• Running a course in a private house, your own or a host’s:
  • Consider the comfort of others:
    • Your preferred temperature is not necessarily that of the majority. Remember that they will sitting still for 1.5-2 hours.
    • Many cannot sit for that time on hard chairs, it’s kind to provide cushions for hard chairs.
  • Prepare the facilities:
    • Ensure that the toilet is clean and well supplied with paper.
  • Refreshments:
    • It’s nice to provide refreshments (tea, coffee, biscuits), if possible or practical, but don’t charge. A bowl alongside with a preferred charity, named, will allow course members to contribute voluntarily. On a longer course members might take it in turns to bring biscuits.

• Running a course in a hired venue:
  • If you select a hired venue, that will be hired for you by the Venues Coordinator. When proposing a course, specify your needs for:
    • Display and sound system facilities
    • Refreshments
    • Seating capacity
  • Before the course, visit the venue to satisfy yourself that everything is as you want it and that it connects to your own tech, if necessary.
  • From time to time, for unavoidable reasons, the venue may have to cancel the booking for a course. The Venues Coordinator will advise you of this and it is your responsibly to advise your course members as soon as possible and any alternative arrangements.

• Accessibility:
  • Members may attend your course with a range of disabilities from mobility to hearing or sight loss. You should diplomatically make yourself aware of these and make allowances.
  • Your course proposal form should state any difficulties in accessing the venue.
  • The most common problem you will face is hearing loss. Most members will have modern hearing aids to compensate but be aware of those who will nevertheless struggle to hear.
  • If you are running the course in the environment of domestic pets this may cause a number of issues from irrational fear to allergies. Please advise course members in advance that pets may be present, both physically or by their discarded fur, even if absent.

• Keep an attendance register. This is especially important in hired venues for a roll call in the event of a fire, or even to ensure that everyone has left at the end of the session. This also allows you to keep tabs on persistent absentees which might allow members on the waiting list to attend in their place. It is the tutors/leaders’ responsibility to inform the Course Administrator of unexplained absences in excess of two sessions. Members of the u3a are from a wide variety of backgrounds and professional achievements or none. There are no entry qualifications for courses and it’s important not to ask about life achievements. Often these will emerge naturally during the course. It’s always pleasant to start a course by getting participants to introduce themselves. This breaks the ice and will also manage your own expectations.
  
• Always maintain confidentiality of any information learned from course members. Depending on the nature of the course or activity it may be useful to get group members’ agreement to confidentiality.

• Please remember you are imparting information to your group who are there to be informed, engaged and even entertained. You need to speak clearly and maintain eye contact. Don’t just read notes or texts. If using a microphone ensure that it is correctly placed to pick up your speech for any position of your head (i.e. reading notes or looking up at the audience).
  
• If you are addressing an email to the group, you should always use the bcc section for the email addresses. This ensures that personal email addresses are not shared amongst the group and maintains privacy.
  
• Keep your content delivery straightforward for general consumption. Even the most complicated academic ideas should be able to be delivered simply. Many members deliberately choose to attend courses way out of their knowledge and comfort zones!
  
• If you’re asking course members to undertake tasks, introduce them clearly with well-defined goals.
  
• Even if you are introducing subject matter that you personally have published, or otherwise have a commercial interest in, you must not in any way promote your interest or use that material as the course textbook.

4. Course feedback:

If you would like to know how your course is being received, a confidential Course Feedback Form is yours to use with your course participants. This is entirely confidential to you. The courses team have no interest in this. Download the form here:

https://canterbury.u3asite.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Feedback-questionnaire-v.4.docx

5. Finally, tutors and activity leaders are volunteers, and we appreciate all that they do to make our u3a a vibrant learning organisation. Payment will never be made for this but we show our gratitude by offering tutors/leaders one free course per year and by inviting them to an annual Tutors’ Lunch. This invitation is not transferrable to the Volunteers’ Afternoon Tea which is a separate event.