Current Students Feedback and complaints Student Advisory Forum

JCU Student Advisory Forum

The JCU Student Advisory Forum was established to promote cross-institutional communication and interaction among JCU students and staff.

The Forum is designed to encourage a culture of effective student engagement by:

  • Providing an opportunity for students to provide feedback to the University
  • Providing a forum for students to participate in decision-making processes
  • Providing a forum where students can provide feedback on course matters, including development of new course offerings across discipline areas
  • Aiding in the co-creation of solutions, and development of new and innovative ideas and practices
  • Providing an occasion for University representatives to respond to issues raised by student representatives, and
  • Enhancing student employability by offering opportunities for students to gain experience and develop new skill sets.

In particular, the Forum provides an additional avenue for students to help decide how revenue from the Student Services and Amenities Fee will be used across the University.

SAF Student Handbook

SAF Reports

Student self-nominations for 2021/2022 are now open. Complete and submit your form here.

Nominations close on Friday 16 April 2021.

Student Advisory Forum 2021 meeting dates will be announced soon.

Additional 'hot' topic meetings or surveys will be conducted throughout the year.

The Student Advisory Forum is Co-Chaired by:

  • Professor Maree Dinan-Thompson, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Students; and
  • Invited Student Representative

Membership Term

A 2-year membership term will apply based on criteria outlined in the Student Advisory Forum Handbook. Exceptions to the 2-year term may be made dependent upon the length of a student's course of study.

A call for student nominations occurs biennially via an email bulletin.

JCU Student Advisory Forum Secretariat:

Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Students
dvcstudents@jcu.edu.au
Phone (07) 4781 4565

Recently in Australian Higher education, there has been considerable interest in developing more systemic approaches to the inclusion of student voice in university decision-making and governance, across all possible areas of student engagement and at all levels of institutional governance.

The premise on which this work is based is that engaging students as partners in their educational experience makes a positive and importance difference to student engagement, will help shape the quality of that experience in an individual institution and contribute to the overall success of Australian universities collectively.

Examples of this work include:

The more recent focus on students as partners in Australia has built on longer-term work, and a strong culture has developed in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, for example:

  • sparqs (student partnerships in quality Scotland), an agency that promotes placing students "at the heart of decisions being made about the quality and governance of the learning experience"
  • The Higher Education Academy's Enhancement Theme, Students as partners
  • The Student Engagement Partnership, a central hub for student engagement expertise operating in partnership with major UK sector organisations
  • A Manifesto for Partnership by the National Union of Students