HE Student Charter

1. Introduction

Our Student Charter outlines the expectations from the British Academy of Jewellery (BAJ) and our HE students. We will expect all staff and students to contribute to a supportive learning environment and work in line with our values.

2. Our values

To achieve success as a student you need to fully engage with your course. You should participate in all timetabled sessions whether virtual or face-to-face, carry out self-directed and group study as needed, and organise yourself to make sure that you can meet all assessment deadlines.

We also recommend that you initiate and join student clubs and societies to meet friends, create networks, increase your skills and keep fit and well. 

We know that many students have to work or have family commitments, but we ask that you do your best to balance these to prioritise your study. Talk to your Tutor or Student Support if you need advice about this. 

If you’re a full-time student, you will need to study at least 21 hours each week and should not normally do more than 15 hours of paid work each week. If you’re a part-time student you should commit to the time you have set aside for your studies. 

By the end of your studies at BAJ we aim to ensure our graduates have academic and personal success by attaining the following attributes; resilience, academic and professional development, a global perspective, clarity of communication and purpose, information and skill expertise, intellectual autonomy and enquiry and adaptability.

3. Code of Conduct for students

1. As a student of BAJ, we expect you to behave in a responsible manner that allows us to foster a community of freedom and mutual respect. You are an ambassador of BAJ and as such we require you to help support the good relationships between BAJ and its local communities. We also have a duty to ensure that we meet your expectations and provide a community whose foundations are built on courtesy and consideration where difference is valued and diversity respected. Expectations are clearly outlined in your Student Charter. 

2. Misconduct is defined as behaviour whereby you damage BAJ’s reputation by any deliberate, negligent or reckless act or statement that enters the public domain. It also includes behaviour that is deemed to be violent, offensive and illegal which will encompass both acts against the person or property. Please visit baj.ac.uk/policies-procedures/ to view the HE Student Disciplinary Policy and Code of Conduct.

3. We may treat the following as misconduct:

4. Our standards

We aim to provide you with the best possible experience. To make sure we achieve this, we’ve set standards for the service you can expect from us. Please note our ethos of partnership working between students and academic and support staff remains unchanged.

We will:

We have set standards for our staff but we also expect you to:

Communicating with each other

We will:

We expect you to:

Our main ways of communicating with you

Email and postal

We will:

We expect to:

PICS for students starting in September 2024

Your grades and progress are recorded on PICS. We use PICS to check your personal and course details, as well as view your results.

Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Canvas

Our VLE is where you will access online information relating to your studies, including course and module guidance, documents and teaching notes as well as blogs, surveys, announcements and discussion boards.

We will:

We expect you to:

Starting/continuing your studies

We know starting a new course or a new academic year can be daunting. By following any instructions sent to you and contacting us if you have any questions, you will soon settle into your studies and Academy life.

We will:

We expect you to:

5. Your academic development

We will provide you with a high-quality learning environment led by professional staff who have an active interest in your subject area and take part in academic activity, industrial updating and research. We will also provide an education that includes principles, values, and practices of protecting the environment for the future.

Due to COVID-19, we have had to amend and adapt some of our teaching and learning processes. In 24/25 our intention is to deliver a blended approach which is a combination of face-to-face and online learning. Additional training will be provided during induction and tutorial to enable you to adapt.

Learning and teaching

We know starting a new course or a new academic year can be daunting. By following any instructions sent to you and contacting us if you have any questions, you will soon settle into your studies and Academy life.

We will:

We expect you to:

Attendance

To make sure you and your fellow students get the most out of your course, we ask you to participate in all timetabled lectures, seminars and other activities that are part of your learning.

We will:

We expect you to:

Timetabling

We will:

We expect you to:

Assessment

We will:

We expect you to:

6. Dignity and your environment

To make sure everyone’s experience is a positive one, we will:

We expect you to:

7. Supporting your learning experience

Academy Library and Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

BAJ students benefit from online databases of eBooks and electronic journals.

Other databases tailored to your degree course are provided by BAJ and links to these can be found in your library guide and module reading lists available from the left-hand menu bar in Canvas. To access these databases, you will need to use your BAJ login name and password when prompted.

We will:

We expect you to:

8. IT Support

Our Information Technology Services that you will use while studying with us are provided and maintained by Cardonet.

We will:

We expect you to:

9. Student Support

For all students studying with BAJ in London and regional campuses, our Student Support Services offer information, advice, guidance and support for all welfare, pastoral and academic queries for all HE Students studying with BAJ. They also act as a referral service for external agencies such as Student Loans Company, and wellbeing services:

We will:

We expect you to:

Careers & Industry Engagement

Our Careers & Industry Engagement department is dedicated to supporting your career development and helping you connect with industry professionals.

We will:

We encourage you to:

10. Your student voice

Feedback

We always welcome your views on the student experience that we provide and value your feedback, whether it’s good or bad. Tell us about small problems so we can deal with them before they become big problems. Please also let us know what you enjoy so we can do more of it.

There are a number of ways in which you can make your voice heard.

Course feedback

We are committed to providing you with an excellent experience and we use your feedback to influence the decisions we make.

We will:

We expect you to:

Your course representatives (Student Representatives)

Every course has elected Student Representatives who make sure that your comments and any issues on your course are raised with your teaching staff. Their role is to represent the views of the group and support individuals by signposting where information and guidance can be found.

We will:

We expect you to:

The Academic Appeals Procedure

If you think there was maladministration in the way an assessment was carried out, you should use the academic appeals process, as set out in the academic regulations, or approach the Student Officer or Student Support. All relevant documents for both KU and Pearson students can be found at baj.ac.uk/policies-procedures/.

Student Complaints Procedure

If you’re not satisfied with our facilities or services, or you want to complain about an individual, you should use our Student Complaints Procedure. The Student Complaints Procedure is published on our website and all relevant documents for students studying with BAJ can be found at baj.ac.uk/policies-procedures/.

Complaints are handled in the following ways and must adhere to the process outlined below:

  1. Informal resolution.
  2. Stage 1 complaint.
  3. Stage 2 complaint submitted if dissatisfied with the outcome from Stage 1.
  4. Resolution by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) when all internal procedures have been undertaken by the student.

We will:

We expect you to:

Student Disciplinary Procedure

We can use our student disciplinary procedure if we have to take action against you because we believe that you have broken our codes of conduct or breached this Student Charter, this is available in the HE Student Disciplinary Policy & Code of Conduct available at baj.ac.uk/policies-procedures/.

Fees and other funding

We realise you will want to know what your tuition fees are and whether there are any other costs associated with your course. You will also want to know if there’s any other funding to help you.

We will:

We expect you to:

11. Completing your course

We will:

Ensure that your final certificate and transcript  can be collected  within eight weeks of the relevant awards board as specified by the awarding body from your campus of study.

We expect you to:

Keeping our promises to you

We consult with our students and staff when we write our Student Charter and we review it every year. We would like to know what you think of our Charter, how we’re doing in keeping our promises, or if we could be clearer about our expectations.

If you have any suggestions or would like to comment on the Charter please contact us: HEStudentServices@baj.ac.uk.

12. Best practice for online learning

We would ask all students to view the Blended Learning policy and Online Learning Code of Conduct (available on our website) that outlines good practice and behaviour expected of everyone when using online learning tools and classrooms. 

Inappropriate behaviour and conduct will be addressed in the same way as any incident that would take place in any classroom in a face-to-face delivery situation.

Originator: Quality Manager: Higher Education

Issue: HE/SCP_V3 2024

Approved: SMT September 2024

Review Date:August 2025

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