Minutes of a meeting of the Board of Leicester College Corporation:

Student Liaison Committee Minutes Held on 15 February 2023

Present: Tom Wilson (Chair), Lisa Armitage, Sam Emery, Verity Hancock, Maureen Magutu, Lee Soden

In Attendance: Zoe Butler- Director of Student Services and Marketing, Shaun Curtis- Director of Estates and Campus Services, Louise Hazel- Director of Governance and Policy, Harjinder Singh- Student Liaison Officer, Matt Widdowson- Governance and Policy Officer (Minutes), Craig Whitehall- Student Liaison Officer

SET Team Course Representatives and Student Union Representatives (See attached list)

1. Declarations of interest

   • 1.1 The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained the new meeting format. Feedback on the new format was welcomed.

   • 1.2 There were no declarations of interest

2. Apologies for absence

   • 2.1 Apologies were received from Jai Sharda, Gail Pringle, and Melanie Arrowsmith-Kemp. Louisa Poole was absent

3. Minutes and matters arising from the last meeting held on 23 November 2022

   • 3.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 23 November 2022 were agreed as an accurate record and approved.

4. Responses to issues raised at previous meetings

   • 4.1 The Director of Student Services presented the responses to the issues raised at previous meetings. The following was highlighted:

     • 4.1.1 Discussions had taken place with the Director IT on the implementation of new software which would make applications more visible to new students. The views of student representatives would be sought.

     • 4.1.2 The option to enrol in person would be available for the next academic year.

     • 4.1.3 Useful feedback had been received on the induction process. Meetings had taken place with the staff who were responsible for delivering inductions. Timetabling was also being reviewed to provide more opportunities for faceto-face sessions. Improving the induction process would be an iterative process over several years.

     • 4.1.4 The new absence monitoring system had gone live. Students now also had the option of logging absences through Pro-Portal.

     • 4.1.5 A Student Governor had met with the Director of Creative and Performing Arts to discuss issue the around dance students being filmed by other students. Feedback had been well received and there had been improvements meaning that dance students felt more comfortable.

   • 4.2 Governors noted the responses to issues raised at the last meeting.

5. Estates and Campus Service Updates

   • 5.1 The Director of Estates and Campus Services provided an update.

     • 5.1.1 There were now six campus wardens and a team leader.

     • 5.1.2 CCTV had been updated. New cameras had been installed at APC on the main and back stairwells. Campus wardens would continue to monitor the CCTV.

     • 5.1.3 There had been 99 bicycle thefts during the previous year. So far, this academic year there had only been seven. Part of this reduction in thefts was attributable to the police taking action against a local gang.

     • 5.1.4 Vaping was a big issue and had been responsible for seven fire alarms at APC.

     • 5.1.5 Vandalism was another major issue at APC and represented a cost to the College. Students were asked to remain vigilant and report concerns to the campus wardens.

     • 5.1.6 The Director of Estates detailed current projects:

       • 5.1.6.1 The APC B Block redevelopment was costing £2.5 million and would include state of the art engineering equipment and hi-tech laboratories.

       • 5.1.6.2 New IT labs had been created at SMC.

       • 5.1.6.3 The 5th floor at FPC had been converted into four IT classrooms and an IT training room.

       • 5.1.6.4 Roof replacement work was underway at FPC including installing a living roof on the FPC A and B Block canopy.

       • 5.1.6.5 A new science laboratory would be installed at APC.

       • 5.1.6.6 Teaching kitchens were to be refurbished at FPC.

       • 5.1.6.7 The new OfS (Office for Students) Aeronautical and Space Building would be ready in September 2024 and would cost £5.4 million. When completed the building would be a large glass fronted structure which would include hi-tech equipment and be highly visible.

     • 5.1.7 The capital budget from 2022 through to 2024/25 was £12.6 million. The College would contribute 22.4% of this.

     • 5.1.8 The Director of Estates provided an update on Food Incs.

       • 5.1.8.1 Food Incs were serving around 200+ more students a day than before Covid.

       • 5.1.8.2 Work was being done to improve the plant-based menu.

       • 5.1.8.3 Plastic cup lids were being replaced with biodegradable materials.

       • 5.1.8.4 There was a new menu at SMC.

       • 5.1.8.5 APC was providing cultural menus to match festival calendars.

   • 5.2 Students made the following comments:

     • 5.2.1 A student had tried the new cultural menu and commented that the food had been really well prepared. It had been nice to see different menus.

     • 5.2.2 Could the SMC menu be rolled out at FPC and APC? The Director of Estates replied that some menu items were only available at one campus, but he would discuss this with the Catering Manager.

     • 5.2.3 A student alleged that College staff had been seen vaping on site. The Principal made it clear that this was absolutely not allowed, and that appropriate action would take place if vaping on site was discovered.

     • 5.2.4 A student commented that she had seen staff smoking outside of SMC. There was no clear no-smoking zone at the campus. The Principal would take this up with the Director of Estates.

   • 5.3 Governors made the following comments:

     • 5.3.1 What was the plan to address vaping and vandalism? This was an issue of addressing behaviours and attitudes. Students could be suspended if caught and their parents/carers notified. There was also a ‘three strikes’ system. The installation of new CCTV cameras had helped with the number of incidents noticeably reducing over the previous two weeks.

   • 5.4 Governors noted the Estates and Campus Services update.

6. Report From the Chair of the Student Council

   • 6.1 The Chair of the Student Council gave an update on the term 2 Student Council meeting. Several guests from across the College had been invited to discuss issues and answer questions which had been raised during previous meetings.

     • 6.1.1 The Director of Estates and Campus Warden Team Leader attended. Clarification on vaping rules was sought by the Council. Bike cages at SMC and the cleanliness of campuses were discussed. The Student Council had asked if there were plans to increase the number of campus wardens. The Director of Estates confirmed that the number had already been increased from four to six wardens. An update was provided by the Vice Principal following the focus groups she had held with small groups of Super Reps. There had been a disruption to education due to the Pandemic lockdowns. The aim of improving behaviour would be supported by focusing more on the problems faced by students and the recent changes to the Attendance Policy were part of this. Focus groups had always discussed personal development and it was hoped that changes would take place because of these discussions.

     • 6.1.2 Library staff attended and discussed various issues around the College’s library service. Students were asked for their opinions of various services including the E-Library Service. There were also issues raised around the unavailability of some applications which were required for coursework (e.g., Adobe and Cisco) and a lack of private study space. The Council discussed the possibility of working with the Students Union to promote library services.

     • 6.1.3 The Student Union provided feedback on the work to improve transport for students.

   • 6.2 Governors noted the update from the Student Council.

7. Report from the chair of the student council

   • 7.1 The Executive Team of the Student Union provided an update on the SU’s (Student Union) recent work.

     • 7.1.1 Members of the Student Union and the Vice Principal had met with Cllr Adam Clark to discuss transport. Further information had been provided to the City Council and another meeting was scheduled for March 2023.

     • 7.1.2 On 8 December 2022, the Student Union had held their first Christmas Crunch event during which around 500 students across all three campuses had been served festive food and drink.

     • 7.1.3 The SU’s HE (Higher Education) Officer had liaised with the OfS as part of the student TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework) submission.

     • 7.1.4 The SU had responded to several enquires around Sign Language education. All new SU promotional videos will now be signed, and there were plans to offer sign language courses to both students and staff.

     • 7.1.5 The SU had arranged a visit to the Silverstone motor racing circuit.

     • 7.1.6 The SU had arranged activities for both Lunar New Year and LGBTQ History Month.

     • 7.1.7 SU reps had attended Leicester College’s Junior Chef Academy Awards. 5

     • 7.1.8 The aftermath of the recent earthquake affecting Turkey and Syria was highlighted. As part of the SU’s Galantine’s Day event, money would be raised for the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee).

     • 7.1.9 Upcoming events:

       • LGBT History Month

       • Galentine’s Day

       • International Women’s Week

       • Red Nose Day

       • The NUS (National Union of Students) National Conference

     • 7.1.10 The range of meetings attended by SU Executive members was described.

   • 7.2 Governors made the following comments:

     • 7.2.1 It was commented on how well Leicester College students were represented by their Student Union.

     • 7.2.2 It was good that donations were being made to the DEC as this was a reputable and trustworthy charity.

     • 7.2.3 Were staff able to be involved in any sign language training? Staff could be involved as could governors.

   • 7.3 Governors noted the update from the Student Union.

8. Facilitated Discussion with Course Representatives

   • 8.1 The Director of Governance and Policy introduced the new meeting format. A discussion on an agreed set of questions took place with groups of the attendees, facilitated by governors.

9. Governor Feedback From Discussion

   • 9.1 Governors gave feedback from their discussions with students.

   • 9.2 Reviews and Target Setting

     • 9.2.1 The need for consistency came out in discussions.

     • 9.2.2 Was there a nursery closure programme?

       The Principal confirmed that there were no nursery closure plans. Leicester College had always maintained its nursery provision.

     • 9.2.3 Students were concerned about not having their 1:1s to support their progress.

     • 9.2.4 Some assignments felt too rushed.

   • 9.3 Teaching and Learning

     • 9.3.1 The feedback was mainly positive. Different teaching styles were used and there was a good balance of theory and practice. Self-directed learning was seen as preparing students for work.

     • 9.3.2 An issue was raised around whether 1:1s were a ‘box ticking exercise’ and whether students were given the opportunity to raise their own issues during these meetings.

     • 9.3.3 There was feedback that suggested that the practical elements of courses were more engaging than the theory.

     • 9.3.4 An issue was raised around the timing of assignments with feedback on assignments not being provided before subsequent assignments were due.

     • 9.3.. GCSE adult pathway: more attention could be paid to different learning styles.

   • 9.4 Progression

     • 9.4.1 There was feedback to suggest that programmes were structured to support students into work. Self-directed work helped students to work on their time management and to handle the kind of demands which would be expected in the workplace.

     • 9.4.2 Most students knew what they wanted to do once their course finished. 9.5. Behaviour

     • 9.5.1 There were discussions with students around whether the right boundaries and expectations were set.

     • 9.5.2 There was feedback that ‘professionalism’ had come up as a theme.

     • 9.5.3 Several students felt that they were sometimes held back by other students being late for sessions.

     • 9.5.4 Those on the adult GCSE pathway added that behaviour is generally good in their area.

   • 9.6 Governors noted the feedback from the facilitated discussions.

10. Any Other Urgent Business Notified to Chair Prior to Meeting

    • 10.1 There was no further business.

11. Dates of Next Meetings

    • 10 May 2023, APC