Sometimes we hear the term 'Senate' banded around, but we might not be sure what takes place there. Thankfully, Cinnomen McGuigan, one of our student reps who has just finished her term as a student member of Senate, is here to explain things for us. Over to you, Cinnomen...
One of the busiest days you can have as an academic student rep at the OU is the day of Senate. It is the day where we go into a bustling three-hour meeting, where the concerns raised can have a massive impact on the student experience, so we need to get it spot on. It can be exhausting, but exhilarating, and I love it.
What is Senate?
The Senate is the academic authority of The Open University, which meets four times each year to consider business which relates to the academic work of the University, both in teaching and research. There are currently over 100 members of Senate, including six student members who are decided by Open SU:
- President
- Vice President Student Representation
- Student Member of Council
These three roles are elected reps on the Student Leadership Team, elected by the student body.
- Three of our current academic student reps, who are appointed by Open SU’s Appointments Committee.
These are appointed roles chosen from the wide expanse of academic reps that we have.
What is the Students Senate Reference Group (SSRG)?
To help the six student members of Senate prepare for each of their meetings, Open SU’s Students Senate Reference Group (known colloquially as SSRG) was convened.
The purpose of SSRG is to act in an advisory capacity to the ‘Senate 6’ and to provide the opportunity for us to draw on the lived experiences, views and opinions of a range of other students. We currently have 40ish student members of SSRG, from a diverse range of backgrounds, ages and regions, which allows for a greater depth of understanding on the key issues that come before the Senate.
What we discuss (and how we do it)
Before the meetings, we have wide-ranging asynchronous discussions about the upcoming papers on a dedicated Teams space – then we can have a focused real-time discussion when SSRG meets virtually (via Teams) before each Senate meeting. This allows us to consider the business papers in much more depth than doing just one or the other.
At the meetings, the members discuss as many papers as time allows. We try to make sure all papers get attention, but if some have been subject to plenty of input in our forum or Teams space, that could mean that there is still much to discuss or that we have already made some decisions, so it is up to the Chair to manage that tightrope effectively.
The interesting discussions generate a large amount of information and opinions which the Senate 6 then consider in a separate meeting (in-between the SSRG meeting and Senate). Between us, we clarify exactly what we might want to raise at Senate, but we are not mandated to take the views of SSRG – the role of SSRG is purely an advisory one but is vital to ensure that we see the bigger picture as much as possible.
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Notes from the June 2025 Senate meeting
These notes are intended as a taste of the Senate and/or SSRG meeting, and are not a detailed record.
The main discussion items were:
- 'Growth and Working Smarter' programme
This is the major change project that the OU is working on. This covers the way the University is working towards its goals, alongside the cost savings that need to be made in a more and more adverse Higher Education atmosphere. We are seeing universities struggling with having little contingency in hugely tightened budgets, and the OU wants to ensure it has the capacity to survive and thrive. Curriculum, study pace, assessment and more were all covered.
- Annual Effectiveness Review
Where we highlighted the need for student reps to be treated fairly and receive the same induction process as everyone else, even though our appointment schedule is slightly out of sync with the rest of Senate.
- Review of the OU Charter and Statutes
This was brought up to show that we need to update some of our processes and procedures, as they have needed work for a while and we need to ensure we have strict policies in place (should we need them).
The new Student Charter was brought to Senate for approval, and the new document looks amazing. We are proud to have had so much input on this. It truly was a student-staff, co-created piece of work.
These were the key bits of decision-making that affected students, so they were the ones we students had the most to say about. A number of other papers also came to the meeting, but these were the ones that needed our focus and gave us scope to question and raise concerns.
Coming up soon, we will be discussing the latest update on student outcomes, the Annual Review of Academic Governance, and the University's 24/25 Self Evaluation and Action Plan. They should start coming through soon, ready for the Senate's next meeting in October.