Actions from PGR-GS Liaison Group meeting – 13 March 2024

Rep feedback

How to increase the visibility of reps for more community building & student experience.

Action: reps who are interested in being in an introductory video - please contact Melda to discuss the way forward.

Action: Emily to assist with editing the video.

Action: Reps to consider online and hybrid events such as: attending internal faculty events, putting up posters in the common rooms, handing out leaflets at induction, having a ‘meet your reps’ stall at the summer conference on 25/26 June. 

Action: Rob to help with designing a poster/leaflet. 

Action: PGRS to send a photo to Rob.

Action: Graduate School to flag the international Reps at the April Town Halls.

Action: Emily will write to international students re. pastoral role and will also mention reps.

TFL – Oystercard (confusion over student discount for PhD students who live in London)

Unfortunately, our TFL account to sponsor Oyster cards has closed and we are trying to get this up and running.

Cost of living payment

A student has wondered if there has been discussion of a similar scheme to last year to support cost of living (last year all PGRs could apply for a £1000 top-up from the OU) given that rents, food and energy costs are still high.

Lindsay advised that the funds for last year were given by the Office For Students, for Graduate School to administer as they saw fit.  They weren’t OU funds.  We don’t know of anything else being offered.

If we hear of anything else we’ll let you know.  PGRS can potentially apply to the Student Assistance Fund (SAF) but to note that it doesn’t cover cost of living specifically.

 

Library update – Yvette Howley

PGRS to note the following:

PGR Summer Conference – the Library is happy to come along to support the conference again this year and in light of a suggestion from a PGR rep, we will consider providing a PGR drop-in.

Supervisor training – I asked Lindsay about current supervisor training materials and if they include information about open access requirements for thesis submission to ORO. The question was prompted as we recently discovered a supervisor had informed a PGR they had to upload their thesis after an embargo period had expired. Lindsay said this is being revised so we will have the opportunity to provide some details about this.

Thesis submission guidelines – the guidelines have recently been updated to reflect that submission is entirely electronic; the old version still referred to print submission.

Reference management – there is a new page on the Research Support website looking at the functionality of the some of the most popular reference management tools (EndNote Online, EndNote 21, Mendeley, Zotero) and what you can do with them.

Action: PGRS please spread the word regarding the Reference Management tool –https://www5.open.ac.uk/library-research-support/researcher-skills/reference-management-tools

Action: PGRS to please familiarise themselves with the Thesis submission Guidance document which has been updated.

Action: Emily to ask Rob and Sahil to contact Yvette to know what support they might need from the Library with regard to the ARC Conference.  Jane Stevens suggested that a research support clinic would be useful for those students who rarely come to campus but will be at the conference.

Research Supervisor Training

Query as to whether there is any mention in documents about open access guidance and thesis publishing? – Lindsay advised that there will be a refresh of supervisor training. 

Action: Yvette to feed in - send info to Lindsay.

 

OUSA updates – Gareth Jones

OU Student Elections

Action: PGRS to be aware of the OU Student Elections https://www.oustudents.com/elections/

Nominations: Tuesday 12 March until Tuesday 26 March

Voting: Friday 19 April until Wednesday 8 May

Results announced: Friday 10 May

 

Conference 2024

Action: PGRS to note the AGM taking place on Saturday June 15th online: https://www.oustudents.com/about-us/how-we-are-run/conference/

 

Action: PGRS to note that Gareth is changing roles and will share who the new rep will be when known.

Thank you to Gareth for his support in this meeting and congratulations on his new role.

N.B. Mark Walker, Deputy President of OUSA has accepted an invitation to the next Liaison Group meeting on 24^th April

 

Graduate School items – Emily Yossarian

Action: PGRS to please feed-back on Graduate School’s intention to create a ‘Pastoral Role’ for research students.  Intention for the role to be for 4 days per month, 6 hours per day.  The role will also involve organising other student volunteers to help.

Thoughts:-

There are 2 chunks of time which doesn’t cover the actual Christmas period.

There might be more than 6 hours needed.

Think it would be better to change the name.

Suggested that the advertisement be put out now, but say that roles and responsibility might be adjusted.

Action: Graduate School to think about time periods / Christmas and workload and consider the danger of not having the same support for the whole year. 

Action: Graduate School to take this to the International Town Hall and give a week for feedback.

Action: PGRS to be advised that if you feel your needs aren’t being met – please let us know. 

With the activities we are doing for groups of students.

Survey to ask PGRs how they want us to proceed with unstructured social events

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=VdQuDq-WAEG-06jl_ZgWhYpCfGKta8pKnWFdZJt1phtUNTFWQlA4QURPOUk0OEY5R1FKNU4xN1gySy4u

Action: PGRS to consider how we support them in our unstructured social space?  Are these the right ways to focus our energies – e.g. Takeaway Tuesdays and coffee mornings?

Action: PGRS to please promote the following survey to colleagues It will be in Graduate School Digest as well.  https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=VdQuDq-WAEG-06jl_ZgWhYpCfGKta8pKnWFdZJt1phtUNTFWQlA4QURPOUk0OEY5R1FKNU4xN1gySy4u

Action: Emily to email out the survey.