Appendix O
Research Students Advisory Committee governance
In 2002 the Sub Board for Research Degrees endorsed the recommendation that
the Institute should re-instigate the arrangement whereby MPhil/PhD students
have an appointed advisory committee to oversee their progress during their
studies. This practice was already operating in some parts of the Institute
and had also been endorsed by the ESRC and QAA. The aim of establishing advisory
committees for all MPhil/PhD is to ensure consistency across all Schools/Units
and to help support supervisors by providing more opportunities for students
to obtain feedback and assistance.
The composition of the advisory committees will be left to each School's Research
Committee. Until such time as the numbers of MPhil/PhD students increase and
make the arrangement unwieldy, SSRU will have a single combined advisory committee
(called the Research Students Advisory Committee - RSAC) to address the needs
of all its students, each of whom is supervised by one or more of the committee's
members. The committee may in the future appoint staff from elsewhere in the
Institute, or exceptionally (and where no expertise is available within the
Institute), staff from another college of the University of London.
The composition of the committee will be:
Chair: SSRU Research Tutor (Priscilla Alderson)
Secretary: SSRU Research Administrator (Joanna Seecharan) - maintain student records, including copies of students' training plans, annual reviews, upgrading statements and associated correspondence (including correspondence with external examiners); draft, circulate and disseminate minutes to SSRU RSAC members, the Dean of Doctoral School, IoE Registy and (edited as necessary to withhold any closed business, such as the assessment of annual review or upgrading statements) to all SSRU research students.
Members: SSRU Research Student supervisors (Priscilla Alderson, George Ellison,
Ann Oakley and Sandy Oliver)
SSRU's research students should know the names of members of SSRU's RSAC and
will receive a copy of the minutes of RSAC meetings (edited as necessary to
withhold any closed business, such as the assessment of annual review or upgrading
statements). SSRU's research students will not normally meet with or consult
the RSAC unless this is arranged through their supervisor, although they are
encouraged to do so (by contacting either the Unit's Research Tutor [PA] or
the Unit Director [AO]) if they are unable to resolve a disagreement with their
supervisor(s).
SSRU's RSAC will communicate by email throughout the year but will ordinarily
meet in person only once a year, 4 weeks before the deadline for the submission
of annual review report forms (in 2002 this deadline was 31st July). At this
meeting the RSAC will act on the following list of responsibilities (a list
that is intended to act as a standard agenda for the RSAC's annual meeting,
as highlighted in bold below):
(i) to review and update RSAC Governance and for the Research Tutor to feedback
to the committee any changes to the administration of research students approved
by the Research Degrees Programme Board during the preceding year. Any changes
to RSAC Governance which need to be included in SSRU's Staff handbook should
be minuted as such and highlighted in the copy forwarded to SSRU's Unit Secretary
(Joanna Seecharan), who is responsible for updating the handbook.
(ii) to check and update the SSRU and IoE Student Databases held by the RSAC
Secretary (JS) and IoE Registry (Wendy Barber) respectively - making sure that:
details of new students who register are included and are accurate; the status
of supervisors (main and second) are accurately recorded; and periods of full-
and part-time registration are correct (as well as periods during which registration
was suspended - all of which are critical for monitoring successful progression
to completion within the recommended time period, and for establishing what
fees are due). The RSAC should also consider and approve any changes in supervision,
particularly when supervisors go on study leave, leave the Institute or become
long-term sick.
(iii) to coordinate the Annual Review process - the RSAC Secretary (JS) soliciting
draft annual review forms from students and supervisors at least 2 weeks before
the committee meets, so that these forms can be passed on for review by the
Research Tutor to one* other RSAC academic member (who is NOT one of the student's
supervisor) before the RSAC meeting, where either any concerns can be raised
for discussion and action (by the Research Tutor or other reviewer) or, in the
absence of any concerns, the forms can be approved, copied and forwarded to
Registry. *For those students for whom the Research Tutor is a supervisor, TWO
other RSAC academic members should review the annual report forms and provide
feedback at the meeting.
(iv) to assist with the review and approval of Upgrading statements - usually
by appointing two RSAC academic members, but occasionally appointing one RSAC
academic member and another member of academic staff at SSRU, (NEITHER of whom
should be one of the students' supervisors) to read and provide constructive
feedback on the student's upgrading statement. Within SSRU the RSAC will favour
upgrading statements which include a plan of future work* and two draft, work-in-progress
'chapters' which lend themselves for later inclusion in the thesis (rather than
a separate/discrete document that might not readily contribute to the thesis,
and might therefore deflect attention/time/effort). Ordinarily these two 'chapters'
would comprise one based on background (i.e. methods/data collection/review),
the other on findings (i.e. analysis/interpretation/discussion). *The plan of
future work should comprise a detailed outline of any future data collection
and analyses, as well as a draft structure for the thesis as a whole. Since
students are only permitted two attempts at upgrading, SSRU's RSAC encourage
students and their supervisors to submit draft upgrading statements for review
and feedback by two independent members of the RSAC prior to the formal submission
of their upgrading statement. Ordinarily students would then revise their upgrading
statements before formally re-submitting these and presenting an upgrading seminar
to colleagues within the Institute organized at SSRU.
(v) to assist in the nomination of suitable Internal and External Examiners
- who should be qualified to comment on methods and/or substance of the student's
work, and should through by way of their academic reputation help accredit the
quality of the student's work. The appointment of examiners is formally a responsibility
of the University of London which is coordinated by IoE's registry following
recommendations from each student's supervisor(s) and their RSAC.
(vi) to provide support to the supervisor and student, and to deal with Any
Other Business that might affect research students or their supervision within
SSRU or the Institute as a whole.