Kate Moriarty, Student Reviewer & UCC Graduate

‘What is quality? Why are we trying to enhance it? And what does it mean for us, UCC students, in practical terms? ‘Quality’ translates into the standards of teaching, research, training, service provision and facilities at University College Cork, which overall impact on our student experience, as well as adding value to our qualifications, future employability and overall personal and professional development. To put it simply, the higher the quality of professional practices at UCC, the better our student experience will be; the more valuable our obtained qualifications become; the more rounded we will be as individuals, citizens and professionals; and, finally, the more employable we will be. Thus, by proactively sharing our insights, commendations and recommendations on the current standards of teaching, research, training, service provision and facilities in our university, we are contributing to Quality Enhancement at UCC, a better student experience for us all and better opportunities for our future and for more sustainable societies’. 

Isobel Sheahan

‘The engagement in a quality review offered me very valuable insights into internal workings and procedures of the University and provided me with the opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the enhancement of student experiences. It also improved my confidence. This experience exceeded my expectations in terms of enjoyability’. 

‘I think student reviewers are equipped with a very useful set of skills and intimate understandings of University’s workings and procedures, as a result of taking part in a quality review’. 

‘When acting as a student representative, I am now conditioned to think through the quality lens. I am considering quality aspects and I have the knowledge and understanding of University’s structures and procedures and even of the channels for communicating student issues effectively’.  

‘I learnt to make the connections, reach out to the right stakeholders and the issues often get resolved. As part of my [department] Committee recently, I felt more comfortable in the same meeting, putting my hand up and speaking publicly’.  

Khushal Paryani

The best part about my role at UCC is that I could also contribute to giving recommendations for improvement. As a Student Reviewer, I made relevant suggestions for the improvement of student experiences across the programmes offered by the academic unit under review. I advised the establishment of Student Staff Committees by drawing on the student representation structures and processes existing within my current programme at UCC.  

I got three main takeaways from this experience. The first is a professional benefit and boost to my confidence as a professional. Second, I improved my communication skills and the third was time management.  

 
The biggest advantage for having student reviewers within Panels is that we represent the student perspective so students can share their views with us in a more candid manner. 

Leannán O'Grady

I felt really valued as a member of the Panel. My main task was to focus on the student perspective – student experiences – and, every time this came up, the other Panel members gave me the floor and they never pressurised me to stop asking questions. I really felt respected by everyone in my function as a Student Reviewer.  

It was a very positive experience from start to finish. The support provided to me as a Student Reviewer was amazing. It was a very different experience from my previous international ones as a student quality reviewer for review programmes. At UCC the other Panel members were amazing, passionate and supportive professionals. And we talked with more than two hundred staff members at UCC and they were also all very supportive and respectful individuals.    

Paula Leocadio

What really stood out to me was how I was made feel that I was an equal voice from the beginning to the end. My experience was that of feeling like an equal, independently of the different hierarchies. You know that hierarchies exist within the system, but, in that moment, I had the same voice and the same importance as everyone else in the Panel. As a student, I was not expecting to have such a safe space and such a welcoming environment: I was made feel safe and comfortable. 

It really made me feel like I built up my confidence in public speaking and as a member of a professional team: being able to speak up in relation to points that I didn't agree with and also being able to deal with that space where there are different opinions and I have to find how to communicate my view. It was different from presenting at a conference or teaching students. 
  

Serving as a Student Reviewer gave me personal skills in relation to confidence building, presentation skills and being able to work as part of a group because I do feel like it's also a team-work skill that I developed. 
 
I just think that the whole idea of having a Student Reviewer is so important and that it should be representative of as much as possible of the student cohorts. I think more students should know that this option exists even though there would not be enough reviews for everyone to be involved. 

James Hennessy

I definitely developed public speaking skills, communication skills and leadership skills. I think those would all carry over to other aspects of life. You might be nervous going to the first meeting, but, by the second or third or fourth one, you're just used to it and you're asking your questions.  It was really beneficial. 

This was a kind of a leadership experience as well. I know during the training we were told that student reviewers are equal members of the Panel but I didn't think that would be as true as it actually was. I was expecting that I might get one or two questions at the end of each session, but I ended up being quite involved in the process and having a lot of responsibility, which was a really positive thing. 

I think it's really important to have that student voice in the Panel. Since you are not an expert in the field, you are not a senior academic or an officer of the university, you are not constrained by expectations or norms or standards. That kind of outsider perspective is actually of benefit because you don’t have any previous biases, you come with a clean perspective. Not having experienced an environment like that before is actually a positive because you might have a tendency to ask questions that somebody else mightn't. 

 
I think that was really important to hear that before the review, that you're just an equal panel member, that you're entitled to ask as many questions or get your point across as much as anyone else.

Caitlin Madden

The skills I have developed through this experience will definitely stand to me. 

The training was really clear. Once I had the training, then I really knew what was expected from me. It was really step-by-step so nothing of it was a surprise to me, really. 

Academics [within Panels] can forget what it's like to be a student, to be an undergrad. I found that, sometimes, I had to remind them, bring back to the student's perspective that they hadn't really considered. I think that that was really important because they could get very caught up in different levels, academia and different boards and committees and kind of forget about the students, which are a hugely important part of how the School operates. 

Eleanor McCahill

From start to finish the experience was fantastic and it is something that I would have never got the opportunity to do before. I was able to keep up with my college work while also doing something of this magnitude, something that was very important to the University. And it has massively built my confidence that I was able to act as a student reviewer. 

So, I think, a massive positive for me is that it is a form of professional development as well that I have been involved in, something of this magnitude and that I can put on my CV and that I can kind of be proud and stand over. This experience gave me the opportunity to use the skills that I have learned at university and to show what I have been able to develop in the year and half that I have been in college so far. 

Taragh O’Sullivan

I did not expect to be as involved in the process, as equal as the other Panel members but to be on a different level. It was a very enjoyable experience: I learnt a lot and I found it really good that the other Panel members were asking me what I thought and about my own experience. 

David Giles

This experience as a Student Reviewer made me realise that there is a big gap in the overall student level of understanding of the workings of the University behind the scenes and how important processes at School level are deeply connected with the Quality Assurance and Enhancement processes of the University. I think that, if most students at UCC were aware of that link  and of how their inputs can feed into a process of improvement and how, in turn, this process of improvement can feed into higher rankings, external accreditations, more funding, more facilities and supports for students, this would generate really positive outcomes and a greater student engagement overall. 

In my opinion, such awareness is not there yet so more could be done to raise the general level of awareness among students. Now that I have seen the lot that goes on behind the scenes, which needs to be explored and addressed, I think it would be valuable that also the other students were aware of these issues and the ways they can get addressed. This would be an incredible motivator for students to get involved and play a bigger role in the processes of the University that go on behind the scenes

Samin Abrar

It works really well to have someone to focalise on students’ concerns because discussions during the site visit tend to get very technical, tied up on funding, staff and other issues, but students are the central part of the University

I am humbled by the entire experience of taking part in highly technical discussions: I experienced first-hand the negative effects of using specialist jargon with the general public. From now on, as a doctor, I will ensure I will explain everything to patients in plain words before availing of medical jargon

Andrew Brosnan

Students need to be where decisions about students are being made. Therefore, the role of the Student Reviewer within the QEU Quality Review is key in assisting with the maintenance of the university’s integrity with regards to teaching and learning, research, community engagement and global citizenship. As such, your role as a Student Reviewer is to ensure that the perspectives of all students are represented during quality reviews. This is an exciting opportunity to not only develop oneself professionally but also to gain a greater understanding of the inner workings of the university. I would highly recommend this opportunity for any interested students who are looking to make a positive change in the lives of students and quality of education.

Luke Watson

The Quality Enhancement Unit generally and the student reviewer specifically have a very important role to play in the improvement of life here at UCC. While every unit in the University has the student experience as its foremost aim, during my time as a student reviewer for the Quality Enhancement Unit I felt that I had a very real chance to speak up for the students of the unit in question, commending what worked well while investigating the unexpected cracks or pitfalls that had emerged since the unit had last been reviewed. All of the panel members have the student body in mind, however the student reviewer takes this area as their expertise, and has valuable insights to offer as a result.

At the same time, however, I didn’t feel limited to discussing the student experience during my time as a panel member. While I was unfamiliar with many of the strategic-level considerations of the University, my fellow panel members and the support staff from the Quality Enhancement Unit were able to help bring me up to speed, and allow me to make valuable contributions to conversations that might otherwise be outside of my field of expertise.

I found my time as a student reviewer to be highly engaging. Being part of such a top-level project offers an interesting insight into the inner mechanisms of the University, and sitting on a panel of like-minded individuals with a shared goal of quality enhancement gave me a very real sense that I was working towards something better.

Orla Redmond

My engagement as a Student Reviewer helped me gain beneficial experiences at a personal, educational, and professional level. At a personal level I improved my critical thinking and analysing skills, which in turn greatly benefitted my learning experience as these skills are not taught in the lecture hall, but instead just told by those teaching us to ‘be critical’. Being given the opportunity to take part in a Quality Enhancement review as a Student Reviewer has developed and enhanced my skills and abilities that will also help and improve my postgraduate career. Student Reviewers are essential for the Quality Enhancement Units role to better the University and for the student body. Student Reviewers demonstrate the ability to improve institutional learning and development by holding the unit being reviewer accountable for the quality of the teaching and working environment they deliver, while also being transparent in their opinions and criticism. The Student Reviewer is also responsible for giving the students involved in the unit peace of mind that the issues they raised will be taken seriously and will be resolved and show them that their opinion matters for the betterment of the University. The experience opened my eyes as to how changes are made to units within the university change and improve for the betterment of its students and staff and ensures that their wellbeing and concerns are listened to and considered when looking to improve the unit. These reviews also taught me that the peer-to-peer review process that is used is the most efficient way in improving units across the university, as it gives those on the panel to review not just the unit involved but also the top-down system of how the university is ran and how each of these steps in the university’s hierarchical ladder need to be improved if the university is to run smoothly across the board.

Beatrice McCarthy

There is little to no doubt that the Quality Review process is a learning experience for not only the student reviewer but for all involved. As a student there are very little, if any, opportunities to see how your department works, to give any real feedback and to see any change actually occurring. During the review, the student reviewer is afforded the chance to learn a bit more about the department at hand; they get to see how the department deals with student issues or in some cases fails to deal with the issues; how it functions on a daily basis and in general how well the ‘shop’ is run. Having taken part in two reviews and from speaking to other student reviewers, the key lesson to be learned is to keep an open mind and to develop your problem solving skills rather than allowing the issue to be perpetuated any further. Having experts in the given field on the panel gives a much greater insight into the type of work that is being done in the department and can show at times how a simple solution can fix a great number of the problems faced. I must also say that part of the learning experience is to engage and become more comfortable interacting with others be it in the confines of the panel room or addressing the whole of the staff in the department.

Art Kelleher

When the opportunity to take part in the QEU Review Panel presented itself I was very keen to take part. Firstly, I believed it would further my understanding of how Schools and Departments operate within the larger institution of the University. Secondly, I felt it would be a valuable experience working as part of a team of highly capable and accomplished academics and leaders in their respective fields. This was what I hoped to gain from the experience but I also felt I had much to contribute. Not only did I feel I could contribute, but I also thought it was important I contribute. I have found that as students, we are very good at asking for improvement and change but we often fail to play an active role in developing or reforming. Therefore, it was important to me that there be a strong student voice in the panel. The following is a reflection on some of the aspects of this process which were helpful to myself and I hope may be of use to others.

Aaron Frahill

In October 2016, I acted as a student reviewer for a Quality Enhancement Review. Some of the main issues I took away from the whole process - and in particular the two and half days where we intensively reviewed the School - included a further understanding of how staff view students, the issues that staff have, and the values that Departments place highly across the board; the general theme from observing the School was an undeniable dedication to a high standard of quality for their students. What I found in the review was that students were very much accommodated so I didn’t have to be a nagging voice throughout my time on the panel. Prior to the review, I received the Self-Assessment Reports which was a bit overwhelming at first. Getting a document of approximately 80 pages required being able to scan and analyse the points made in it, but it enabled me to develop better scanning abilities. When the review actually began, I definitely appreciated the fact that I was sitting on a panel with professors and head of departments/colleges – it definitely showed me the standard that was set and how highly the student reviewer was regarded within the process. I found that once the review started it was very rapid in the sessions that we would have, but this allowed us as a panel to get an understanding of multiple different perspectives from those involved with the School, which proved quite useful in our drafting of the report. I found the interaction with students to be one of the most important parts of the review, as the students gave us an insight into a lot of things that we didn’t even think of after two days of meeting a lot of staff and stakeholders. I found the review to cover a lot of areas, which in the end allowed us to produce a comprehensive review of the Sschool including its strengths and weaknesses, which led to a list of recommendations – I strongly feel following European and International standards allowed the Quality Enhancement Unit to produce a timetable which allowed us to access a number of areas which gave us the scope to make the review. One thing that I found particularly useful was the fact that two members of UCC staff sat on the panel, as this allowed them to consider their experiences from a staff perspective in UCC. In general, the make-up of the panel was very mixed but this ensured that each viewpoint that could potentially factor into the process was there. Even after the actual content for the review was found by the end of the Thursday, there still was stuff to do and again my presence was still very much valued, as when the report was forwarded onto all the reviewers I was able to ask about changes and make them if possible. In conclusion, I found that review was a worthwhile experience as a student which gave me an understanding of how a School operates, and gave myself and the panel a platform to express our views and possible methods non-judgmentally in order to improve the running of the School. The student voice was a valued one on the panel, and I did appreciate this when I was doing it, and it’s a credit to the process 14 that it is so valued. The process felt like an important one to UCC as a body, and the student presence within that was valued, and in my time in UCC that has been a consistent characteristic of any committees or bodies that exist here.