12. Student Representation and Feedback

Your views are important to the School of Mathematical Sciences and to Queen Mary. There are a variety of ways in which you can communicate your opinions to us. At an institutional level, there are student representatives on Council, Senate and various committees across Queen Mary.

Student Voice Committee

The School of Mathematical Sciences postgraduate Student Voice Committee (SVC) normally meets twice a semester. It discusses matters of interest to postgraduates, including the curriculum, student welfare and facilities, and advises the Head of School. The Students' Union arranges elections for at least one student course representative from each MSc programme. Please raise any matters of concern with one of your student course representatives.

The School takes suggestions from the SVC very seriously. The committee is chaired by Dr MWeini Huang and attended by the Head of School, Director of Education, Programme Directors, Director of Postgraduate Taught Studies and the Education Services Manager. We provide details of the SVC on QMplus, including minutes of past meetings. See also Student feedback.

Student Ambassadors

The School of Mathematical Sciences employs a number of students to act as guides and talk to prospective students who attend open days or post-offer visit days. There are similar opportunities within Queen Mary. Look out for emails and notices if you are interested.

Module Experience Surveys

What are Module Experience surveys?

Module Experience surveys allow you to give your experiences directly to your teacher who is normally the Module Organiser. You complete a survey for each module you take once you’ve finished it, normally at the end of the semester.

The surveys are completed on a platform called Evasys and you can access all the surveys open to you using your Queen Mary login details. Once the survey window is closed your Module Organiser is expected to respond to your feedback by email within fifteen working days.

Access the Evasys dashboard. 

Your responses are confidential. Members of staff who receive your feedback will not be able to identify you. More information on confidentiality of these surveys and where that may not apply can be found on MyQMUL.

Why should you complete the surveys?

Module Organisers receive the results and comments from surveys as soon as they close. This feedback can help them make changes to how the module is taught next time. If something was amazing or didn’t work so well your voice helps improve it for other students on your course. Your teachers care about doing a good job so honest, constructive feedback helps them understand what worked and what could be better.

How you should give your feedback?

Please provide feedback in line with Queen Mary’s values of inclusivity, integrity and accountability.

Remember: This feedback will go directly to your Module Organiser, so you should use constructive language when giving feedback. Focus on:

·         - what worked

·         - how could things improve.

When giving feedback, reference specific experiences or examples, this helps staff understand the context and take meaningful action.

Where does your feedback go?

Your Module Organiser will receive your classes’ responses in the first instance and you will be sent their feedback via email.

Your Module Organiser then discusses your feedback with your course/programme director before your School/Institute reviews the results of all the modules running that semester. Around the same time your Student Voice Committee should also be able to discuss results with staff in your School/Institute.

 

Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey

The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) is conducted every year. It is facilitated by Advance HE, the national body that champions teaching excellence. The PTES gives you, as a postgraduate taught student, an opportunity to give your opinions on what you like about your time at Queen Mary, as well as those aspects that you feel could be improved. Please do consider completing the survey; your feedback really is invaluable and will help us make a difference for future generations of Queen Mary students. More information is provided here: http://my.qmul.ac.uk/your-voice/feedback/postgraduate-taught-experience-survey.

 

How can I provide personal feedback?

You are welcome to make suggestions for improvement to members of staff, such as your module organisers or advisor, and we will try to pursue any serious suggestions that may lead to improvements in our procedures. More information can be found here.