Massey University Class Representative System
Class Representatives are students who volunteer to act as a class contact between students, teaching staff and Te Tira Ahu Pae. Class Representatives give feedback about issues affecting students as they arise within their classes, courses and colleges. Working together this way means that any course delivery issues can be resolved as quickly as possible.
Information for Students
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Opportunity to meet new people, especially if you're in your first year and looking to make friends.
Get more involved in your course, which can help you succeed by giving you a better understanding of the material.
Build valuable skills like communication, leadership, advocacy, and teamwork that will be useful when you start looking for jobs.
Have something impressive to highlight on your CV, along with any certificates you earn along the way.
Play a role in improving courses and making sure everyone has a better learning experience.
Be recognized at the end-of-year event, and you might even have the chance to be nominated for the Class Representative of the Year Award.
Attend a one-hour training session and learn about the key support services
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Class Reps do the following:
Collect feedback from the class to identify issues affecting the whole class
Give positive and negative feedback to lecturers
Help facilitate communication between lecturers and students
Attend Class Rep training
Refer students with individual concerns to our Te Tira Ahu Pae advocacy service
What doesn’t your Class Rep do?
Provide tutoring or help with assignments
Listen to students’ personal problems
Give feedback on individual issues
Administer class social media groups
Please note that it is not an expectation of your role to administer or moderate online group chats for your courses. However, if you choose to do so, ensure that you protect your own wellbeing. If any chat becomes unpleasant, confrontational, or aggressive and is likely to impact your role as a class representative or damage the reputation of the class rep system, remove yourself from the chat immediately and notify the Class Rep Administrator.
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It’s not as intimidating as it might seem.
Sign up for the training (usually 3rd Wednesday of the semester)
Let your lecturer know that you are the CR for this course
Ask them to introduce you during the next class or ask for 5 mins to introduce yourself. (If there are no live classes post an introduction on your course Stream page).
Include your name and Massey email address. Let them know how to reach out to you and when/why
Fill in fortnightly logbooks for the course(s) you are a Class Rep for
Communicate any concerns/complaints raised by your class with your lecturer
If unsure what to do, before going to the lecturer, fill in the logbook and email for advice at classreps@tetiraahupae.ac.nz
The Class Rep Coordinator, Kat, or someone from the Advocacy team will be in touch to guide you
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Te Tira Ahu Pae expects all Class Representatives to act, responsibly, and respectfully towards one another, and to all university staff and students. Te Tira Ahu Pae also expects that Class Representatives will uphold the reputation, integrity, and values of the Class Representative system and Te Tira Ahu Pae.
All Class Representatives will attend basic training and will act within the scope of the role. This code of conduct includes online behaviour between students and teaching staff. Administrating class group chats is not part of the Class Representative role and those doing so must not represent themselves as Class Representatives.
All Class Representatives must be enrolled in the course they are volunteering to be Class Representative for. If they withdraw from that course, they should advise the Class Representative Administrator immediately.
Conflict of Interest: No person who has a conflict of interest with any activity or programme of Te Tira Ahu Pae, whether personal, philosophical, or financial shall be accepted or serve as a Class Representative with Te Tira Ahu Pae.
Class Representative Volunteers must declare that they have not in the past or are not currently subject to any Massey University disciplinary matters.
Class Representatives must declare they have no criminal convictions, especially in the areas of fraud, theft, violence or sexual violations (or any current criminal proceedings in these areas)
Class Representatives agree that Te Tira Ahu Pae may at any time, for whatever reason, decide to terminate the volunteer’s relationship with Te Tira Ahu Pae.
Class Representatives who do not adhere to the rules and procedures of Te Tira Ahu Pae or who fail to satisfactorily perform their role may be subject to dismissal as a Class Representative.
Class Representatives are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of all privileged information to which they are exposed while serving as a Class Representative, whether this information involves a single staff, student, Class Representative, or other person or involves overall Te Tira Ahu Pae business.
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Please let us know how your classes are going.
Feed back via our logbook is categorised as either Postive, General or an Issue and is broken up into fortnightly periods throughout the semester. If there's a problem, we can help get it sorted or if you have postive feeback we can pass it on.
You need to sign in to your account to update your logbook.
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Do you have a problem you want to report to your Class Representative?
Click here to find your Class Rep
Note: to use this function, you will need to create a profile or login in to your profile on this site.
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For information on Class Representative sign ups, training and logbooks contact the Class Rep Administrator classreps@tetiraahupae.ac.nz
If you would like to talk to an Advocate about an individual issue please complete our webform here.
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Class Reps are volunteers of Te Tira Ahu Pae that work with the students within the course they signed up for. Student Reps are elected reps who carry out representation roles within the broader university. They might represent a particular cohort such as postgraduate or international students or attend college board meetings. Learn more about Student Reps here
Information for Lecturers
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The relationship between students and staff at the University is crucial. This programme encourages and facilitates the development of these relationships as much as possible. The Class Rep Policy specifies that representatives will be recruited for all courses and qualifications (both undergraduate and postgraduate).
Having Class Reps allows you to receive feedback more frequently and provides an additional channel for addressing students' concerns. This approach has proven to be an effective way to increase student engagement in the class and to identify potential issues before they develop into generalised problems or escalate into formal complaints or grievances. Historically, most student complaints have originated from classes without Class Representatives. Conversely, students report higher levels of satisfaction in courses with Class Representatives.
The Class Representative system fosters goodwill among students and enhances lecturer-student relationships. The value of such a system should not be underestimated.
College Staff/Student Liaison Committees typically recruit student participants from their pool of Class Representatives. There is a strong correlation between the number of Class Representatives recruited by individual academic units and the likelihood of successfully running Student & Staff Liaison Committees.
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We encourage you to show our introductory promo image and video (provided in the next section) during the first class of the semester. This can be an excellent icebreaker and works best if you recruit your Class Representatives during this initial class or, at the latest, within the first three weeks of lectures. Further down the page, you’ll find a list of the benefits students gain by engaging with the programme.
Teaching staff are responsible for requesting that at least one student from each paper volunteers as a Class Representative. For large classes, we recommend a ratio of no fewer than one representative per 40 students. Students can self-nominate, and the more representatives per class, the more effective the system becomes, as responsibilities and workload are shared. Unless there are objections, all volunteers should generally be accepted as Class Representatives, as this role offers valuable opportunities for developing co-curricular skills.
Please allow your Class Representatives a few minutes to introduce themselves to the class.
Te Tira Ahu Pae will coordinate the programme and provide training for the Class Representatives.
Class Representative training will take place in Week Three of the semester. Please ensure your Class Representatives have registered well before this date, so they receive an invitation to the training session.
If you are unable to recruit a Class Representative, please let the Class Representative Administrator know.
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There are a whole heap of intangible benefits for students who engage with the programme, but some of the things you may wish to highlight are:
A way of getting to know the lecturer and support teaching staff
That they will learn more about Massey than they would have known otherwise
The opportunity to meet class mates or fellow Representatives and make new friends
Training provided (1 hour only) but with the potential for further optional training
Helps them to develop communication and advocacy skills
A certificate provided at the end of the year
Looks good on their CV and is very useful when applying for scholarships as it demonstrates co-curricular and community involvement
An awesome end of year recognition event
Any questions?
For information on Class Representative sign ups, training and logbooks contact the Class Rep Administrator classreps@tetiraahupae.ac.nz
If you would like to talk to an advocate about an individual issue please complete our webform here