Minutes of the SSCC Meeting

Held on Wednesday 3^rd November 2004 in Room 229 at 1.00 p.m.

Staff Present:            

Graham Roberts (Departmental Undergraduate Tutor, Chair), Simon Arridge (MSc VIVE Course Director), Bernard Buxton (Advanced Courses Co-ordinator), Steve Hailes (Director of Studies), Robin Hirsch (MScCS Course Director), Nicola Jarvis (Undergraduate Administrator, Secretary), Diane Lucas (Department Manager), Peter Rounce (Director of Services), Barry Stein (Technical Support Group).

Student Representatives Present:

Zarraq Ahmed (Year 1 UG), Marek Bereza (Year 3 UG), Andrew Cox (Year 1 UG), Sunpreet Grewal (Year 2 UG), Hina Keval (PhD), Sylvain Marie (MSc IS), Jigar Mehta (MSc CS), 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 Khurshed Ali, JJ Giwa and Jill Saunders.

2. Notification of any other business

- Charging for lecture notes; term 2 timetable; frequency of coursework. (Dmytro Stasyuk)

- Recycling bins in offices. (Hina Kevar)

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       Abuse of CS Mailing lists.

Various reminders have been sent. Graham has not heard of any problems yet this term. Any that arise should be reported to him.

4.2       Timely information about lecture changes/ cancellations and coursework         deadlines.

This was raised at the February 2004 Teaching Committee and staff were reminded to make good use of course mailing lists.

5. The new CS building. (Diane Lucas)

Diane reported that the new building is very nearly ready to be handed over – this should happen in the next couple of weeks. It was hoped that the move will cause very little disruption to teaching. The computer labs will be moving before Christmas which will mean some disruption, but the new building committee will give plenty of notice before the shutdown is due.

Responding to a query from Robin Hirsch, Diane agreed to investigate security issues relating to the new bicycle shed.

Action: DL

6. Student recruitment (Steve Hailes)

The department is looking for ways to improve recruitment onto our degree programmes.

Steve explained that applications for undergraduate study are in a decline nationally. The department is keen to keep up both numbers and quality.

After some discussion it was decided to hold some lunchtime meetings with the course representatives.

7. Scholarships (Graham Roberts)

The department is working hard to obtain student scholarships from a variety of sources and encourage students to apply for them. However, very few students are doing so.

It appeared that the ‘bright and needy’ tag had been putting people off – also, overseas students had assumed the awards were for home students.

It was agreed that publicity about the scholarships needed to be made clearer.

8. Student rep training (Graham Roberts)

The UCL Union will be holding training sessions and support to make sure the SSCC system works effectively. Reps were encouraged to attend.

9. Student representatives on other departmental committees (Graham Roberts)

If interested in attending other committees, such as the Teaching Committee, please email Graham Roberts.

10. Clarification of differences between MSc and MSci courses (Fuad Sulejmanovic)

Graham Roberts explained that the MSci is equivalent to an MSc. The courses taken in the final year of the programme are equivalent to advanced masters modules.

The department is currently seeking permission to change the MSci to MEng, which is a qualification that is more widely understood.

11. Chartered engineer status for MSci students (Fuad Sulejmanovic)

UCL CS degrees are accredited by the BCS and IEE. They provide graduating students with exemption from one or more professional examinations on the route to becoming a professional engineer.

12. Extended lab opening hours (Graham Roberts)

No one has made use of the extended opening hours so far. No further sessions will be arranged unless we can be sure people will make use of them. Students should email JJ Giwa if they want to arrange late opening on a specific date.

13. End of year wrap-up meetings feedback. (Jill Saunders)

Minutes of the meetings were circulated.

14. Any other business

14.1        Paying for lecture notes

The DCNDS students were not happy that they had to pay for some lecture notes but not others. It was agreed to carry this item forward for a policy decision at Teaching Committee.

14.2        Term 2 timetables

The students were advised to raise any timetable worries initially with the Course Director. It can be very difficult to move lectures at later stages of the term.

14.3        Frequency of coursework

DCNDS had noted that some lecturers gave regular small pieces of coursework, while others gave larger pieces of work. Steve urged students to feed back via the student evaluation questionnaires, but to be aware that different styles of coursework were given for different reasons (testing different skills). Teachers also had different styles.

14.4        Recycling Bins

The PhD students were recommended to approach JJ Giwa on this matter.

THE MEETING CLOSED AT 1.00 P.M.