About network meetings

When are they held?

• Network Group meetings are held regularly throughout the year, usually once a term, and mainly in central London. Colleagues are welcome to suggest their own institution or organisation as a host, elsewhere in the region.
• Network Groups tend to last about two-and-a-half to 3 hours, during the morning or the afternoon. 
• Where possible they are 'paired' to provide the most appropriate academic overlap, to help members get the most value out of time away from their organisation. For example, the Work Related Learning and APL groups are usually on the same day, so that areas of academic and professional expertise can be shared, and participating is synergistic.

How are they organised?

• Network Groups are created in response to members' needs and can be disbanded when they are no longer required.
• A Network Group participant will act as Chair for a couple of years, either volunteering being elected, and is supported by a Deputy Chair, and the SEEC office as an administration centre. Minutes are taken within the group and published on the SEEC website in time for actions to be taken for the subsequent meeting.
• Any SEEC member can attend these network groups, at no charge.
• Colleagues who are based in non-Member organisations can attend by special arrangement with the Chair through the SEEC Administrator. 

What happens at a network meeting?

• The work of the group is drawn from the needs of its members. A significant item on the agenda will be members' news, where regular updates are given, successes celebrated, and problems aired. The result is that many connections are made, issues debated, solutions proffered, to develop the work of the practitioners.
• A colleague can offer, or be invited, to present an item of specific interest, such as a research question or a solution, to the whole group. Recently we have debated innovations such as online APEL procedures, and a new research project about workbased learning for a particular department.
• A sandwich lunch is available to those wishing to stay the whole day (please let us know if you want lunch when you book)
• A guest speaker of mutual interest to the both groups meeting on the day might be invited to make a presentation at a working lunch session, so that the two groups can collaborate on common issues. Some meetings recently addressed were APL in the NHS Workforce, and an officer from QAA who spoke about the work being done on codes of practice for placement learning.
• SEEC encourages its Network Groups to develop proposals for project bids or funding for work of specific interest to Group members, to publish occasional papers, to hold seminars or conferences under the aegis of the Consortium, and to contribute to the annual conference