This page has been developed for use mainly by the University staff who have volunteered or been given the task of departmental Class Rep Coordinators. We appreciate the effort that the coordinators put into recruiting Class Reps and being a contact for the reps for the year. If you require any help or have any questions, please contact the Education Coordinator at the UCSA for assistance.

What is a departmental Class Rep Coordinator?
The departmental Class Rep Coordinator (CRC) is the UCSA's staff contact for a department. Through you, we will be able to ensure the effectiveness and coverage of the Class Rep system, and ensure that class reps receive the information they should be receiving.

You will, ideally, ensure that you department has it's complete stock of Class Reps for the year by helping to recruit reps, whether this means you recruit the reps yourself, organise for lecturers to recruit reps in their classes, or organise for the UCSA to send a recruiter to the classes. There also need to be class reps for postgraduate students.

You will need to supply us with the names and contact details of the reps, as well as passing on to them the class rep handbooks and encouraging them to register online on the UCSA database and attend the Class Rep training.

You will be responsible for organising the Staff-Student Liaison Meetings once a term (or at least making sure that whoever is responsible for organising these meetings in your department has a current list of class rep contacts).

Your help in these tasks is very much appreciated.

How Do I Recruit Class Reps?
Usually, the easiest way to recruit class reps is to call for volunteers. Recruiters can show the OHP (see below) at the start of class, outlining the role of a class rep, and ask if anyone would like to volunteer. Usually, you should be able to find one or two students who are willing to volunteer and if the class is happy, then these students need to give their name to the CRC and collect their handbook and any other information.

A more democratic, but possibly more difficult, way to recruit reps is to ask the class for nominations and then allow them to elect their rep. by show of hands or a paper ballot. This may prove problematic if the elected rep is not keen to do the job!

Sometimes, a staff member will pick a student to be Class Rep. This may be problematic in that the student may not be keen, and other students who are keen may miss out.

OHP (PDF) for staff to use to recruit Class Reps.

What Do I Do Once the Reps are Recruited?

• Once Class Reps are recruited, you will need to get their name and contact details (including their email address). Send a copy of these to the UCSA Education Coordinator (education@ucsa.canterbury.ac.nz).
• Give the Class Reps a copy of the UCSA Class Rep Handbook.
• Encourage the Class Reps to register online on the UCSA database.
• Encourage the Class Reps to attend Class Rep Training at the UCSA.
• Ensure that whoever is organising the Staff Student Liaison Meetings has a copy of the Class Rep contact details.

How can we help to raise the Class Rep profile?
Class Reps should introduce themselves to their class(es) in person or by email. If you would like to help raise the profile of class reps in your department, so both the students and the staff know who the reps are and how to find them, some options are:

• Create a Class Rep photo-board for your department.
• Pin up the filled-in UCSA Class Rep contact poster on your department notice board.
• Place a 'postbox' in the department where students can leave messages for the Class Reps.
• Post photos and email addresses of the Class Reps on the department website.

Good Things about having Class Reps
Students are not the only ones to benefit from having Class Reps. Departments can benefit from getting useful feedback from students on teaching methods, allowing students to feel that their opinions and needs are being considered by the department, and enhancing their understanding of different groups and generations of students. The Staff-Student Liaison meetings are a great chance to get this feedback, and they can also be a lot of fun! Class Reps can also help to resolve small-scale class issues before they become a problem for the department.

Support from the UCSA
The UCSA is here to support and train Class Reps. If Class Reps have questions you can't answer, just refer them on to us.

• The UCSA provides a database of Class Reps for the year, which staff and students can search to find out who the rep for their course is.
• Reps are given a Class Rep handbook and training by the UCSA.
• The UCSA can forward emails from the Class Rep to the class. In fact, this is the 'official channel' for Reps to contact their classes. (Please do not give access to your reps to class email lists outside this system).
• The UCSA gives Reps a reward card which gives them access to Class Rep events and special deals provided by the UCSA over the year.
• They have the full support of the Education and Advocacy Office should any problems arise that they don't feel they can handle alone.
• Reps are given a certificate of service at the end of the year, which they can include in their CV.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact the Education Coordinator at the UCSA either by phone: 3642987 x3910, or by email: education@ucsa.canterbury.ac.nz

Recruitment Brochure

Class Rep Sign Up Form

Class Rep Contact List Semester 1

Class Rep Contact List Semester 2