Your Doctoral Executive Committee (Doctoral Exec) is made up of Doctoral Reps, Doctoral Faculty Reps, the Doctoral School Rep, and the UDSC Rep & Doctoral Exec Chair. These reps work together to share updates, insights and challenges from across the doctoral community, identify and share best practice, and collaborate to improve the doctoral experience.

The committee consists of:

  • SU Postgraduate & International Officer 
  • UDSC Rep & Doctoral Exec Chair (chair)
  • Engineering & Design Doctoral Faculty Rep 
  • Humanities & Social Sciences Doctoral Faculty Rep
  • Science Doctoral Faculty Rep 
  • Management Doctoral School Rep 
  • Doctoral Reps from each department/programme

The Doctoral Exec usually meets four times each year: in September, January, April and June.

What happens during Doctoral Exec Meetings?

To make Doctoral Executive Committee meetings as effective as possible, the meeting consists of two parts:

  1. An 'Open Business' section, attended by staff from the Doctoral College. This usually includes the Updates section, and any other agenda items that University staff bring to the meeting for consultation.
  2. 'Closed Business' for the remainder of the discussion. At this point, University staff members are asked to leave, with only SU staff and Doctoral Representatives remaining.
The intention behind this structure is to give the Doctoral College the opportunity to share updates relevant to all Reps and for Reps to raise issues that the Doctoral College can take forward as actions, while still providing a student-only space where representatives can discuss issues openly.

The agenda for Doctoral Exec meetings follows the structure below:

Updates:

  • The SU Postgraduate & International Officer provides an update on projects they have been working on, and progress on key issues. Doctoral Reps are invited to ask questions about these initiatives, and to provide feedback on the actions the Officer is taking.
  • The Doctoral College provides an update on work currently underway, consultation opportunities, and upcoming events and activities.
  • Reps share updates on what is happening in their department, faculty, programme or school.

Following the Updates section, staff from the Doctoral College will be asked to leave the meeting.

Specific Agenda Items:

Next on the agenda are specific items, set by the UDSC Rep & Doctoral Exec Chair and SU Postgraduate & International Officer. These will usually relate to officer manifesto commitments or university projects that affect doctoral researchers. If there is something you would like to see on the agenda, reach out to either the Postgraduate & International Officer or UDSC Rep & Doctoral Exec Chair ahead of the meeting.

Any Other Business:

At the end of the meeting, there is space for any other business. This is an opportunity to raise any topics that have been missed so far, or to share updates without university staff present.

After the meeting:

Actions, feedback and priorities identified through the Doctoral Exec often inform representation and advocacy work, helping to shape discussions with University staff and influence decisions at a faculty and university level. By engaging with the Doctoral Exec, Doctoral Representatives play a key role in shaping the doctoral experience at Bath.