Cross Institutional collaboration to enhance student transition

Christine Child, LSE, Head of the Student Services Centre

Dr Sally Alsford, University of Greenwich, Senior Lecturer in Learning and Teaching

Our institutions

This session

• Discussion - what matters to students• Cultures – institutional and student• Cross institutional collaboration• Discussion – sharing experiences, questions

What matters to students?

What do you think are the top three things?

• Money and registration, visas, the basics• Their course – modules, assessment, study

department/course information getting started on study

• Social integration - other students & staff

Tinto, V (19932 : 240) Understanding Transition

Understanding transitionTinto – developmental & psychological

understanding of transition

Earwaker (1992) – social & interactionist aspects of transition

The importance of a sense of belonging (Yorke &

Longden (2008), Cook & Rushton (2008), Yorke & Thomas (2003), May & Thomas (2010)

“Coordination of the efforts of faculty within and between departments, and among faculty and staff, academic and student affairs, should be the norm, not the exception, of institutional action. Institutional action must be such as to enable individuals to transverse, in a collaborative fashion, the intra-institutional boundaries of campus life that typically separate individuals from each other…. Rather than working at odds, academic and student affairs must come to see themselves as working together, much like medical teams do, on behalf of student retention and the personal development it entails.” (Tinto 19932: 151 – our emphasis)

Collaboration

• Student experience is holistic and complex “ (students’) needs are rarely neatly separable. For instance,

personal anxieties, career choices and intellectual difficulties may often be tangled up together. In fact, the chances are that they will be.” Earwaker (1992 : 129)

• From the academic point of view• From the support services point of view“ The structure of higher education is changing and as such it is no

longer possible to treat support services as an add-on extra, as something apart from the main institution. Instead, with widening participation and retention, it is important to build up strong working relations across the institution, with other student services and administration, academic departments, teaching and learning strategies, staff development and induction, widening participation activities and the Students' Union, to create a strategic approach.” Thomas et al (2002:15)

Collaboration

Student Cultures - diversity

• Internationalisation• Heterogeneity of students• Heterogeneity of groups of students• Impact of WP• Massification • How can we address this?

Student cultures – confidence and commitments

• Motivation, engagement and confidence• Commitment• Time issues• Commuter students

Institutional Cultures

• Autonomy of Departments/Schools fiercely defended - don’t tell Departments/Schools what to do

• Leadership - don’t impose demands on Departments

Institutional Cultures

• Diversity and consistency• Don’t spoon feed/sink or swim• Shift in culture• Masters students

Cross institutional collaborationWhat do Schools and Student Services know about each other?

• Cross institutional organisation and communication at senior level

• Silo practices and culture• Closing gaps in relation to transition

Cross institutional collaborationin practice

• Schools’ responsibilities – designated staff responsibility

• Schools as the student’s home• Student Services responsibilities• Students’ Unions• Policy and reporting

Discussion

Quick concrete examples of what has worked at your institution :•What facilitates and stimulates cross-institutional collaboration?•What are the inhibitors?

Can we use your feedback?

FacilitatorsFacilitators

InhibitorsInhibitors

FacilitatorsFacilitatorsInhibitorsInhibitors

Conclusions• Timescales – be realistic, invest time• Identify and work with key people – champions,

intermediaries• Build relationships & networks• Be flexible

Collaboration across the institution makes improvements easier and more sustainable

LSE and Greenwich – many issues in common

REFERENCES• Earwaker, J (1992), Helping and Supporting Students, SRHE & Open University Press• Lee, B & Robinson (2006), “A Creating a network of student support”, in Thomas & Hixenbaugh (2006).• Marr, L & Aynsley-Smith, S, “Putting students first: developing accessible and integrated support”, in Thomas &

Hixenbaugh (2006).• Roberts, @ & Steward, J “Towards the holistic university: working collaboratively for student learning”, in Weaver,

M (2008).• Thomas, L, Quinn, J, Slack K, Casey, L (2002) Student Services: Effective Approaches to Retaining Students in Higher

Education. Full Research Report. Institute for Access Studies, Staffordshire University.• Thomas, L & Hixenbaugh, P (2006) eds. Personal tutoring in higher education, Trentham Books.• Thomas (2002), “Student retention in higher education: the role of institutional Habitus” Journal of Education

Policy Vol.17 No.4 :423-442• Thomas & May (2011) “Student engagement to improve retention and success” in Thomas, L & Jamieson-Ball, C

eds. Engaging students to improve student retention and success in higher education in Wales, HEA.• Tinto, V (19932), Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition, Univ. of Chicago• Universities UK(UUK) (2002) Student Services. Effective approaches to retaining students in higher education. UUK• Weaver, M Ed. (2008) Transformative Learning Support Models in Higher Education, Facet• Yorke, M & Longden, B (2008), The first year experience of higher education in the UK. York: The Higher Education

Academy. Available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/resources/publications/FYEFinalReport

Sally Alsford s.e.alsford@gre.ac.uk Christine Child c.child@lse.ac.uk