Minutes of the SSCC Meeting

Held on Wednesday 2^nd March 2005, Room 114 Foster Court at 1.00 p.m.

Staff Present:            

Graham Roberts (Departmental Undergraduate Tutor, Chair), Bernard Buxton (Advanced Courses Co-ordinator), Steve Hailes (Director of Studies), Robin Hirsch (MScCS Course Director), Nicola Jarvis (Undergraduate Administrator, Secretary), Peter Rounce (Director of Services), Jill Saunders (Departmental Manager), Soren Sorenson (1^st Year Co-ordinator), Barry Stein, Denis Timm (Technical Support Group).

Student Representatives Present:

Khurshed Ali (Year 3 UG), Xi Chen (MSc CS), Andrew Cox (Year 1 UG), Sunpreet Grewal (Year 2 UG), Hina Keval (PhD), Deniz Ozsen (Year 4 UG), Ajay Sikri (MaCS), Yoshia Sone (MSc CS), Dmytro Stasyuk (MSc DCNDS), Fuad Sulejmanovic (Year 4 UG).

1. Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Zarraq Ahmed (1^st year), Sylvain Marie (MSc CS) and Diane Lucas (Departmental Manager).

2. Notification of any other business

Student lockers in new building (Fuad Sulejmanovic)

3. Approval of minutes of the last meeting

The previous minutes were approved as an accurate record of the last meeting.

4. Matters arising from the previous minutes

4.1 Security of new bike sheds

These are being built in the area between the new building and the DMS Watson library. It can be assumed that they will be as secure as any other bike rack in the college.

4.2 Student representatives on other departmental committees

No-one has volunteered so far. Jill Saunders reported that the next Teaching Committee will be held on 9^th March 2005, and anyone interested in attending should contact her.

5. Comments about facilities and usage of the new CS building (Jill Saunders)

Jill briefly commented on progress made so far and explained that there was on-going communication with the contractors regarding issues of the fabric of the building. She asked for feedback about the experience of settling into the new building.

Some discussion ensued regarding student lockers and Jill agreed to take this issue to the New Building Committee.

Action: Jill Saunders

The issue of coat hooks on the back of the doors in toilet cubicles was also raised. This is also being investigated by the new building team.

6. Noise and poor behaviour in computer labs (Andrew Cox)

Problems had been reported in the designated ‘quiet lab’, where groups have been talking and causing disruption. Mobile phone use was also considered a problem. After discussion, it was agreed that informing the helpdesk would be the best solution. Staff there would be happy to intervene if noise levels were raised too high. Graham Roberts also agreed to check on the labs more often.

Action: Helpdesk Team/ Graham Roberts

7. Tutorial arrangements (Steve Hailes)

Steve Hailes asked the students reps to investigate perceptions of effectiveness of the tutorial system amongst their peers. He explained that the motivation for this had come from an internal quality audit which found that the department system was different to others in college. There was discussion about the current working of problem classes, some of which were not well attended, and some of which were perceived to be disorganized. Steve reported that feedback pages would soon be available on the web for comment on problem classes, on a module by module basis.

Action: Student reps to consult peers

8. Lecturers not responding to emails and being difficult to contact (Various)

Graham had received complaints about this issue from various sources. The student reps at the meeting had not received any comments on this issue, and had experienced no problems themselves. It was commented upon, however, that there was more of a problem with group messages being sent to some mailing lists and not others (for example modules taught jointly for undergraduates and MSc). It was agreed to remind staff to keep this in mind while sending group emails, and to remind students to sign up to email lists.

9. Huge workload in 4^th year of MSci/ MEng (4^th year reps)

Graham reiterated that the fourth year was meant to be demanding, and that previous years had experienced the same heavy workload and not been disadvantaged.

On a linked issue, there had been confusion amongst the fourth years about project arrangements for this year, as the deadlines and guidelines had come out late and only been emailed to the 3C01 list. Steve Hailes confirmed that this was a transition year for projects, and that students this year would not be penalized for using last years’ guidelines.

10. Late return of marked coursework (Various)

It was agreed that staff should be reminded about the timely return of coursework.

Action: Graham Roberts

11. Upgrade to email service and availability of an IMAP service (4^th yr reps)

Graham Roberts had contacted John Andrews (Head of External Networks & Services) on this matter. There are plans for a new email service; this has been disrupted by the move to the new building, but it will happen in due course.

The Helpdesk may be able to assist with forwarding mail.

12. 1B10 – feedback on tests and practice exam questions (Many requests)

Soren Sorensen agreed to check the website, where this information should be published. There are no plans to make a full set of test questions for the exam.

Graham suggested that the revision lecture for 1B10 would be a good forum for building student confidence with regard to the exam.

Action: Soren Sorensen

13. Recycling bins for printers (Hina Keval)

This item is on the list of issues for the new building group, and will be dealt with as soon as possible.

Action: Jill Saunders/ Diane Lucas

14. MISYS scholarships

Graham encouraged first, second and third year students to apply for these scholarships, as the department had been successful in gaining awards in the past.

Action: Student reps to feed back to peers

15. Any other business

The issue of lockers was dealt with under item 5.

In response to a query about student being able to book rooms or lecture theatres, it was confirmed that this can be done via the student union. Department rooms may also be booked for particular activities but only via a member of staff.

THE MEETING CLOSED AT 1.55 P.M.