furthering student engagement in decision making processes in higher education dr helen may, higher...
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Furthering student engagement in decision making processes in
higher education
Dr Helen May, Higher Education Academy
Dr Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, University of Sheffield
Lauren Webb, Higher Education Academy
Ant Bagshaw, National Union of Students
The projects
• Joint NUS and Higher Education Academy student engagement project
• Furthering the involvement of disabled students in Higher Education Institutions, Higher Education Academy
• The Inclusive Learning and Teaching Project, University of Sheffield
The case for student engagement
Legal responsibilities: to implement disability duties
Value position: to uphold institutional values & reputation
Business need: to increase/maintain student numbers
Shared ownership: to build partnerships with students
May and Felsinger, 2010
The case for student engagement
Quality enhancement: to reduce burden of retrofitting and promote staff understanding and development
Student satisfaction: to improve students’ perceptions
Retention and success: to enhance students’ achievement, progression and retention
May and Felsinger, 2010
Low High
Language of engagement
Success factors
Close the loop: Ensure it is evident to students how information they impart has been used.
Focus on the quality of implementation: It is less important which method is used to engage with students and more important to consider the context and approach to implementation.
From consultation to involvement
Student representatives Clarity of purpose Respect Ownership of specific tasks Ability/encouragement to reach out to
cohort
Involvement success factors
Create a dialogue: moving from one-way student ‘voice’ to a conversation.
Effective processes: willingness to engage in ‘you said, we didn’t’ and respect the processes used to arrive at conclusions.
‘Doers’ Champions
Students and staff in
partnership
Leader buy-in
Student voice
Students as partners
• A community of learners• Empowering students
as agents of change
Examples:• Departmental level:
Mechanical Engineering • Faculty level:
Science student ambassadors• Institutional level:
the University/Student Commitment
Post-it exercise
On a post-it please write your own completion of the
starter:
“To enable student engagement I have…”
Please swap post-its so that you’ve no idea who has
yours.
If chosen, please read out the post-it you now have.
Post-it exercise
On a post-it please write your own completion of the
starter:
“To enable student engagement I would…”
Please swap post-its so that you’ve no idea who has
yours.
If chosen, please read out the post-it you now have.