Q: Who will invite me to each meeting?
A: For your departmental meetings, your invitations will come via email from a member of staff within your department. This will often be your Programme Administrator. For Students' Union meetings, we will send you an email invitation and also use Microsoft Teams to remind you about upcoming events.
Q: What do I do if I cannot attend a meeting?
A: You will need to send through your apologies for absence as soon as you know that you cannot attend a meeting, and these apologies will need to be sent to whoever sent you your invitation to the relevant meeting.
If you are a distance learner, out on placement, or have another physical barrier to attending meetings on campus, you could request to Skype/Microsoft Teams into your departmental meetings, or you may wish to send your apologies for all meetings at the start of the year.
Q: How do I send my "apologies for absence"?
A: You will need to email the member of staff who has invited you to the meeting and explain that you will not be able to attend the meeting. You need to do this as soon as you know you cannot attend, and ideally, accompany your apologies with a written report of your cohort's feedback.
Q: Can I send through a written report to a meeting if I cannot attend?
A: Yes, absolutely! We encourage that any Rep who cannot attend a meeting submits a written report to be presented in their absence. This ensures that the students you represent are still heard. Collate the feedback you've gathered from students, anonymise it, and turn it into a written report that you send through to the meeting organiser along with your apologies for absence.
If you are a distance learner, or out on placement, we would expect you to submit a written report to all meetings as you would not be expected to attend in person.
Q: Is meeting attendance compulsory?
A: Yes, attending the meetings listed above are compulsory in order to fulfil your Rep role and meet the criteria for your HEAR eligibility. This is why sending in your apologies for absence and a written report are vital, as this will mean your HEAR eligibility is not compromised.
Q: How should I prepare for a meeting?
A: Ensure that you've been in touch with your fellow students to gather their feedback about the course, their academic experiences, and life at Surrey in general. Anonymise any feedback you've received, and collate this into some notes/a report that you can take with you to the meeting. Get in touch with any other Reps on your course at your level to ensure that you're not going to repeat or miss any information.
You'll be asked to share the student feedback you've gathered, so be prepared to explain what your feedback is and what it shows. Be sure to always present feedback in a professional way - be accurate, balanced, constructive, and keep your feedback factual and not personal.
