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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