Addressing student wellbeing through the implementation of a student mentoring scheme RISHAM CHOHAN & CHRIS SHEPHERD

ORIGINS OF OUR SCHEME Introduced in 2014-15 Internal Importance – Retention and Progression Project (“RAP”) External Importance – Teaching Excellence Framework: The Metrics - Requires publication of retention and progression rates Gold/Silver/Bronze award 2016/17 – is an institutional grade 2017/18 – will be a subject grade

METHODOLOGY – Recruitment of mentors Timing – start of academic year (end of week 5) Student Law Society members - class announcements Voluntary sign up scheme for 2nd/3rd year LLB (Hons) students Administered by the Director of Studies (“DoS”) for year 1 who then arranges appropriate training

METHODOLOGY - Training Important to manage expectations We have created a ‘roles and responsibilities’ sheet which is given to students It covers the students role and importantly what they should and should not give advice and or guidance on and information on being ‘professional’ Practical exercises have been prepared and students work in pairs/trios for each scenario identifying the issues and then stating how they would handle each in turn Stress the boundaries of their roles Professional – punctual, language used, where they should hold meetings, responding to correspondence

METHODOLOGY - Student Services signposting Mental Health and Wellbeing Employability and Study Skills Fees and Bursaries Disability and Dyslexia Support Explaining the role of student services and various services available

METHODOLOGY – Recruitment of Mentees Voluntary sign up scheme DoS allocates mentors to a seminar group Mentors make a short presentation to the group and give out their contact details Mentor contact details and seminar group allocation are also sent out via the VLE Scheme also promoted by personal tutors Mentors create a list of mentees and then contact mentees for their first appointment

Methodology – 16/17 RAP Pairing Students identified ‘at risk’ are asked if they would like to be allocated a mentor ‘At risk’ = poor attendance, engagement and students struggling to integrate onto the course If they agree, we put them in touch with their allocated mentor according to their seminar group Two methods of recruiting – one is voluntary and the other is proactive RAP pairing by DoS ‘At risk’ students – attendance less than 66%

WHAT DO THE MENTORS SAY? Although she can lack confidence at times, this is usually easily tackled through motivation, reassurance and inspiration We are limited on the advice that we can give I have made the mistake of letting X use me as his secretary… Many enquiries are in relation to assignments and exams Successfully set up a Whatsapp group Overall feedback positive but some mentees did not engage. Mentors took their role very seriously and usually made numerous attempts to contact the mentees Contacted 5 times to arrange a meeting… no reply/when did reply and wanted to rearrange never replied with an available day to meet Some of the second year students would like a mentor

WHAT DO THE MENTEES SAY? A new friend Doing exams for the first time- helped me handle them Gained co nfidence A chance to meet another student It bought the best out of me …helping me network and putting me in touch with law firms Again very positive feedback. No criticisms of the scheme – all mentees found it beneficial Stopped me from panicking

How many RAP paired mentees actually met with their mentor? This is a positive outcome since these are students that have been identified for failure to attend and engage on the first year of the course, some of the reasons identified for poor attendance and engagement is integration – students haven’t made friends and for this reason feel isolated. We have used the scheme by asking mentors to mentor on a 1-2-1 basis and then arrange a group session for mentees to meet and then integrate into their seminar group – thereby maintaining a group identity. How many RAP paired mentees actually met with their mentor? 6 RAP students were paired with a mentor 3/6 RAP students met with their mentor

2016/17 Mentee Progression 10 mentees 6/10 mentees formed part of the RAP: 3/6 RAP students met with their mentor (passed) 3/6 RAP students did not meet with their mentor (failed) 4/10 students did not form part of RAP pairing: All four met with their mentor 4/4 passed Recruitment reminder – seminar presentation and RAP identification by RC Anthonia is a year 2 student – exclude her from the analysis, this leaves us with 10 students – what was their progression. Check the pass and fails logged above and enter and or amend the missing data. I will then work out the percentages for the presentation. Once this is updated we can forward to the ALT.

17 mentees: 11 Passed 1 Interrupted 3 POM 2 Failed 14/15 and 15/16 data: 88% success rate – with 11/17 students pass progressing, 3/17 with one or two outstanding modules and progressing onto year 2, 1 student interrupting and 2 failing. 12% = Fail, 65% passed, 18% POM and 5% interrupted.

Mentee Profile: Sex More female mentees who took up the offer Over three year period – 27 mentees

Mentee Profile: Ethnicity Number of mentees by ethnicity. Largest number are Black African students closely followed by White students

Mentee Profile: Age Mentee profile: female, black/african/black british, closely followed by white, aged 18-20 years

How have we measured well -being? What is well-being? Peer group support RAP student – mentor engagement Number of mentees with assessment related concerns – proportion of which passed assessment ‘Well being’ – this is a subjective view but includes providing a sense of belonging, support structure and academic community Peer group support is just as important as academic support We feel that the mentoring scheme is contributing to our efforts on retention and progression – well being here is the re-engagement of some of our most at risk students RAP students – engagement- RAP students are those in most need of support and intervention. RAP students – 50% of cohort engaged and met with their mentor (CHECK FROM 007 DATA)

REFLECTIONS AND MOVING FORWARD What works? The scheme has contributed to the well-being of our students Training content and delivery Allocation of mentors to a seminar group Mentors have embraced the scheme and have been proactive Improvements? Method of recruitment - by the Student Law Society Timing of recruitment Increasing the take-up rate by mentees Increase promotion by all members of staff Training content and delivery – we feel we have struck the right balance with the roles and responsibilities, exercises and input from Student Services. Seminar group allocation – creates a sense of identity Well-being:

What changes are we making? Earlier recruitment Recruitment by DoS Introduce mentors at Induction Focus on transition from school to university Greater use of mentors to help RAP students What changes are we making? Earlier recruitment– end of previous academic year Recruitment of mentors – by DoS rather than SLS Introduce mentors at Induction – get them early focus on transition from school to university – reflects the HEA ‘What Works’ Programme Greater use of mentors to help with RAP – e.g. revision classes covering preparation, exam technique and sharing experiences. NOT ACADEMIC CONTENT.

Please send to: risham.chohan@lsbu.ac.uk shephecp@lsbu.ac.uk Feedback Please send to: risham.chohan@lsbu.ac.uk shephecp@lsbu.ac.uk