[SSC] Awards, acceptance criteria, funding [Was: Letter of invitation to academics]

[Joss Winn]

On 01/03/11 00:16, michael hughes wrote:
> I agree about not offering actual degrees. I think this helps stress the
> communicative emphasis of SSC's approach, as opposed to conventional
> degrees' atomising focus on exam conditions.
> 
> I also agree with Joss that this distinction would prevent the SSC from
> being seen as direct competition with paying universities, at least not
> in any unhealthy sort of way.
> 
> The question of loans is an interesting one - in the immediate context
> of the first intake I imagine it will depend largely on who the SSC
> attracts at first (accommodation costs for students moving to Lincoln
> would, obviously, be the main reason for taking out loans). I wouldn't
> be surprised if, to begin with, the SSC is more visible/appealing to
> people scattered across the country (i.e. who make it onto our
> personally compiled members list) than it is to Lincoln's current FE
> students. However, again I agree with Joss that, in the long term, the
> SSC should aim to serve as a localised model for other communities to adopt.

So far, we've talked about the SSC having classes in the evenings and
weekends. Maybe a summer school, too. I think the idea was that like the
academic staff members, we'd all be necessarily undertaking work
elsewhere during the day.

When I was a full-time undergraduate, I had 8hrs of classes during my
first two years and 6hrs of classes in my last year. My routine was
pretty much 9-5 in the library, 5 days a week otherwise (I had worked
the year before and enjoyed having my weekends and evenings free!) I had
a small maintenance grant and took out student loans to top it up. I
worked every Saturday and during the holidays at HMV. This was in the
early 90s, in London.

I don't know what it's like to support yourself during study as a
student in Lincoln. It's a relatively cheap place to live with lots of
accommodation aimed at students. I'm not sure how much work is available
that students might do. We could find out what the general situation is
like easily enough.

It's an interesting question about how much we worry about students'
ability to support themselves during study. We're trying to ensure that
they pay no tuition fees and do not incur debt directly related to
attending the SSC, but beyond that, I guess I thought it would be up to
them to work something out.

What do others think?

Joss