Actions from PGR-GS Liaison Group meeting – 16 October 2024

Future of Graduate School – Socials survey

Action Emily check with Rosie that Agni has taken over as Social Organiser and ask them to publish some clearer social plans. 

Action: PGRS to note that socials are published on PGRM and Team Socials and MK Channel. 

Action: PGRS please suggest where you would expect to see Social information.  PGRS would prefer socials to be better explained. 

Update: Social calendar has been uploaded here: Community | Graduate School Network (direct link: PGR Community Events)

Suggestion that a Craftalong would work well as hybrid.

Action PGRS: Please let Helen know what time for events would suit everyone.  Particularly for part-time PGRS.

Action: Graduate School to consider what the purpose of the event is and what it’s called.  Potentially run more than one session to capture all people.  Consider how we develop a community for online PGRS.

Action: Terri – send PGRS viewpoints to Emily and Helen to discuss with Rosie and Agni and relaunch.

Action: PGRS – please say what you’d like to see.

Wellbeing Services

Action: Graduate School: Consider whether PGRS use SHOUT, Taught Campus etc?

Action: Emily will revisit Student Handbook to check what information is given there about wellbeing services.

Supervisors are all offered Mental Health training, but it’s not mandatory. 

Action: PGRS to note that suggestions are welcome as to how we can encourage supervisors to take the MH training.

There is a 3^rd party monitor and a Mental Health First Aider supporting PGRS with their mental health.

Action: Clare to ensure that Supervisor and Third Party Monitor training happens every year with a reminder going out beforehand. 

Action: PGRS to note that they can request that their supervisor goes to it.

To note that there is initial supervisor training for new supervisors, but there is no refresher training.

Initial training is mandatory, but Refresher training is not.  Wellbeing is included in training.

PGRS with mental health concerns should approach:-

1. Their Supervisor
2. Their Third party monitor
3. Their Postgraduate tutor

Andrew Wilson advised that within OUSA there are people being trained as Mental Health first aiders.  Students should go to these as a first point of call.  They will listen, talk with you, find out what you need, and then signpost you to correct counsellors or as required.

Discussion points were as follows:-

Supervisors should be involved, there are too many options, potentially we need a flow-chart, if a student is having a crisis a supervisor may not be available.  We need to relay to PGRS that if they have a serious mental health problem they should be referred to the NHS, the NHS offers 6 Sessions (MH Cat?).

In STEM, WELS and FASS, every school has a Postgraduate Tutor.

Action: Graduate School will go away and think about it and will talk to Undergraduate Student Services about best practice.

We need someone to triage the person and say who the best person is to speak to.

Action: Graduate School should make a list of Mental Health first aiders, convenors and first aiders available.

Peer Group Support is excellent, think about how we can improve socials etc.

Apps aren’t necessarily the right solution for disabled students with mental health issues.

Action: Emily will bring this up at Induction meetings. 

Action Graduate School to consider whether to reinstate the Buddy system.  Emily has a few people willing to be a buddy/volunteer.  It was deemed an unnecessary extra layer as it was already being done in faculties.  This should go back to faculties.

Update: We have relaunched the buddy scheme and have good interest from new PGRs in having buddies.

Action: Clare will suggest this to faculties.

WELS has done work on Mental Health. 

Action: Jurgi to put Clare in touch with the person in WELS.  Ask WELS to share their work with other faculties.

Heating issue in STEM

Portable heaters arrived after two weeks of requesting them from Estates.  They arrived on the day that the heating was turned on.  It was 10 degrees in the Labs and 16 degrees in offices.  Estates won’t provide a heater without a medical condition.

Clare advised that Kayleigh did everything right and that the only assistance Graduate School can provide is to follow up with Estates.

Action: Emily can feed back to Noel in Estates.

PhD Equivalence

Concern that institutions abroad may consider The OU’s degree as an online PhD degree and not give  equivalence.

The Graduate School provides confirmatory letters with the following wording:

“ The Open University awarded (STUDENT NAME) the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on
(DATE).   The topic falls into the academic field of (ACADEMIC FIELD)

In addition to the information provided above I should stress that:

(a)      The Open University does not offer PhDs by distance learning or correspondence

(b)      the PhDs awarded by The Open University are comparable to those awarded by all other UK universities and the attendance requirements for full-time research students is comparable to those in place at conventional institutions, i.e those who provide face to face study for full-time at undergraduate and postgraduate level

(c)       The Open University was established by Royal Charter and is a well recognised publicly funded academic institution.  Our degrees are recognised world-wide as of comparable in status to those awarded by all other UK universities.
 

(d)      The Open University is a UK University with powers granted through its Royal Charter to award postgraduate research degrees.  Open University awards are recognised awards under section 214 of the Education Reform Act 1988 and The Open University is a Recognised Body for the purposes of that Act, listed in the Education (Recognised Bodies) Order 1997 https://www.gov.uk/check-a-university-is-officially-recognised/recognised-bodies.

 

(e)      The Open University is audited by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), the independent body entrusted with monitoring and advising on standards and quality in UK higher education. The QAA exist as partners of the Bologna Process, a European Higher Education Authority (EHEA), of which the UK is a part.  The main objective of the Bologna Process since its inception in 1999, is to ensure comparable, compatible and coherent systems of higher education in Europe.

(f)       The Open University is also accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.  https://www.msche.org/institutions_directory.asp?txtRange=o

The Government website also provides information: Check if your university or college can award a degree: Overview - GOV.UK

Acronyms

Please remind faculties to spell out the acronym, so that PGRS know what the purpose is of the meeting they are being invited to. 

Action: Clare will raise this with faculties.

A list of Open University abbreviations is also available here: Abbreviations | Graduate School Network

Feedback on whether we need to separate Town Halls between international and non-international PGRS.

Action Terri: Request agenda items a week earlier.