Supporting, informing and integrating students in their first year. Daniel Ashall

We are asking students to become aware of, and accustomed to, A LOT!

Previous & current attempts Performance in City Hall/Kings Hall – Not interactive – Costly – Not enjoyed- patronising (?) Lectures – Given by many services (drain on resources?) – Putting a face to different services. – Plethora of services- cant all be promoted through the lecture. – Students afraid to look interested, dont want to think about things going wrong, – Not interactive. Opportunities and services for support not being heard.

? Remit: to consider a new, more strategic way, of communicating information about central services and opportunities available to students. Resources: student focus groups, staff in academic departments and central services, conferences (good practice in other institutions). Questions: What and when? How? By Who? Research strategy

Research highlights What and when? -Induction not achieved in one event (students feeling lost, apathetic) -Just in time approach? (Cure over prevention?, What do we want students to be doing in their first year e.g. extra curricular activity?) How? -Enabling social integration is vital, not just responsibility of Students Union (Field trips, away days). get to know course mates and staff -Engaging and contextualised- how is this relevant to me? and How might it be. -Accessing information needed to be simple. By who? -To meet the dual requirements of: -An interactive, social introduction to services. -some method of clearly accessing information about different services in students own time. -The role of other students. -A central online resource for accessing information.

Recommendations (1) Mentor-led induction events: -Providing the right conditions for the university mentoring project to work- building relationships in the first instance. -Opportunity for social integration- suits those who dont enjoy Freshers Week. -Campus tour- orienteering -Activity days -Uni-cycle… -The authority of more experienced students. -Effective training to fill gaps in knowledge, promoting right messages (e.g. not being dismissive of services).

Recommendations (2) Developing and trialling Uni-cycle: – From MMUs Staying the Course – Contextualises information- raises awareness. – Social dimension – Gentle introduction to appropriate ways of being a student- services for when things go wrong and opportunities to make the most of experience. – Currently being trialled across faculties within Combined Honours, Biomedical Sciences and Computing.

Recommendations (3) A student-written, central authority website: -A one stop shop for students to access from pre- induction and throughout the rest of their degrees. -Current pre-arrival site- not inviting/interactive and student homepage confusing with broken links- largely accessed for blackboard and . -Main elements: -Student testimonials -Talking heads from staff -Direct links and specifc details -Simple easy to digest info: Who? What? Where? When?

Conclusion: highlights and other things to consider. Current attempts to promote services are manifold but a more cohesive, considered approach is needed. Information needs to be specific and contextualised- the game & role of mentors. Social induction should, ultimately, be central. Reflecting different needs- opportunity to find out information at any point- the website. Question: Does this meet the requirements of ALL students? Personal tutoring? Social Media? App? Induction/Re-induction for other stages?