Student & Staff Insight Scheme Guidance to participating staff and students and notebook
Handy Information I am paired with
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Job / Course
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Email Address
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Phone number
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Manager’s PA
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PA’s email address
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Help & Support Dan Derricott, Student Engagement Officer Vice-Chancellor’s Office (2nd Floor, Main Admin Building) dderricott@lincoln.ac.uk | 01522 88 6275
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INTRODUCTION The Student and Staff Insight Scheme is part of the University’s wider commitment to engaging students as partners and producers at all levels of decision making. It is a scheme which complements the information University senior managers receive through student representatives and student surveys by giving an insight into what it’s actually like for students to study at Lincoln. It’s also a fantastic opportunity for students to become familiar with how the University works and to gain a first-hand insight into a career as a senior manager, something which will no doubt be invaluable in their own career. Students will have the opportunity to contribute through this scheme towards making the University and the experience of all students the best it can be. The scheme broadly consists of pairing each member of the University’s Executive Board with a student and undertaking two types of activity during the academic year. First you will shadow each other for a day to immerse yourselves in either the student or the staff experience. This allows for a mutual understanding of your partner’s role to be formed quickly and for subsequent discussions to be contextualised. Second, you will meet each month throughout the cycle to discuss the student experience at Lincoln in the context of the member of staff’s area of responsibility, for example, a student paired with the Director of ICT would likely focus on students’ experience of ICT systems and infrastructure. This provides the member of staff with an opportunity to sound out new ideas and to see the impact of the decisions. It provides the student with the chance to understand what goes into creating a great student experience and how managers cope with the pressures of competing demands. We are currently in a pilot stage as we seek to understand how to best implement the scheme for all members of Executive Board. We hope that this guidance and space to reflect will be a helpful tool to guide the experience, but just like the wider project we are piloting the guidance so please do share your feedback on it. For questions & support please contact Dan Derricott, Student Engagement Officer in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office: dderricott@lincoln.ac.uk or 01522 88 6275
Our work is informed by existing good practice in the sector, particularly that of the LFHE funded project at the University of Exeter and University of Bath (http://bit.ly/1cIR8Yz). Student & Staff Insight Scheme: Guidance to participating staff and students
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notes‌ dates for shadowing the manager
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time & meeting point
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dates for shadowing the student
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time & meeting point
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SHADOWING Each partnership should begin with reciprocal shadowing days to enable both staff and students to gain an insight into each other’s daily working lives from the beginning. This is intended to help foster the relationship quickly before allowing it to mature in the following months. By engaging directly in the student experience, staff will be able to better relate to and contextualise discussions with their student partner in their monthly meetings. Similarly, by engaging in the work of the manager, students will be able to contextualise how their discussions and comments might impact upon decision making within the University. To make the shadowing experience successful, the following guidance is provided: The Student should shadow the Manager for one day and vice-versa. This can be whole days or split into half days if likely to be more fruitful. This may include alternate half days (for example: half a day shadowing the manager, half a day shadowing the student, half a day shadowing the manager, half a day shadowing the student); Once the date is confirmed for the day the manager will shadow the student, the student should inform the Student Engagement Officer in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office (Dan Derricott, dderricott@lincoln.ac.uk) of the date and which teaching sessions that involves. The Student Engagement Officer will contact the lecturer / tutor and check they are happy for a University manager to sit on their teaching; Both parties should maintain confidentiality of anything they may be told by their shadowing partner informally or of anything mentioned informally by people they meet during the shadowing experience; You may want to agree on the use of smart phones or keeping up with email (for example, when shadowing the student the manager should avoid interrupting the experience on a regular basis to take phone calls; or when shadowing the manager); Note-taking of the experience should be by written log. The use of video or audio devices (including smart phones) for recording purposes must be explicitly agreed between both parties beforehand; Aim for your shadowing partner to experience a realistic slice of your life as a student/manager – try to avoid arranging tailored meetings, lengthy tours or other ‘contrived’ experiences; At the introductory meeting both parties should consider this guidance and agree on ‘ground rules’ for the shadowing experience; Clarify in advance if either party has a particular interest in part of the other’s experience - this could feature in the shadowing day / half days; The feedback log should be updated after the shadowing experience to reflect on the outcomes of the shadowing experience; You should keep in mind the important role of the Personal Assistants who are likely to coordinate the scheduling of the days and meetings the student attends. Student & Staff Insight Scheme: Guidance to participating staff and students
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notes‌ first meeting date, time & location
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MONTHLY MEETINGS The primary purpose of this programme is to help staff contextualise the impact of their decisions on the day-to-day student experience and to expose students to the working lives of senior professionals to aid their own career progression. Regular monthly meetings between the student and member of staff will facilitate this and should be used to their full potential by both parties. To help this, the following guidance is provided: Meetings should take place at least once per month and should usually last between 60 and 90 minutes; Try to avoid cancelling or moving meetings where possible; You could try to hold at least every other meeting in a ‘public space’ – here are some ideas: o The Atrium o The Tower Bar o Café Zing in LPAC o The Shed o Book & Latte Café in the Business & o The Graduate School Academic Law Building Commons o The Enterprise Building Café o The Library’s Ground Floor o The Architecture Building Foyer o Business & Law Learning Lounges o The Hub The mentoring relationship is based on trust and confidentiality. It would be perfectly reasonable for the member of staff to use the outcomes of discussion to follow up on something or seek clarification, but this should only be with agreement from the student. Similarly, the student should maintain absolute confidentiality unless otherwise agreed in advance. Both parties should recognise that the views presented are likely to be those of an individual student and may not necessarily be representative of the broader student body. Whilst bringing a lot of value to the member of staff’s thinking and decision making, the discussions should always be considered alongside other forms of student feedback in the student engagement framework. At the introductory meeting both parties should consider this guidance and agree on ‘ground rules’ for the mentoring relationship
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AGREEING GROUND RULES For a mentoring relationship to be successful it should be built on clear, mutually agreed ground rules. To help achieve this in a consistent way, the following template agreement is provided. Throughout the year, both parties should consider: Focusing on understanding the real-life student experience at the University and how the decisions of management impacts on that experience; Maintaining trust and confidentiality. It would be perfectly reasonable for the manager to use the outcomes of discussion to follow up on something or seek clarification but this should only be with agreement from the student. Similarly the student should maintain absolute confidentiality unless otherwise agreed in advance. Similarly, both parties should maintain confidentiality of anything they may be told by their shadowing partner informally or of anything mentioned informally by people they meet during the shadowing experience Throughout the year, managers should consider: Making students feel comfortable, perhaps by meeting in an open space Allocating appropriate time in the diary to focus on the task / scheme Being flexible where possible as students will need to arrange meetings around their timetables, part-time work and other commitment Taking the opportunity to meet in a student space to embrace the wider experience of students Throughout the year, students should consider: Always attending appointments on time when booked and generally appreciating the demands on managers’ diaries. Where changes are needed, please contact the manager’s PA as soon as possible. Suggesting places to meet on campus. PAs will be happy to schedule meetings in places where you normally meet, e.g. for group work or meetings with tutors.
The student:
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The manager:
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Date:
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TOP TIPS ON DISCUSSION TOPICS This is an opportunity for both staff and students to learn a great deal from each other based around your interests. You will no doubt have a long list of things you’re keen to explore, but just in case you need some inspiration here are some suggestions. You may also want to pick a few things to talk about through the year and see how perceptions / answers change. At the introductions event: Introduce yourself, your background and your role / course Understand what you each hope to get out of the scheme Get to know how the University works and how the manager’s department fits into that and how the student’s school fits in
During the shadowing days: Reasons for studying / working at Lincoln Facilities and study / group work spaces on campus and online Relevance of the course for the student’s career ambitions Opportunities for personal development
What makes the Lincoln experience unique and how can we build on that? The manager’s role and priorities How students currently inform and shape the manager’s work How can the department promote the great work they do to students?
During the monthly meetings: What makes you (both staff & student) proud to be associated with the University of Lincoln? What do you wish we were better at? Future career aspirations of the student o What kind of opportunities are available within the University and local community to help gain experience / develop skills o Are there are colleagues in the University that might be able to offer support or expertise in this area? o How is your course preparing you for this? Explore the purpose / function of the manager’s department / portfolio and understand their impact on the student experience. What key decisions are made that impact on the day-to-day lives of students? How can students be more involved in informing & shaping the outcomes of those decisions? What are the department’s key objectives this year? What’s the current experience of the student in those areas? How can these be best achieved from the students’ point of view? Topics from the University’s strategic plan – how are we doing? o ‘To continuously improve our learning environment based on a personal engagement with all students, with high quality research-engaged teaching and learning where students create and develop new knowledge in collaboration with their lecturers’? o To help students develop into highly engaged, employable and creative-thinking graduates who contribute to the development of the society and economy o Improving the virtual learning environment (VLE) The percentage of modules where paper based assessments are submitted electronically - the percentage of paper based, traditional format assignments submitted electronically through the VLE. The percentage of modules incorporating on-line interactive content and activities - the percentage of students engaged in continuous and creative interactivity including student use of wikis, blogs and discussion boards and excludes for example student use of on-line tests. Student & Staff Insight Scheme: Guidance to participating staff and students
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REFLECTING AND FEEDING BACK Before the process begins you should think about what you would like to get from it. You can then use this as a base point to reflect on whether the scheme has been beneficial for you. You might also want to think about some of the points below as you go through the scheme to help evaluate it at the end. In addition to the introductory event and the final evaluation in April, we will check in with you a couple of times during the year to make sure everything is going to plan and to offer support where it is needed. If you need anything in between these times please contact Dan Derricott in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office: dderricott@lincoln.ac.uk / 01522 88 6275 Students You may wish to consider: What did you learn from the process? What do you think you gained from the process? Did it change your perception of the management of the University? Has it changed how you might get involved University life in the future? What do you think are the benefits of shadowing? Would you recommend the University continue this scheme? Staff You may wish to consider: What did you learn from the process? What do you think you gained from the process? Did it change your perception of students’ experiences of Lincoln? Has it changed how you might work with students in the future? What do you think are the benefits of shadowing? Would you recommend the University continue this scheme?
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