Postgraduate Employment Survey

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Exciting news!

The NUS has launched a major piece of research looking into the employment of postgraduate research students. We are asking all of these students to complete the survey found by hitting the link below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BRYX8QQ

The Postgraduate Employment Survey seeks to find out:-

• what kinds of higher education employment roles postgraduate research students undertake within and outside their institutions
  
• the quality of the postgraduate higher education employment experience in terms of information and support
  
• how postgraduates’ experience of being employed in a teaching role compares to their experience of other kinds of paid work in higher education

The results of the survey will be used to inform and update the NUS/UCU Postgraduate Employment Charter and produce a Guide to the Charter for the use of unions, scheduled to be released in early 2010.

In 2000 an earlier version of this survey found that less than half of respondents had received a clear statement of conditions of employment on taking up a teaching or academic-related role in their institution, while on average respondents worked 6.3 unpaid hours of work per week.

The survey will also capture a picture of what kinds of employment-training postgraduates receive. Of particular concern is the experience of postgraduates who teach and whether postgraduates receive the support and training to enable them to be effective in their teaching roles.

The survey is aimed at postgraduate researchers who have taken on any kind of employment role in their own or another institution since September 2008. This ranges from first-year researchers who are currently in employment at their own or another HE institution to recently postdoctoral researchers.

Any researcher who completes the survey has the option to be entered into a prize draw to win £50 of Amazon vouchers.

Please let me know if you have questions about the survey.
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Grad School: Catch-Up #2

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I have just met up with my contact at the Grad School for a catch-up.

Aside from updating her on my activity this Semester, I also learnt about activity from their side:

• last Friday they hosted the yearly Grad School Guest Lecturer event. The speaker this year was Dr Gillian Tett, an assistant editor for the Financial Times.

• a new project called Adept is coming to campus, which specifically focuses on increasing the employability of postgraduates. I am planning on meeting with the coordinator after Christmas to learn how postgraduates can benefit from this service. Until then, more information can be found by hitting the top link here.

• the Grad School will also be helping us spread the word about the NUS research into postgraduates who teach (PGTs) which was launched today. More on that here.

• we will also be using their networks to recruit a Postgraduate Research Rep for our Association.

All in all, a very helpful catch-up.

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PGMSA 2009-10

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The Postgraduate & Mature Students' Association (PGMSA) Committee 2009-2010 were elected on Tuesday 17th November.

They are as follows:

• Chair - Inya Egbe
• Vice Chair - Frank Ogbuagu
• Treasurer - Eniola Abeni Tolani
• Secretary - Akua Aboabea Aboah
• PG Taught Rep - Nhamburo Ziyenge
• Social Secretary - Manuel Lopez Delgado
• IT Coordinator - Dongsheng He

We are still looking for a PG Research Rep and a Mature Students Rep so please let me know if you are interested.

We have met up twice since the AGM and are making exciting plans for next year, such as promoting the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) and arranging a joint Spring Ball with Nottingham Postgraduate Students' Association (PGSA).

If you would like to contact your PGMSA then please email postgradmature@guild.bham.ac.uk.

And please join our Facebook Group and invite your friends.

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The BIS Review - Areas To Consider

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The deadline for responses to the BIS Review is approaching and the National Union of Students (NUS) are hoping to coordinate responses from Students' Unions by asking them to consider the following three areas:

a) What are the barriers affecting diversity of participation in postgraduate study and how can we widen access to postgraduate study?

b) What role should employers have in postgraduate education? Are there any concerns around the issue of employer engagement?

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c) What should universities be prioritising to make sure international postgraduate students have a positive experience of study in the UK?

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If you are a postgraduate student and would like to feed into this review, then send your thoughts on the above areas to my email address: pmso@guild.bham.ac.uk.

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We will be putting together an official response on Friday 11th December.

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Postgraduate Student Rep Forum

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On 1st December, I attended the Postgraduate Student Rep Forum with Brigid Jones (Vice-President of Education & Access).

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This forum occurs twice a semester and allows us to maintain communication with our Student Reps regarding any issues that they are encountering.

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At this Forum, we spent some time discussing the BIS Review and the areas of consideration that we have been asked to respond to by the NUS. We received some great feedback and it will help inform the official Guild response to the Review which we are submitting to the NUS on Friday 11th December.

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PG Open Day

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Last Wednesday, I helped out at the Postgraduate Open Day as a Student Ambasssador.

I worked alongside several other postgraduate students and we assisted with registration, directions, tours, parking duty and counting the number of students who attended each talk.

Two things struck me:

1. The Postgraduate Open Day was very well-attended and Birmingham is clearly one of the leading institutions for Postgraduate study.
2. Earning some money as a Student Ambassador is a great way for postgraduate to overcome some of their financial difficulties, in addition to being a CV-boosting development opportunity.

Congratulations must go to the Outreach department for putting on a well-organised, successful event.

Lastly, amidst all of my Ambassador work, I took time out to lead on a talk in my Officer capacity titled 'How to make the most of your time here at Birmingham.' Naturally, I talked at great length about the Guild and the PGMSA, plus I had three questions at the end, which is an impressive number for any PowerPoint presentation.

It is clear that the attendees on the day were impressed by what they heard and saw about our fine University. Let's hope we see them again next September.
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One Big Blog

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I haven't blogged for a while so here is a quick splurge of information about what I've been doing these past few weeks.

9th November - Grad School Networking Lunch.

10th November - the 'Tell David' campaign outside the Aston Webb building. Would you pay £7000 a year for fees? And that's just the undergrads. Imagine what they'll charge postgrads, who don't even have a cap to begin with.

13th November - Networking Day at Nottingham Students' Union. This was particularly useful because I spent the day with Rebecca Lockhart, their full-time Postgraduate Students' Officer. She is lovely & American and she taught me lots of great stuff. We are looking to collaborate on future events, which ticks my manifesto box for regional networking. I was also given a tour of the Nottingham Grad School by the Head, Tessa Payne.

14th November - National Postgraduate Forum in York and the first of its kind. This was suprisingly useful and I learnt a huge amount about the issues that PGTs and PGRs deal with.

17th November - the PGMSA AGM. I spent a lot of time planning this and although we emailed all 8081 postgraduate students (thanks to the help of Postgraduate Student Outreach) only a handful of students showed up. Nevertheless, we elected seven out of the nine Committee positions (all international students) and I am very excited about working with them. Special thank you must go to Johnny Davis (VP Welfare) who helped out on the night.

19th November - I met with my Sabb mentor, the wonderful Brigid Jones, and she caught me up on several postgraduate issues that she is working on. In the afternoon, I sat on a Student Disciplinary Panel. This is nothing to do with postgrads but it is nevertheless part of my Officer role. In the evening was Guild Council and mine & Emma's Honey Pot motion was successful. Guild Council now believes that postgrads should be able to apply for Honey Pot funding so myself and Emma Packham (VP Student Activities & Development) need to start lobbying.

21st November - Johnny Davis (VP Welfare) hosted a Student Parents Forum at the Guild. I went along knowing that most of the student parents would be mature students and I spoke to them about the challenges that face student parents. Seven mums, one Dad and nine children attended. Due to positive feedback, a second Forum will take place in two weeks.

As you can see, busy times. Thank you for reading.
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Shakespeare Institute Festival

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I met with Fabian Neuner (Guild President) this week to discuss his exciting vision for a festival over at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford.

The Institute has been a long-neglected Satellite Site and Fabian plans to remind everyone why we have this resource with a day-long festival celebrating both drama and the bard himself.

This campaign will bring together traditionally unrepresented groups, such as the postgraduates studying at our Shakespeare Institute and the drama societies of our Guild.

However, there will be opportunities for other students to attend the event to ensure awareness is raised about the Stratford site. It is hoped that the five Guild drama societies will play a big part in the event and run workshops throughout the day, such as improv classes and script readings. It is also hoped that we will have RSC professionals providing their own fair share of workshops, varying from stage combat lessons to career talks.

The day looks set to culminate in a trip to see an RSC production.

The plans are still in development but the students at the Institute have given us their support. We are looking at hosting the festival in June to coincide with the Britgrad Conference (uniting lovers of Renaissance drama from around the world)

Expect to hear more about the festival throughout the year.
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PGMSA: Catch-Up

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I had a catch-up with Amanda Parsons this morning, co-chair of the PGMSA last year.

The PGMSA is the Postgraduate & Mature Students' Association. It is a group of students who provide networking events and ensure all postgraduates are represented. In many ways, they are a group of students who do similar work to my role and we will work closely together over the next year to help each other with our projects.

The catch-up was very useful and we bounced some ideas off each other.

These included:

• a networking event going to the German Christmas Market.
• helping Fabian with his proposal for a Literary Festival at the Shakespeare Institute.
• arranging a Show & Tell event, whereby postgraduates (both research and taught) are given five minutes to talk about their studies. Everybody will then vote for the student who inspired them the most.

Most importantly, we are planning the PGMSA Annual General Meeting. This will take place at some point during the week beginning Monday 16th November. At the AGM, we will elect a new PGMSA Committee (although no active students will be turned away) and everybody will be asked to discuss issues that they face & events they would like to see happen. The exact details will follow.

The Association needs to be a success this year and I am determined to help them wherever possible.
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The BIS Postgraduate Review

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Hello all,

Students' Unions around the country have been sent this important message by Aaron Porter, the NUS Vice-President (Higher Education):

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"The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has now launched its Postgraduate Review, which was announced by Lord Mandelson in July.

The review will be chaired by Professor Adrian Smith, Director General of Science and Research at BIS.

The review’s principal areas of investigation will be:

• to assess the competitiveness of UK institutions in the global market for postgraduate education.
• to assess the benefits of postgraduate study for all relevant stakeholders.
• to assess the evidence about the needs of business and other employers for postgraduates.
• and to examine levels of participation, in terms of who undertakes postgraduate study, and whether there are barriers affecting the diversity of participation and any associated reduction in the availability of high-quality entrants.

During the course of the current review Prof Smith will be supported by a number of external advisers from the university and business worlds. They are:

• Professor Keith Burnett, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sheffield
• Dr David Docherty, Chief Executive of the Council for Industry and Higher Education
• Professor Wendy Purcell, Vice Chancellor of the University of Plymouth
• Dr Tim Bradshaw, Head of Science, Technology and Innovation, CBI
• Professor Sarah Worthington, Pro Director for Research and External Relations, London School of Economics.

The review is initially seeking perspectives on the key areas of postgraduate provision that should be considered.

Do take this opportunity to have a say at:http://www.bis.gov.uk/postgraduate-review.

Or email: postgraduatereview@bis.gsi.gov.uk.

I will ensure that Students' Unions are kept informed of progress during the review.

Best wishes,

Aaron

Aaron Porter
Vice President (Higher Education)
National Union of Students (NUS)"

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If there are any further areas of postgraduate study that you would like reviewed then please use the appropriate links and have your say.

I am always skeptical about 'reviews' of this kind, especially when there is no student representation on the review group. The 'needs of business and other employers' is apparently more important than the experience of postgraduates themselves. And what about postgraduates who return to University solely for the joy of education?

Aaron will keep us posted and I'll keep you posted. Watch this space.
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Grad School: Catch Up #1

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This morning, I had a quick catch-up at Starbucks with the Grad School.

We discussed my plans and I hope to work closely with the Grad School this year.

The Grad School do some great work for developing postgraduates at the University of Birmingham and they are a valuable source of support. They arrange networking events, guest lecturers, development opportunities and ensure postgraduates have adequate study space across campus.

However, the Grad School at this University only supports Research postgraduates. This is partly because Roberts Funding (which assists the Grad School financially) is only available for developing Research postgraduates.

Obviously, this is controversial because 5000+ of the postgraduates here are Taught students and only 2000+ of the postgraduates are Research students. Bottom line: the majority of postgrads are not given support by the Grad School.

This is why postgraduate representation in the Guild of Students is more important than ever.

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PMSO: Voting Statistics

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Just for information, here are the voting statistics for my recent election.

221 votes were cast in total. I therefore needed 105 votes to get elected.

12 students chose to spoil their ballots, 40 students voted for R.O.N (Re-Open Nominations) and 169 students voted for me - therefore I was elected the Postgraduate & Mature Students' Officer (PMSO).

Obviously, 221 votes is nowhere near good enough. Especially considering there are 7,500 postgraduates at this University and even more undergraduate mature students. This is mostly my fault - I should have campaigned more despite my other commitments. Although, I also suspect that students are not even aware that they have had a PMSO in previous years.

I hope to change that this year.

I am also pleased to announce that we have seven postgraduate Guild Councillors this year.

Law Postgraduate Place
Alexander Zatman

Government and Society Postgraduate Place
Benjamin Jackson

Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Postgraduate Place
Siobhan Dunne

Business School Postgraduate Places
Charlotte ‘Winnie’ Wyn

Svetlana Ten ‘Lana Ten’

Valentin Brescan

Ola Dantis

This is certainly an improvement on the three that we had last year. However, it once more indicates that postgraduates are under-represented at Guild Council.

I knew many postgraduates who were interested in running but unfortunately the bye-election was promoted on the website and nowhere else. They therefore appear to have missed their chance. I will look into arranging a second bye-election to allow these students to participate (this really shouldn't be too hard as these seats are rarely, if ever, contested so we won't even have to go as far as ballot stations.)

I'll bring a motion to Guild Council soon.

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My Manifesto

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Unfortunately, I couldn't fit a lot of text onto my Guild regulation-size manifesto. Therefore, I have expanded a little bit on each of the points below.

1. The Guild

I will raise awareness of the Guild in the Postgraduate & Mature student community, so they can benefit from the services and opportunities that we provide.

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2. The Postgraduate Space

The Guild Build should ensure that Postgraduate students have a space in which to work and network.

3. Funding

Without student loans and considering the high fees charged to overseas students, Postgraduates face much financial hardship. I will therefore promote opportunities for income amongst the Postgraduate community such as part-time jobs, funding councils and the ALF. Our membership should also be aware of the Higher Education Funding Debate.

4. Going National

Our Postgraduate & Mature student community should be represented nationally through regional networking events and at the National Conferences for both the Postgraduates & the Mature Students.

5. Development

I will liaise with the College Research Skills module convenors to ensure that Postgraduates realise the opportunities for development offered by the Guild when completing their Training & Needs Analysis documentation.

6. Networking

The Postgraduate & Mature student community should become just that: a community. I will liaise with the Graduate School to ensure that there are regular opportunities to bring students together for social events and for campaigns that they care about.

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More projects will no doubt appear throughout the year and I will always have to respond to the needs of our membership. However, for now, I think it is a manageable and realistic starting point.

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If you have any specific issues that you would like me to address then please email me at pmso@guild.bham.ac.uk.

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The Story So Far...

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Life on the other side of the mortarboard is certainly very different.

Arriving back on campus as a postgraduate (and mature student) was very hard at first. I know a lot less people nowadays, I had no way of contacting my new coursemates, I had no idea how to find my fellow postgraduates - it was a very intimidating start to my year. I can't even imagine how lost other postgraduates must feel, who are arriving from different Universities and (in many cases) different countries.

The turning-point was the discovery of the daily Postgraduate Coffee Mornings. These were hosted by the Grad School every morning of Freshers' Week and gave us all somewhere to go in those difficult first few days. Each morning was well-attend and provided valuable networking opportunities. Many of us have kept in touch via a Facebook Group and we now meet up regularly for curries, bowling, pub quizzes and poker nights.

It was meeting all of these new and diverse students (parents, international students, MAs, MScs, MPhils, PhDs, taught, research, part-time, commuters, students studying at two institutions) that made me want to stand for the position of PMSO.

Traditionally, the PMSO position has been under-used in the past and I really wanted to see if I could help the huge postgraduate population that we have at this University. I have just spent a year in Nottingham where they have a full-time Postgraduate Students' Officer so clearly the position is justified and deserving of more attention.

Considering that postgraduates comprise 25% of our membership (and that's not even including undergraduate mature students), this is an area of representation that needs more focus.

So eyes forward class, we've got a lot to get through.

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Simon Fairbanks (PMSO)

Hello all,

My name is Simon Fairbanks and I have recently been elected as your Postgraduate & Mature Students' Officer - or PMSO for short.

The PMSO is part of the Guild Officer Team. It is a part-time position, so I will be carrying out my role alongside my studies (I am an English Literature Masters student in my spare time.)

The PMSO is an important role because there are 7,500 postgraduates, both taught and research, who study at this University. That's one quarter of the student population.

In addition, there are also many more mature students out there sitting in undergraduate lecture theatres. The definition of a mature student is anybody who begins their course at the age of 21 or above. Interestingly, this means that every postgraduate is a mature student but not every mature student is a postgraduate! Either way, I am a representative for all mature students, including those undertaking undergraduate studies.

The PMSO should ensure postgraduate & mature students are getting the most out of their time at University. The PMSO will organise campaigns, networking events & liaise with national bodies to improve the student experience for these students.

This is the job I have just been elected for. It is a daunting but exciting opportuntiy and I will do my best to make this a great year for postgraduate & mature students.

Watch this space!

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