The Bucks Learning Partnership Agreement

The Learning Partnership Agreement is a formal agreement thrashed out between staff and students here at Bucks. It sets out what you can expect from the staff, and what staff can expect from students. The document was produced jointly by students, the Students' Union, and the University, and gets reviewed and updated each year. Why is it important? Because it sets out in detail what exactly you can expect from the university.

Every felt badly treated by a member of staff at Bucks? Show them the agreement. The first line of "Our commitment to you" reads as follows: "Everyone working for the university will treat students and colleagues with courtesy and respect". Next someone gives you the brush-off, quote the Learning Partnership Agreement to them. Other staff duties include being "punctual and well-prepared", and to "provide a stimulating physical and virtual learning environment".

On the other hand, the agreement also sets out your duties and obligations as a student. Among these duties are: "to be punctual and well-prepared for all scheduled learning activities". Next time you stroll in late without having completed the assignment, consider that you might not be fulfilling your side of the bargain.

Late for submitting your work? Once again, the learning agreement states that you will "submit assessed work on time".

Here at Bucks we're trying out a new way of teaching. It's called "flipping the classroom", and it involves using precious classroom time for workshops, not for lectures. The idea is that you watch the lecture before coming to class, and then get the most out of classroom time for one-on-one feedback. We have literally hundreds of videos on animation hosted at Vimeo. Watch the videos, learn at your own pace, and you can't fail to master your craft.

But the system only works if you actually do the work in advance. Come to class without having done the work, and you are not really getting the most out of your time at Bucks.

Careers in media are competitive, and the digital arts are no exception. Standards are rising every year not just nationally but internationally, and to be able to compete for entry level jobs you need to be working at a professional level by the time you leave university. This means not just completing the assignments which are set for you, but going beyond the brief and absorbing as much as you can not only from the lecturers at Bucks but from your fellow students and also from online tutorials.

We want you to be the best you can be, and to graduate already deeply immersed in the professional world of the digital arts. But to do that we need you to practice hard, and commit to your studies.

For more on the Bucks Learning Partnership, follow this link.

And, to see the whole document, see below:

---Alex