Requesting Representation at a Meeting

There are times when you may be invited to attend a meeting with the University where it may be worthwhile taking a sabbatical officer from the Students’ Union along with you for support.

This service is subject to availability and we ask for a few working days notice. When you make your request, the adviser will first discuss your case with you to establish whether it would help for someone to attend the meeting with you. This will usually be the case where the matter is not straightforward, of a serious nature, or another scenario where the adviser feels that it may help your case for someone to attend with you.

At the meeting, your representative can support you with clarifying any questions posed to you, but will not be able to answer for you. There are several reasons for this:

• A University is not a court of law
• All students are considered to be adults capable of expressing their own views
• Students know - and should therefore be able to express - their own situation best

However, your representative may also speak up if they feel you have missed any point/s you had previously discussed you were going to make, or remind you of something you have forgotten to mention.

The benefits of having a Students’ Union Officer present at a meeting are:

• They can act as an independent witness to events
• They are trained to ensure you get a fair hearing
• All SU Officers are experienced and can advise you on the University’s procedures

The above support can, of course, be carried out by a friend, relative or fellow student, but elected officers are trained to support students at university/student meetings. However, some students do prefer to take someone who is close to them or even attend on their own. It’s your choice.  Only one person is allowed to attend with you.

The representative may also take summary notes for you (however, not verbatim minutes).

1.   You will need to provide details on what the meeting is for and information on when and where the meeting is to be held. You can do this via our online enquiry form

2.   A member of staff (usually an adviser) will then contact you to discuss your case, during which, they will be able to advise you whether there is any merit in someone attending the meeting with you. 

3. If we believe you would beneift from having an officer attend, your details will then be passed on to the duty officer for the week, who will contact you a few days in advance of the meeting to arrange a time and place to meet.  This is usually 10-15 minutes prior to the hearing.

4.  If a representative is not appropriate/ available, you will be informed and your options can be further discussed - you are usually allowed to take 1 person in to a meeting/ hearing with you for suppport. 

Please be patient and wait for the officer to contact you. If you have not heard from an officer 24 hours prior to your meeting then please contact the Advice and Representation Centre.

Please note that the sabbatical officer offering support at your meeting will not be available for appointments or able to provide you with academic advice. If you require specific advice/information regarding your case/issue, then approach the Advice and Representation Centre to arrange to speak to an adviser. The officer will be fully briefed by the adviser on your case, and there will be ongoing communication between the adviser and the representative to ensure your case is kept up-to-date.

Further information regarding what to expect at an academic misconduct hearing, complaints and appeals can be found via the following web pages www.wolvesunion.org/advice/academic