Why can students be reluctant to nominate themselves as Class Reps?

Typically, we find that students are reluctant to volunteer due to one or more of these reasons:

• They are unwilling to volunteer publicly,
• They do not understand the role or its potential impact on their group and their personal development,
• They do not know one another,
• They do not think the role is worth it.

Students who are 25 or older are also less likely to become Class Reps. Alongside the common barriers listed above, this appears to be largely due to them having more commitments outside of university and believing they do not have enough free time to commit to the role.

What simple things can you do to overcome these?

• Tell students what the role of a Class Rep is in one session and then invite them to put themselves forward privately. Consider sharing the Role Profile or e-leaflet with them. Once you have all the nominations you can then present the nominees to the class and then hold a simple vote to elect them in - a show of hands or agreement is perfectly sufficient.
• Let students know what changes Class Reps have brought about in the past and the positive impact it has made to you and the group. We have electronic copies of our posters showing previous Class Reps explaining why the role has been valuable to them available to download – please feel free to print extra copies as handouts, embed in PowerPoint slides or upload to Blackboard to support these conversations.
• Explain who will support them and how (e.g. dedicated training, dedicated Academic Officer, a member of UCSU staff, etc.). You can refer to the section of the Class Rep Role Profile which details this.
• Allow students to build rapport before running the election. So long as the process is completed by the end of October, you can take your time.
• Give the right impression and lend the process and the role its due importance – don't tag it into two hurried minutes of a session.
• The Class Rep role is valuable and can be very effective when everything aligns correctly – the right Rep being chosen, being well-supported and engaging fully in the process. Perhaps you could support this by explaining how the role could help you and your colleagues improve the learning experience of students. If you are able to give examples of how that has happened in the past this can make this conversation more powerful.

Still struggling?

If you find that you are still having difficulty encouraging nominations from your group, please contact the Student Voice team at StudentVoice@cumbria.ac.uk to discuss how we can further support you and next steps.

Your response to Class Reps, and students, telling you how they feel about their university experience is very important. Responding positively can convey to students that the University values their feedback and wants to hear what they think. Reflecting on feedback we’ve received from Class Reps about their interactions with tutors, here’s some things you might find helpful to bear in mind during conversations, particularly those within Student Staff Forums:

• As a tutor, you are quite likely to receive feedback about things which you cannot directly influence. There is a wider Student Representation System (click here to view a summary diagram) which exists to support students to improve their University experience so the answer could be to encourage students to connect with us at the Students’ Union. This can be particularly useful to avoid a situation where students feel like their views have not been taken on board because the right people aren’t in the conversation.
• Students and teachers are both involved in the process of learning and both provide valuable insights, albeit from different perspectives. Rather than a chance to record the opinions of students, using a Student Staff Forum to have a two-way dialogue that deepens understanding and co-creates solutions can have a greater impact on student satisfaction.
• It’s important to both be and appear interested! It is useful to ask questions, where appropriate, to clarify meaning, ask for further information or discuss examples. This can include assessing the scale of any issues – how widespread is the impact on your students? 
• ​Give students space to talk by considering carefully at which points to ask questions and ensure they have raised all their points before moving a conversation on.
• Reserve judgement and welcome proposals - even if they aren’t practical! They can provide starting points for a meaningful negotiation that moves on to look at practical applications.
• Student Staff forums should result in recorded actions allocated to specific individuals with associated timescales​. This principle applies to other conversations, formal and informal, where students provide feedback and can be as simple as you committing to looking into something and getting back to them within a couple of weeks.​ The actions will often be allocated to tutors, but Class Reps can and should, where appropriate, be responsible for them. They could include tasks such as finding out students’ opinions on possible scenarios before change is put into place or finding out further details before a follow up meeting.
• After discussing feedback, get back in touch in a timely fashion to update on progress, even if that is an explanation of why something has been delayed! This is a simple step that can make a big difference.

You may not always be able to put in places changes that students ask for but that doesn’t mean that students can’t leave the conversation feeling valued, listened to and informed.​

• Firstly, think about why you are saying no – particularly if it is just one student affected. It is not uncommon for students to approach UCSU for support and for us to escalate the issue to find that the no becomes a yes. It would be much more positive for them, and for you, if this step can be avoided.​
• If you do have to say no, make sure you explain why explicitly and clearly. If what the student wishes to change is a requirement for registration with a professional body or embedded within the academic regulations, for example, that is a very good reason for saying no! ​
• If there is room for negotiation, suggest what alternatives you could put in place.