SDPPCC – 140508 SDPPCC08/03/02

RAVENSBOURNE COLLEGE OF DESIGN AND COMMUNICATION

FdA CREATIVE SOUND DESIGN AND FdA BROADCAST POST PRODUCTION

COURSE COMMITTEE

Minutes from the FdA Creative Sound Design and FdA Broadcast Post Production Course
Committee held on Wednesday 13 February 2008 at 12.00 in the Boardroom.

8.16 WELCOMES AND APOLOGIES

Present: Lance Dann Subject Leader Creative Sound Design (Chair)

Greg Loftin Associate Subject Leader Post Production
Richard Hughes Associate Subject Leader Post Production
Caroline Orme Senior Lecturer Broadcast Post Production
Kerry O’Halloran Business Support Officer
Claire Hull Business Support Assistant
Paul Rogers Media Services Officer
Bradley Hopper Level 1 BPP Student Representative
Ben Worthington Level 1 BPP Student Representative
Matt Watson Level 2 BPP Student Representative
James Hodder Level 2 CSD Student Representative
Paul Jeffery Quality Officer (Secretary)

Apologies: Barbara Howell Head of Faculty Communication Media

8.17 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

Approved: The minutes of the last meeting held on 17 October 2007 were
approved by the Committee (SDPPCC08/02/02).

8.18 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

08.18.01 Student Feedback (min 08.08 – 17 October refers)

Noted: Short courses now use the Lime Lab on Fridays and Business Support
will be notified on occasions when it is not required.

08.18.02 E-Learning (min 08.13 – 17 October refers)

Noted: Feedback from the Course Committee to the ELAG on Moodle issues
will be considered at its next meeting on 27 February. It was hoped
that an appointment would be made soon to replace the departing VLE
Development Officer.

Quality Team Unconfirmed

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8.19 STUDENT COURSE REPRESENTATIVES

Received: Feedback from the Student Course Representatives.

a) Some Level 1 students felt a need for further practise sessions in

Ping Pong. It was available when no teaching was taking place, but
the necessary staff supervision was often not available. It was
hoped that eventually there would be technical tutors or other
support staff to allow greater access to the facilities. Students
would have more scheduled time in Ping Pong in their second year;
the structure of the course is such that some elements are
introduced early in the course and developed later on.

b) The limited capacity of the Mac room was a problem for some
students with project work. Convergance might be available,
although the number of machines waiting to be fixed meant that
Convergance was a partial solution at best.

c) Student representatives otherwise expressed themselves content

with their experience and unaware of any other problems.

Agreed: The CSD Subject Leader would check on arrangements for access to
Convergance.

8.20 EXTERNAL EXAMINERS

Received: Updated External Examiner Action Plans for FdA Creative Sound
Design and FdA Broadcast Post Production

Noted: 1) The need for regular reminders about referencing written work, in
addition to scheduled lectures, was considered. Student
representatives couldn’t recall having a session on the Harvard
system yet, but it had been covered in relation to their Contextual
studies project. The emphasis on proper referencing needed to be
maintained so that students understood the principle on which it
was based as well as the procedure.

2) Concerted efforts were being made on helping students coming to

terms with assessment criteria in CSD, including those that require
discussion of other academic writing in logs, appropriately
referenced. Unit-level feedback was also being implemented
despite doubts about its value.

8.21 ANNUAL COURSE MONITORING LOGS

Received: Updates and progress on Annual Course Monitoring Logs for

FdA Creative Sound Design and FdA Broadcast Post Production

Noted: 1) Gender imbalance remained an issue with Communications Media

and, as far as possible, efforts would be made to address it through
a significant increase in the number of place offers to females for
2008-09.
Quality Team Unconfirmed
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2) The double marking system was in place and 90% of student

feedback in BPP is now typed. Perceptions about the promptness
of feedback were improved, and there was a discussion of the
respective merits of printed and electronic feedback. If printed, it
often gets left in pigeon-holes until the start of the following term,
but some students also fail to check their email with sufficient
frequency (apparently deterred from doing so by spam).

3) Level 2 students expressed appreciation of last term’s lectures

given by visitors from industry.

4) There was a discussion about Broadcast Technology lectures for

the shared unit, to which students gave a qualified welcome. There
was a problem about its perceived relevance to students’ specialist
pathways which needed further consideration. It tended to be later
in the course before students appreciated their value and
relevance. Different approaches had been tried in the past, and
previous experience showed that providing bespoke lectures in
specialisms was not successful.

5) A longer-term solution was being sought on the issues related to

the dependence of the course for direction and development on
one permanent member of staff.

8.22 COURSE UPDATE

Noted: The new video server was currently being installed. It would be a major
improvement for post production and Rave on Air in particular. The
Film Master grading system had also been acquired and would be
installed this term. It was very high-specification equipment found in
the world’s best post production houses.

After their electives, students would benefit from a collaborative project

with the Science Museum. The winner would be given a one minute
promotion on the Danacentre website.

8.23 POSTGRADUATE DEVELOPMENT

Received: The draft programme specifications for the current postgraduate

developments relevant to the course – MA/MSc Broadcast Futures.

8.24 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Noted: The National Student Survey commenced on 7th January and is due to
finish at the end of April 2008. The survey is for final year
undergraduates and they can receive a £5 print credit when completing
the survey online and taking the proof of completion to Finance.
Students are encouraged to complete this survey.

Agreed: The Media Services Officer would ask if LRC could prepare a piece on
for Moodle on Harvard Referencing.
Quality Team Unconfirmed
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8.25 DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Wednesday 14 May 2008 at
12.00 in the Boardroom.

Quality Team Unconfirmed

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