Birkbeck
University of London
STUDENT EXPERIENCE & WIDENING PARTICIPATION
COMMITTEE
Meeting 7 May 2013
Minutes
Present:
Tricia King (Chair), Nigel Buckle, Elizabeth Charles, Simon Deville, Angela Dierks, Garmon
ap Garth, Dr Adam Gearey, Dr Kerry Harman, Dr Sarah Hart, Verity Hutton, Professor Sue
Jackson, Caroline McDonald, Dr Tim Markham, Annette McCone, Rob Park, Mark Pimm,
Pierre Smith Khanna, Professor Matthew Weait
Apologies:
Patricia Crampton
In attendance:
Xiomara Pattison, Trevor Pearce [Secretary]
23
MINUTES
Received:
23.1 The unconfirmed minutes of the meeting of 22 January 2013 (SEWPC 29 –
2012/13).
Agreed:
23.2 To confirm the minutes of the meeting of 22 January 2013.
24
MATTERS ARISING
Received and noted:
24.1 The Committee’s report to Academic Board of its meeting of 22 January 2013
(SEWPC 30 – 2012-13)
25
CHAIR’S REPORT
Reported by the Chair:
25.1 That recruitment for 2013/14 remained a concern, with a national decline of approx
40% in part time undergraduate figures. The College would be leading a campaign,
“part-time matters” to highlight the decline in part-time higher education nationally,
which would be launched during Adult Learners Week;
Noted:
25.2 It would be important to ensure that the purpose of the campaign was clear, taking
into account the diverse missions of the institutions involved in it.
26
ACCESS AGREEMENT
Received:
26.1 The College’s Approved Access Agreement 2014/15 (SEWPC 31 – 2012/13)
together with an evaluation of the College’s progress towards OFFA targets
(SEWPC 32 – 2012/13)
Reported by the Chair:
26.2 The Access Agreement had been developed by a sub-group and approved by chairs
action.
Reported by Garmon ap Garth, Outreach & Widening Participation Officer:
26.3 (i) OFFA would review all institutions’ access agreements and come back with any
questions prior to approval and publication. For the 2014/15 agreement, OFFA had
put greater emphasis on provision for part-time students and on outcomes of access
strategies.
(ii) OFFA would focus on how much of fee income was spent on access. Birkbeck was
likely to be among the highest ranked in terms of resource devoted to access.
(iii) The College had been invited to contribute to the development of new national
strategy, likely to be be a merger of existing processes involving HEFCE and OFFA.
Noted:
26.4 (i) The document was a useful compilation of all of the WP activity happening at the
College;
(ii) The Agreement was a driver of the work of the Committee, and would be a
standing item for the Committee to consider.
27
RETENTION STRATEGY
Received:
27.1 An update report from the Retention Strategy Steering Group (SEWPC 33 –
2012/13), an update report on the Mentors and Buddying strand of the Retention
Strategy (SEWPC 34 – 2012/13) and an update report on the Supporting the
Transition to HE strand of the Retention Strategy (SEWPC 35 – 2012/13)
Reported by Annette McCone, Outreach and Widening Participation and Officer:
27.2 (i) Retention data suggested that the Strategy had been a success. The “Try It”
workshops had been developed to be more subject specific, with elements of the “Get
Ahead Stay Ahead” programme incorporated.
(ii) the original strategy was focussed on four year programmes, but focus would now
also include three year programmes.
Reported by Angela Dierks, Head of MyBirkbeck student services
(iii) that the College was seeking to identify space for international students and other
student groups to use as a social space.
Noted:
27.3 (i) that it might help the College to publish details of unbooked rooms, to enable
groups to use ad-hoc social space;
(ii) that the College would benefit, as part of its customer service project, from
considering ways of getting structured feedback;
ACTION: Customer service project to be a standing item on the SEWPC
agenda
(iii) that the Retention Strategy had led to a cultural change, with a focus embedded
upon retention of students, and a sense that this was a real College strategy;
(iv) The School of Arts would be launching a Blended Learning project for
postgraduate students; this project had potential to be rolled out to other Schools;
(v) that the College should consider what retention work is happening at all level,
what has been embedded and what could add to the activity in this area;
(vi) that ULU would be closing; the impact on Birkbeck students may be limited as
ULU tended to cater more for daytime students. Further work would follow on
ULU’s replacement;
(vii) that the reasons for the drop in part-time recruitment specifically were not clear
yet, and more research was needed to understand these reasons.
ACTION: Research data on applicants’ reasons for enrolling and not
enrolling to be circulated to SEWPC members.
28
WIDENING PARTICIPATION
Received:
28.1 A proposal to develop a Widening Access Strategy 2014-2019 (SEWPC 36 –
2012/13)
Reported by the Head of Outreach and Widening Participation:
28.2 (i) that the College had never formalised its WP work in a Strategy; it was proposed
to do so now, mirroring the Retention Strategy;
(ii) that the OFFA agreement was an operational document; this would be a more
strategic document, encompassing issues such as use of data and the College’s
definition of widening participation and associated categories;
(iii) that it would be useful to formalise the sharing of good practice and give
recognition of the good work that went into widening participation.
(iv) it was proposed to set up a WP Strategy Group, with representation from the
SEWPC; and to research other institutions’ approaches and activities.
Noted:
28.3 (i) that the Strategy should include consideration of widening access to postgraduate
study;
(ii) that it would be useful to include a Learning Support Officer and the PVM
(Academic Partnerships) in the Group;
(iii) that it would be important to set parameters on the purpose of the Strategy.
Agreed:
28.4 To recommend approval of the proposal to develop a Widening Access Strategy
2014-19 to Academic Board.
Received and noted:
28.5 The report from the Widening Access & Retention Team (SEWPC 37 – 2012/13)
29
STRATFORD CAMPUS
Received and noted:
29.1 A report on the development of library facilities at the Stratford campus, together
with minutes of the March meeting of the Birkbeck / UEL Student Experience
Committee (SEWPC 38 / 39 – 2012/13).
Reported by the Stratford Librarian
29.2 (i) That the Stratford campus would not include a Library; a quiet study space would
be provided, staffed by roving Learning Support Assistants. Library facilities would be
available at UEL.
Noted:
29.3 (i) The IAG team was now in place at Stratford and would be based in the new campus
once it was opened.
(ii) That the space would be open to all students of the College, including Bloomsbury
students.
30
STUDENT SURVEYS
Received:
30.1 An update on responses to the 2013 NSS (SEWPC 40 – 2012/13)
Received:
30.2 A report on the rationalisation of College surveys (SEWPC 41 – 2012/13)
Reported by Angela Dierks, Head of MyBirkbeck student services
30.3 That a central look at the surveying of students had been undertaken, with a view to
rationalising them and improving response rates. A scoping meeting had taken place,
with a view to designing surveys appropriately. Work had just started on what would
be a long project.
Noted:
30.4 The Students’ Union had suggested putting together a survey on student feedback; the
group was focussing on central surveys (Library / IT)
31
ALUMNI
Reported by Xiomara Pattison, Alumni Officer
31.1 (i) There were two areas of progress: Employability Talks had taken place on a range
of subjects; in the next academic year a series of events would take place. The
Business Birkbeck initiative used business-based mentors to bridge the gap between
academic learning and career planning. It was hoped to roll this out across schools
once the initiatives had been analysed.
(ii) Options for extending the functionality of the Raiser’s Edge alumnus database were
being explored. Net Communities was a side piece of software, enabling an alumnus
to engage with their own alumnus record and also enable institutional review of
alumni records
31.2 There would need to be some work to ensure that alumni were not inundated with
new initiatives.
32
STUDENTS UNION
Received:
32.1 A report on Students’ Union activity in relation to recruitment and retention
(SEWPC 43 -2012/13)
Reported by Rob Park, Students’ Union Manager
32.2 The report included student feedback. The Students’ Union suggested working with
Schools to analyse this. Clubs and Society engagement indicated that more people
were becoming engaged with the Union. Once clubs and societies were established
they could establish their own communities and effectively support students.
Reported by Pierre Smith Khanna
32.3 That the key would be to ensure collaboration with the College on the questions to
be asked and the treatment of the data.
Noted:
32.4 (i) That it would be helpful to discuss with Registry Services colleagues, the PVM
(Learning & Teaching) and the Customer Service project to facilitate delivery, as well
as in the development of the Retention Strategy.
33
UCAS WORKING GROUP
Reported by Garmon ap Garth, Outreach & Widening Participation Officer:
33.1 The UCAS working group had been convened and would review entry requirement
publication in time for the next Committee.
34
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Noted:
33.1 Meeting dates in 2013-14:
 Tuesday 22 October 2013 at 2.30pm
 Wednesday 22 January 2014 at 2.30pm
 Thursday 22 May 2014 at 2.30pm
Signed
_______________________________________________________________
(Tricia King, Chair, Student Experience & Widening Participation Committee)