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

ConsultationInvolvementParticipationPartnership 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.