Staff Student Liaison Committee - Meeting Notes

Notes from School of Civil Engineering Student Staff Liaison Committee Meeting Thursday 17 August 2006 1 pm

Present

First Year
Xin Qian

Second Year
Chris Turner
Ahmed Amin

Third Year
Qiao Nan Han
Wen Hao Eric Wu
Brendan McMahon
Ben Strang

Fourth Year
Dave Keast
Adam Koutsamanis
Dave Keast
Adrian Barbagello

Staff Representatives

Mrs Cynthia Papangelis
Prof Kim Rasmussen
Dr Abbas El-zein
A/Prof David Airey
Dr Tim Wilkinson
Dr Li Liu
Dr Graeme Wood
Dr Itai Einav

1. Welcome: The Pro-Head (Undergraduate), David Airey, welcomed all members.

2. Matters arising from last meeting in 2006

4th year students to provide feedback on post-graduation function to Kim Rasmussen.

3. Thesis

David Airey referred to the new Thesis arrangements since 2006 that it is 12 CP, which means a significant increasement in the expectations from previous (Honours 10 CP & Pass 5 CP). Students should be aware considerably more effort is required in thesis than in previous years, and not all students pass thesis.

There was discussion on why there were some issues with thesis. Some students were having difficulty planning the project and were putting off work that should be done continually across the year to the last minute. Supervisors should be maintaining close enough contact to ensure students meet the milestones in the project, but the main onus in on the student.

4. Student issues: Tutorial Sizes: Second year

The issue was originally raised by 2nd year students referring to the size of some of their tutorials. The discussion broadened to cover the whole issues of tutorials as well. Some of the points discussed were:
* Approximately 150 students and 3 tutors in Structural Concepts (year 2)
* 4th year Civil Engineering Design - consultant Jim Forbes and only one other?
* Concrete 1 - need for an extra tutor
* What are relative expectations of the lecturers compared to the students when it comes to the work to be done in tutorials - particularly the amount of preparation from students, and the amount of guidance/answers provided by tutors
* The need for students to develop self-confidence in making decisions themselves in problems - an important generic skill.

6. AOB

* Could solutions for ENGG1802 Engineering Mechanics be available online?

* Dave Keast from SUCE mentioned the upcoming end-of-year SUCE party

* Kim Rasmussen referred to the completion of the upgrade to the CEDO with the installation of the AV system over the holidays. This makes a significant improvement to the learning space environment for students. Tim Wilkinson added that on several occasions the room had been left in an extremely untidy state, and that students should take all rubbish with them.


7. Next meeting

Semester 2 - Week 12?

Meeting closed at 2 pm