probably in 32LIF so it will be available exclusively to LSE students).

Space in library, which let’s be honest is rammed most of the time, is another key issue here. I personally think it’s crazy that LSE has made the 5th floor this year available not to students but for school staff. The library staff are absolutely on students’ side on this, I want that to be really clear, and are working with me to provide space where they can (for instance in the course collection area on the ground floor) but there are decisions made higher up the school that fail to take into account the incredibly high demand for space in the library from students. For instance it has long been the plan to transform the fourth floor of the library in order to provide a PhD dedicated study space as well as additional study space for all students. The school has been in long negotiations with a couple of groups, currently in standing the way this change – a handful of influential (read income generating) academic staff standing in the way of the needs of over 10,000 students! Together we can increase the pressure on the school to turn the volume up on the demands of those 10,000 students and drown out the sound of those opposed to the change. (Update: It has been confirmed to me at academic board by Andy Farrell LSE Chief Finance Officer, that the fourth floor will have a PhD academic by the start of next year and will be available as study space during Lent Term)

Academic Culture

This is my final priority for the year and is the hardest to define. Basically I want to get staff and students to interact outside of the classroom. Again, some departments already do this really well (have you seen the Philosophy and Anthropology staff and student bands?!?) but I think there is a sizeable minority of students at LSE who don’t feel they have good relationships with their teachers and fellow students in their departments. This priority has been the most fun to plan – this week we had the first Re-Imagining Our Education event where awarding winning teaching staff, members of the school management and students shared their views on education and what factors are driving educational change at LSE at the moment. In the near future I am keen that we do more of these to discuss big educational changes (e.g. reforming assessment across the school) to make sure students have some impact on these huge decisions. On the 8th of December we’re having the LSESU pub quiz (did it was great see previous post) and we are also working on organising some sort of sports (probably dodgeball) competition, involving staff and students. I think that this sort of informal contact with academics will improve the community feeling and sense of identity at LSE. So that’s what I’ve been doing so far! If there’s anything in the above that you think you could help with or you think is particular important please do get in contact ([email protected]); in fact if there’s something you think I should be doing but am not, let me know as well! Also add my officer Facebook account ‘Tom Education-Officer’ or watch the SU website for updates on everything.

Cheers,

Last night was the LSESU pub quiz. There was an amazing turnout (19 teams, around 90 people attended). We gave cash prizes for third, second and first place (who also got a £50 bar tab!). We also gave away some chocolate for the best pub quiz team name, in this case Quiz in my pants - (Beyon-Sleigh was robbed!)

  What were your expectations of your course?

Why did you choose to study at LSE?

Has it met your expectations?

How can we challenge the perception that LSE is a banker training school?

What can the school do to make an LSE education something you’re proud to experience?

Every LSE student can answer these questions. And we’ve all had a moan about some element of education at LSE. But we probably have felt that as students we aren’t part of the conversation about what an LSE education should mean.

As Education Officer I’m keen to make sure that students have a voice in the conversations that decide the future of LSE. That’s why on 25th November the SU and I will be hosting Re-Imagining Our Education: an event which will give you that voice.

This first Re-Imagining Our Education event gives you the chance to discuss your views on LSE education over some food and drink. You’ll be able to talk with award winning teaching staff and your fellow students, as well as LSE Pro-Director Paul Kelly and Neil McLean from the Teaching and Learning Centre. This is a chance to tell the people that make the big decisions what you really think. Don’t miss out!

The Student Ambassadors for Digital Literacy (SADL) project is a fantastic opportunity to improve your own digital literacy skills and help your fellow students make the most of the technology at students’ disposal while you’re here at LSE.

SADL is looking to recruit 40 students from the from IR, Statistics and Social Policy departments to become digital ambassadors. These ambassadors will attend four workshops throughout the year on various areas of digital learning - from how to best use the library’s many digital resources to how to manage your digital footprint that prospective employers see online.

Being a SADL ambassador is a great chance to improve your digital skills - which as well as being valuable skills to have in themselves, will show you the most effective ways to access to LSE’s digital resources (saving you a bunch of time) - as well as your communication skills, as a large part of the role is sharing what you’ve learnt with your fellow students via blogs and posts on Moodle.

The project, which has received funding from LSE Library and LTI, was a huge success last year. Check out last year’s ambassadors talking about why they think the role is important and what the most important things they learnt were.

This summer I’ve been working with the library on some projects which relate to my priorities for the year and which will help to benefit all LSE students who use the library.

Primarily, we've been working together on student space. Space is, and will continue to be, a key issue for LSE students. Increasing numbers of students, as well as a short term decrease in available space due to the campus redevelopment, means that securing enough space for students will be something for which we will have to fight during the next 5 years at least. The LSE library, which can be accessed by students from other universities too, can be extremely busy, even (and especially) during the summer term when priority is given to LSE students over students from other universities. So expanding and improving student space in the library and beyond was a key part of my election manifesto and will continue to be a priority in my year as Education Officer.

In order to address this issue, myself and the library have been working to provide some LSE-students-only study space in what used to be the course collection area; a large part of which was previously used to store texts which either haven’t been taken out in years or are now available online. The space to be used is huge and students should be able to study in that space from next week!

  The other way I've worked with the library to improve space around LSE is by ensuring that the SU inherits some library beanbags for the Saw Swee Hock student centre! They’re now placed around the second and third floor of the building so we’ve got some places to relax (and possibly nap) in our Union building.

There are two other changes in the way the library will be doing things this year. First, the library will no longer be issuing fines! Instead students will not be able to take out any further books until they return or renew due books. This policy will be piloted in the first term of this year and then reviewed (I’ll blog details of the review nearer the time).

Secondly, during October the library will be prioritising LSE students joining the library, meaning that new non-LSE students will not have their applications to join the library approved until the 5th of November.