As Plymouth College of Art students we will...

• Take responsibility for understanding course requirements including deadlines, expected levels of attendance, and academic regulations such as academic misconduct.

• Attend sessions punctually and regularly with a respectful and professional attitude.

• Familiarise ourselves with our financial commitment to the college.

• Treat fellow students and staff members with consideration and respect.

• Be environmentally responsible with regards to our studies (e.g. printing, littering, use of electricity).

• Be respectful towards college and union spaces, equipment and resources.

• Engage in opportunities to create positive change and provide honest feedback to aid future college development.

• Share our knowledge and opinions, participate in the PCA culture of open communication, and ask for help when we need it.

Plymouth College of Art will...

• Provide a high-quality learning and teaching experience.

• Provide a safe and accessible learning environment.

• Ensure course requirements and marking criteria are clear.

• Ensure assessment feedback is thorough, constructive and honest.

• Ensure staff maintain a high level of professionalism.

• Ensure that staff members communicate effectively so that students receive consistent information and feedback in an appropriate time frame.

• Ensure students are represented on college boards and committees and respond to their feedback appropriately.

• Maintain a high standard of facilities, support services, and access to industry standard resources.

• Help students gain employability skills and prepare for their future.

• Actively promote students and their work.

• Promote available financial support.

Plymouth College of Art Student Union will…

• Represent students at relevant boards, committees, working groups and meetings.

• Encourage a culture of inclusivity, equality, respect, sustainability and social responsibility.

• Ensure the student voice is regularly listened to and acted upon, including facilitating discussion between students and staff.

• Provide support and services for physical, sexual and mental health, free of charge or at discounted rates.

• Enable a vibrant community with varied events and activities in response to student feedback.

• Signpost students to relevant support, information, and facilities.

• Encourage involvement with the local community through volunteering and local projects.

• Link students to the promotions, activities, petitions and campaigns of the National Union of Students.

• Provide opportunities to undertake positions on the Student Union Executive Committee, in accordance with the PCA SU constitution.

• Provide access to paid work opportunities and employment, such as the Student Union Student Ambassador role and commissions.

• Provide social opportunities for students, including the use of a dedicated Students’ Union space.

• Provide support to students in setting up student-led clubs and societies.

What is Studentship?

Studentship is much more than the business of acquiring learning and skills. Its hallmark is evident in various attributes – confidence, commitment, creativity, curiosity and resilience – personal and professional qualities that mark the gradual emergence of an individual creative practice.

Your practice is your technical, intellectual and academic currency, and your creative path. No one else can do it for you. It can’t be imitated. And no one can take it away from you once you’ve achieved it.

At Plymouth College of Art all students are actively engaged, as emerging or as more established artists, in a diverse range of contemporary arts practices, and this practical and intellectual engagement we call studentship – making and thinking.

Studentship in art, design and media is a kind of activism, and not just the passive consumption of learning; studentship as activism involves high expectations – both of ourselves and of others.

Who is involved in Studentship?

Studentship is social and it’s individual. Studentship creates communities, it’s interactive, involving everyone equally, and excluding no one.

Studentship is ethical – it calls for self-respect and respect for others. It values diversity, and difference. It enjoys academic freedom, and freedom of inquiry.

Studentship is supported by specialists – teachers, technicians, administrative and support staff, and visiting artists – all working together in the very distinctive and open studio, workshop and exhibition environments we call Art College.