Student Council becomes a firm fixture
Following the success of last year’s inaugural Student Council, it is to become a permanent fixture in the NCTJ calendar.
Following the success of last year’s inaugural Student Council, it is to become a permanent fixture in the NCTJ calendar.
The council will also be extended to cover ALL NCTJ courses – not just one representative per centre – so voices from each and every course can be heard.
Tutors are asked to encourage students to elect a representative for each accredited course before January 30, 2009. The next student council meeting is due to take place at Bloomberg, in London, on February 13, 2009.
If students would like more information on electing a rep, they can contact Shevon Houston by calling 01799 544945 or emailing shevon.houston@nctj.com. Elected reps should also contact Shevon.
Students studying for NCTJ qualifications are key stakeholders in the industry training scheme. As such, it is important we have formal arrangements for listening to what they think and ensuring their views are properly conveyed to the NCTJ board of directors.
Please note it is a condition of accreditation that tutors support students’ participation in the council.
About the Student Council
The purpose of the council is to provide a forum for students to discuss aspects of the NCTJ training scheme and how it can be improved. All council members will be responsible for providing feedback to the NCTJ during the course and they will be the direct link with students on accredited courses.
The council provides an opportunity to share thoughts on accreditation, the preliminary qualifications and the National Certificate Examinations.
There will be one group meeting of the council in 2009, at the business information publisher Bloomberg in London. This will be representatives’ opportunity to network with senior editors, to see first-hand the news operation at Bloomberg and to find out more about internships on offer to students.
At the meeting, students will elect four representatives to attend the June NCTJ board meeting in London so the views of the student council members can be discussed first-hand with the directors of the NCTJ.
Membership of the council is restricted to one student representative per accredited course. It is important that students on each NCTJ accredited course elect their representative themselves – they must not be nominated by staff. The NCTJ will pay for the event, including lunch and reasonable travel costs.
Once a representative has been elected, he/she should contact Shevon Houston either by phone (01799 544945) or email shevon.houston@nctj.com. Shevon will provide more information and can help with travel arrangements if reps can attend the event on February 13.
It is a condition of accreditation that every one of the 42 centres where the NCTJ accredits courses is represented on the student council.
