1. Taking a strategic approach to student and learner engagement
Liam Jarnecki, The Student Engagement Partnership
Gareth Lindop, NUS

2. What do we mean by ‘student and learner engagement’?
Students engaging in learning and teaching, quality assurance & enhancement processes and governance, decision-making & strategy.
Student engagement practices are not new …but student engagement as a policy priority is relatively recent.
Moving beyond systems …and instead describing concepts e.g. potential of individuals to influence their environment.
Although the practices around student engagement may be long-standing in some cases (such as course rep systems and the existence of the students’ union), student engagement as a policy priority is relatively recent. In higher education, we are now moving beyond a narrow focus on the validity of various systems of student representation and instead describing concepts linked to student identities and the potential of individuals to influence their environment.

3. Background
The 2010 NUS/HEA Student Engagement Toolkit framed partnership as the goal of student engagement.
QAA published the new Student Engagement Chapter of the UK Quality Code.
Lots of organisations and institutions are talking about, defining and taking action on student engagement and/or partnership.
NUS published ‘A Manifesto for Partnership’
Lots of concepts have clustered around student engagement, such as co-creators, co-producers, active participants, students as collaborators, students as agents for change… The concept of ‘partnership’ has emerged and gained significant currency.
The significant development of this term was kicked off by an NUS and HEA toolkit in 2010, which framed partnership as the end goal of student engagement activity.
In 2012 QAA published the Student Engagement Chapter of the UK Quality Code. Chapter B5 sets out the expectation that institutions engage students as partners both individually and collectively. The Quality Code doesn’t define what that means and emphasises the importance of institutions creating their own local definitions of partnership.
Towards the end of 2012 NUS published ‘A Manifesto for Partnership’, which sets out what partnership could mean and why students’ unions are so important in creating and maintaining partnership approaches.

4. The Student Engagement Partnership
Housed by NUS, funded by HEFCE, Guild HE and AoC
Aim to be a central resource for practitioners, support institutions and make student engagement networks more connected and effective.
Listeners, conversationalists and content creators

5. Why does student engagement matter to you?
Core mission and relevance
Building relationships with institution
Student engagement staff in institutions- why not in the union?
Link to student retention and success
Chapter B5 UK Quality Code
Rapidly changing agenda that requires thought and leadership
Opportunities for innovation
Student engagement is such a recognised agenda, that some institutions are forging ahead and putting resource behind initiatives without involving students’ unions.
Research has shown that there are strong correlations between engagement in the sense of students taking an active role in their own learning, and favourable outcomes in areas such as performance, persistence and satisfaction. This means that students who are more strongly engaged with their course will get better marks, will try harder and say they are more satisfied with the course.

6. HEI and SU views on effectiveness of student representation
This is from a 2009 report, but is interesting nevertheless. HEI’s are blue and students’ unions are red- as you can see, institutions think student representation is more effective than students’ unions think it is. Do you think this is still the case?
Source: Little, B. et al. (2009) Report to HEFCE on student engagement. CHERI

7. The political landscape
‘User experience’ and co-production of services
Voter ‘apathy’ especially among the young
Post-crash economy and loss of trust in powerful
Alternative models of democratic engagement
Dispute over who should attend higher education
Rising inequality and regional economic imbalance
Youth unemployment and underemployment
Scrutiny and regulatory accountability vs autonomy for HEIs
Student engagement is being done in a highly politicised, changing environment.

8. Policy issues
The evolution of public information (NSS/KIS/NSSE) – how informed HE demand is
Quality enhancement (NSS/NSSE; surveys vs qualitative data)
Graduate attributes, the HEAR, student enterprise and employability, skills fit for 21st century workplaces
Provision of flexible, distance and part-time HE
Student engagement strategies – what will these look like and what values will they evoke?
Segmentation and diversity among HE providers
Partnership
The future conception of students’ unions
Cost of student engagement and who pays
These are some key policy areas that will have an impact on student engagement practices and approaches.

9. Student and learner engagement is political
Who describes the boundaries of the terrain?
What motivates activity?
Who sets the agenda?
Who does the engaging and who is engaged?
What benefits are on offer?
What penalties for non-participation?
Who has access?
Who is excluded?
Student and learner engagement itself is political- different levels of power, no right answers, plurality of views, a contested space, people exerting their power and influence. You need to think of yourselves and all the people in your students’ unions as political actors.

10. Taking a strategic approach
Aligning your strategic approaches to that of your institution
Staff development
Asking the political questions
Working with your institution to define the goals and approaches to student engagement in your context
Creating space for officers and staff to explore the value of student engagement and the intended impacts
Supporting the development of your staff working in this area is essential.
If the goal is tacit, the ends can be appropriated by all kinds of special interest groups. Student engagement can mean all things to any people. If it’s unclear what we are trying to achieve with student engagement we may forget to ask who benefits from student engagement and whether those benefits are shared equally, or what social or even economic barriers exist that stop people from partaking in student engagement.
To arrive at a judgement on value, an insight into the quality of the experience from the point of view of the key stakeholders is required.

11. Discussion Learning & Teaching
Quality Assurance and Enhancement processes
Decision-making, governance and strategy
Where can students’ unions add value?
What are the drivers and barriers?