UG Handbook - Departmental committees

The organisation of a University Department will typically involve a number of formal and less formal committees, each of which has specific responsibilities. Those listed below have particular relevance to students.

Board of Studies (BoS)

Teaching in each Department in the University is run by a Board of Studies (hereafter, BoS). Each member of the teaching staff is automatically a member of the Board. The Chair of the BoS is Dr Sally Quinn. There are two student representatives for each undergraduate year, two MSc representatives for each MSc course and two postgraduate representatives for each year of the PhD programme.  There are certain items of business - "starred items" - in which student members do not participate.  These are concerned with examinations and individual student progress. Otherwise student members have a full say and make valuable contributions to the running of the Department.

BoS meetings are on Wednesdays in Week 9 of each semester:

Semester 1 - 29/11/23

Semester 2 - 24/04/24

Departmental Undergraduate Teaching Committee (DUTC)

This committee is responsible for overseeing the proper planning and delivery of modules, and reports to the BoS. It meets during Week 8 of each semester to review the modules that were delivered and to consider and approve plans for modules to be delivered during the following year. A part of this meeting is allocated to the Staff-Student Forum.

Staff/Student Forum

The aims of this section of DUTC are to provide a forum for undergraduate students to raise and discuss matters of concern with staff, and to provide an additional channel for such matters to be communicated to the BoS. The Forum enables matters to be discussed at greater length and under less formal conditions than may be possible at meetings of the BoS. 

If, for any reason, you are unhappy with any aspect of teaching, please let us know.  In the first instance, you should raise it with the member of staff concerned or with the module organiser. If this does not resolve the matter, you should ask your year representative to raise it at the Staff/Student Forum. If you need to take matters further, your year representative can also raise the issue at the BoS, if appropriate. You may also wish to contact your personal supervisor. If all else fails, and you have followed all the steps above, you can contact the Chair of the Board of Studies, or ultimately the Head of Department.

Departmental Health and Safety Committee

The Committee meets once per semester to discuss all matters relating to Health and Safety at work within the Department's laboratories and offices. The Committee reports to the Head of Department.