Student-Staff Liaison Committee

The Student-Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC) aims to ensure that students’ voices are heard in matters regarding teaching and learning in the School of Mathematics and Statistics.

Feedback from students

Each subject has one or several student representatives. Their principal duty is to provide an accurate picture of student opinions and to be the bridge between the class and the lecturer, ensuring that the feedback is made available to the lecturer in a timely fashion. It is expected that this communication takes place as the need arises during the semester. We are also keen on identifying aspects of the subjects and tutorials that are working particularly well, so we encourage students to comment on the positive aspects.

In addition, a short survey serves as a more structured tool for polling the class. The survey is conducted online; students taking at least one mathematics subject this semester receive an email invitation to participate in the survey during the fourth week of lectures.

Prompt feedback allows the subject coordinator or lecturer to consider and respond to student concerns, and to make eventual adjustments, if these are deemed appropriate. This has an immediate positive impact on the subject, as opposed to the Subject Experience Survey (SES), whose influence is restricted to future instalments of the subject. In the unlikely event that a student representative feels that a reported problem has not been addressed by the lecturer, the concern can be brought to the attention of:

  • the coordinating lecturer, in the case of a subject with multiple streams
  • Chris Duffy (room G41), in the case of tutorial issues
  • James Osborne (room 315 in Old Geology South, jmosborne@unimelb.edu.au)

As a last resort, the issue can be discussed with the Head of the School; appointments can be made in the general office (room G30).