Accreditation and the University of Life Beyond the Thesis Bikers' Convention Departmental Management Establishing Global Partnerships First Impressions Increasing Citations Independent Funding of Warwick's Activities

Introducing Warwick IAS Living and Breathing Environmental Sustainability at Warwick Making and Nurturing Partnerships Personal Tutoring Professional Jugglers Recruiting PGRs Stand-alone Modules Supporting international students

Accreditation and the University of Life

Outline:

Sean Russell (Director of Student Development and Diversity) Michael Whitby (Pro Vice Chancellor Teaching and Learning/International) and Tom Lindsay (SU Sabbatical – Societies and Student Development) each gave brief introductions to their approach to the notion of student development and how students’ extra-curricular skills could be recognised.

Objective:

To get ideas from participants to inform a student development strategy and canvass ideas about how we might formally recognise activities such as: One World Week, Warwick Volunteers etc.

Outcomes:
Some key points were as follows:

• Recognition of skills/student achievement should include a range of opportunities from perhaps a ‘light-touch’ certificate, to something more formal and accredited
• Look at areas such as: Erasmus/Year abroad, WUAPS as examples of areas which might be more focussed on student development
• Collaboration with SU essential in planning any recognition scheme
• Important to recognise needs of specific student groups eg PGTs and international students
• Important to emphasise the cultural benefits for all students being on an international campus
• Communication/marketing a major issue: informing students of opportunities, how to get best of them and benefits gained
• Important to work with partners within the University such as: CAPD, Departments

Future developments:

• Student Development and Diversity to run recognition pilot with SU and Warwick Volunteers
• Progress student development agenda through new Student Development Working Group

Beyond the Thesis: What Warwick Can Offer the Postgraduate Researcher

This session aimed to discuss the needs of PGRs beyond the limits of the student’s thesis-writing experience. It focussed on the long-running and successful Arts Faculty Postgraduate Research and Professional Training Program and the greatly expanded Graduate School Skills Program, and was supplemented by an introduction to the differing needs of international PGRs. After brief descriptions of the two programs and a short discussion about the skills agenda for PGRs, participants were asked to form small groups and come up with what they considered to be an ideal skills set for PGRs and a description of what they considered to be practically achievable.

The two small groups identified the current RC skills set as fairly close to ideal. They also discussed what held students back from taking advantage of the training on offer at the University. After lively discussion, we concluded that academic staff, especially students’ supervisors, need to be more fully persuaded of the value of skills training, and that it might be worthwhile to educate staff more generally in this area (perhaps by including the issue in new staff induction meetings and/or supervisor training sessions).

Although the group was small, the ideas generated were highly relevant and the idea of more thorough staff training and education in the current needs of PGRs beyond the writing of the thesis should be taken up.

Bikers' Convention: Map the Requirements for Cyclists on Campus

Cycling is the most green form of transport, both for staff and students to get onto and around campus.

The session covered existing routes and facilities already in place. However the key objectives of the session were to bring forward ideas to promote further use of bikes and encourage all users to “get on your bike”.

Both morning and afternoon sessions outlined key areas where the University was considered to be fulfilling key objectives of the master plan aims of encouraging more sustainable transport.

7 key ideas for future development were:

• Improve access for cyclists from Coventry and surrounding areas into the University
• Provide secure shelters with card access and CCTV surveillance
• Provide a cycle repair shop/hire shop on site
• Provide map of all user friendly cycle routes and post on web
• Provide shower/changing facilities with map identifying location
• The cycle to work scheme has been very successful and has encouraged more cycling to work
• Provide more cycle signage

Departmental Management - How can we best support the information needs of our Heads of Departments and Administrators

Outline of the Session

The session was based on feedback that arose as part of the consultation on the Warwick Strategy. There were a number of elements incorporated within the strategy itself and a number of the suggestions and comments formed the basis of workshops on the Network day to generate further discussion and explore possible solutions/recommendations.
Previously there has been feedback from Heads of Departments and Departmental Administrators that they are required to juggle various activities where there may be conflicting deadlines, a number of requests from various departments simultaneously or a lack of clear information/background.

Key Objectives of the Session

As such this session aimed to consider:

1. What are the key factors facing departmental managers?

2. What current support mechanisms exist including;

• Departmental Management Handbook
• Head of Departments Induction
• Financial Induction and support

3. What additional support mechanisms would people like to see?

4. How could existing support be improved?

5. What ideas could individuals take back to their department?

The session’s success in fulfilling initial objectives and aims

The session was useful in publicising to attendees what support mechanisms already exist and seeking feedback on these existing processes/documents. The second half of the session focused on facilitating discussion around a number of key questions in order to seek ideas for additional support mechanisms and areas of improvement.

Key Recommendations

Departmental Management Handbook

1. Incorporate link to Departmental Management Handbook on Induction Web pages
2. Put Heads of Department Handbook link on A-Z, but redirect to Dept Management Handbook

Induction

1. Incorporate mention of Departmental Management Handbook in Head of Department Induction
2. Review Induction process:

• more regular inductions
• specific sessions to cover relevant areas
• provide list of useful links at induction

3. Review Local Induction process
4. Expand induction to cover people moving between departments/roles

Finance

People welcomed the financial related sessions but requested more publicity as to what was available.

Additional Support Mechanisms

• Run a Windows on Warwick Session on Sharing Good Practice
• Look at links between Centres to facilitate sharing of best practice
• Review opportunities for Mentoring and Buddying
• Consider using the model already employed for some Departmental Administrators whereby Administrators in academic departments have a mentor/peer supporter in a central function to enable the establishment of links
• Review University A-Z to see if it can be clearer about where different areas are-e.g University Calendar under Governance
• Look at a means of supplying consistent, regular and appropriate information to departments-possibly through the means of a portal
• Put list of Departmental Administrators into Departmental Management Handbook
• Communication to show progress on the strategy objectives-Traffic light system and targeted so that it is relevant to people

Future work: Development of any key ideas discussed

The recommendations relating to the specific areas will be fed back to the relevant sections to action.

Establishing Global Partnerships 

Participants engaged enthusiastically with the tasks by suggesting the ways in which the University could become an "international portal" and by rating Warwick as a 'global university' on a seven-point scale.

The 'where are we now' exercise scored Warwick against seven descriptors:

• global brand penetration
• comprehensive excellence
• innovative global research
• global distribution of teaching and learning
• strong and diverse international student and staff demand
• impact on global issues
• close interaction with global business

For each participant the minimum score was 7 and the maximum was 49. The morning group produced a mean of 23.9 across ten ratings; the afternoon group of six participants produced a mean of 23.5. We interpreted this as meaning that the University still has a good way to travel before it can be considered to be a strong 'global university'.

Ratings were highest on "comprehensive excellence" and "strong and diverse international student and staff demand".

First Impressions: Student Induction  

Attendance

Academic, administrative and student communities at Warwick were well represented at the two breakout sessions, with staff from the Library, Warwick Volunteers, the International Office, Development and Alumni Relations, Academic Planning, The Institute of Education, Warwick Business School, Management and Timetabling, Communications and the Students’ Union.

Session Objectives

• To provide an insight into current induction-related activities at Warwick
• To explore the notion and purpose of induction
• To share practice and develop ideas
• To engender a culture of shared ownership of induction

Materials Provided

• Copy of presentation
• Session workbook
• QUAD Research Report on student retention and the student experience at Warwick
• Students’ Union paper on induction
• Skills Working Group report on departmental induction activities
• Orientation 2007 Programme

Discussion Points

• What did the group recall about going to university for the first time? (Excited, scared, privileged, entitled, nervous.)
• Students’ expectations are created both externally (by parents, teachers, advisers, themselves) and internally (recruitment activities, institution profile on the web / publications) – how are we managing these at the point of entry?
• How do we currently welcome students? (Refer to slide notes.)
• Why is the first year so important? Is there disparity in the resourcing and operation of graduation against that of integrating new students? Why?
• Higher education is increasingly a global market – if we are to become a top 50 institution, what role does our management of the student experience (particularly the first year) have in this mission? How does it affect our recruitment strategies?
• What do we expect of our students? We have strict admissions criteria – do we go on to support students towards reaching their potential (not just academic) when they’re here?
• How well do we outline the importance of developing an employability skills set to new students?
• How are applicants’ / new students’ behaviours changing in the context of increased competitiveness within the sector (both UK and international)? Consider the dangers of complacency in this context (NB attrition rate)
• What is induction and how do perceptions of it differ between staff and students?
• How does the student lifecycle differ in relation to students and institutions? (Refer to slide for comparative model)
• What do we think students need when they begin at Warwick?
• Inclusivity – does this characterise activities currently offered for new students? Consider students with disabilities (now 800), students returning to study, under 18s, part time students, ALL students – avoid making assumptions
• How do we find out more about students’ needs? (Refer to slide.)
• What happens without effective induction? (Refer to slide.)

Focus Groups

Morning Sessions

The first group split into five sub-groups; each considered two questions: ‘what is induction made of?’ and ‘when does induction start – and end?’. The groups were asked to consider these questions in relation to five key areas: academic departments, the Students’ Union, the residences, the international context, administrative and central student support (IT Services, University Counselling Service, the Library, Careers etc). Whilst the restriction on time meant that discussions had to be kept brief, groups began to explore some of the key issues facing each area, for example: resourcing, pre-application contact, physical orientation, the commercial imperative, avoiding information overload. All groups agreed that induction begins much earlier than students’ physical arrival on campus.

Afternoon session

The second group was divided into two sub-groups; one discussed the prospect of maintaining current practice (ie induction activities continuing to take place in Week 1), and the other considered how the insertion of a week before the start of term would be used for induction activities. Again, limits on time meant that issues could only be touched upon, but there was emphatic agreement across the groups that a period of time (not necessarily a whole week) should be set aside for the purposes of induction. We also discussed the relevance of the current Orientation programme to all new undergraduates, and not just to new international students. The group suggested that, since Orientation also takes place during the week before Week 1, the logistical potential of increasing its scope to include all new undergraduates should be explored.

Conclusions

Both sessions were lively, with informative contributions from all attendees, who were encouraged to share their experience of the session with others in their areas. Feedback was invited from all staff, with a view to building a robust and consistent set of initiatives for managing new students’ multi-layered experiences of the University. Overall, the sessions generated a real sense that induction must be addressed collaboratively as a key feature of the student experience at Warwick.

Increasing Citations

This session explored the issues around the use of citations as a measure of research quality, the different citation indices and definitions of impact and Highly Cited researchers. It examined the comparative position of Warwick against UK peers and World class universities. It also looked at how individuals might assess their own citation impact factors using the H-index and how measures of quality needed to be based within a discipline context.

Discussion focused on some of the difficulties of using citations as a measure and how cultural change might be affected to encourage individual researchers to aim for the top journals.

It was recognised that both academic and support staff would be able to contribute to supporting the strategy, albeit that the citation would rest with an individual researcher. We discussed how individuals might be supported to recognise their own citation index and how individuals with potential for a high citation impact may be identified.

Future work will focus on discussions with departments and identifying agreed measures of quality within each discipline context.

The Root of All Evil or the Source of All Freedom? The Independent Funding of Warwick’s Activities

Session Objective

To discuss the relevant pros and cons associated with using independent sources of funding to finance University activities, including the cost of implementing the new Strategy.

An informal discussion was held and the following points are a summary of the key issues raised:

• Costs and risks associated with commerciality of research
  Whilst research itself can be entrepreneurial and commercial, with the scope for the University to develop and realise the value of IP generated alongside research activities in some areas, there are issues with regards to the underlying net cost of performing research activities as a whole (limits to commercial viability) and some associated ethical issues with respect to some research activities would need to be addressed
• Differing functions and objectives of activities, within overall Strategy
  Not all areas of the University should be held to exactly the same objectives within the scope of the new Strategy, needing to work within guidelines but also given the freedom to develop in their own way in line with the overall strategy
• Recognition of value of non-research activities within overall Strategy
  The new Strategy needs to recognise the value of financial contributions from “commercial” operations (including financial returns from teaching, alongside specific commercial activities, such as the management centres and jobs.ac.uk) in support of the costs of increasing research activities
• Development of portfolio of activities together to support overall Strategy That, whilst the commercialisation of activities should never detract or distract from the core activities of teaching and research, it is essential that non-research activities are given their own focus within the overall strategy. All activities should be regarded as responsible for the overall development of the Strategy and should be aligned together towards the overall plan and developed alongside each other, without the more independently financially viable activities getting left behind.

Introducing Warwick Institute of Advanced Study

Objectives

The aims of this session were to give participants an insight into what Warwick IAS is, and to explore why Warwick needs an IAS and what will be distinctive about the Warwick IAS.

Outline

The session started with the concept of ‘Institutes of Advanced Study’ and a brief exploration of other IASs around the world (from the original at Princeton founded in 1930 and those based on that model, to the recently established UK ones, for example in Durham). It then focused on Warwick IAS’s goals and how they fit with the University’s strategy. The IAS goals are:

1. Enhancing opportunities for international scholars to engage with Warwick
2. Fostering new collaborative research groups
3. Promoting interdisciplinary research across all faculties
4. Enriching the research environment for postgraduate students
5. Increasing public engagement with Warwick research nationally and internationally

The current IAS programme was explained with details of the 3 funding awards (Incubation Awards, Integration Awards and Impact Awards) and 2 fellowships (short-term Visiting Fellowships and the projected Residential Research Collaborations), including examples of awards already made.

Success of the Session

There was lively discussion at both the morning and the afternoon sessions, producing useful ideas and suggestions. It was good to be able to clarify what the Institute is not about as well as giving examples of awards already made and projects underway, and also explore possibilities for the future.

• The question was asked “what is the IAS NOT about?” Basically, IAS programmes are for postgraduate research students and above. The programmes and funding are not for Taught Masters students or undergraduate research.
• Will Warwick IAS be running thematic programmes (like Durham IAS’s)? No – or at least not at this initial start-up phase. That would impose a model and could be too top-down. It is easier to pick coherent themes if they’re already established, but then they tend to be waning rather than emerging ones.
• How can IAS help at Warwick? The Institute is aiming to make things happen that without the IAS would not happen. In Warwick’s very departmentalised structure, we are aiming to create bridges across departments and faculties (rather than the current “silos”). Warwick needs mechanisms, or even one might say ‘excuses’, for people to come together and explore possibilities for collaboration.
• IAS is seeking to increase knowledge transfer and public engagement with Warwick research. Among other motivations for doing this is the fact that Research Councils are now expecting this. Also, there are a lot of people who come on to campus to go to the Arts Centre or to use the sports facilities, but whose visits don’t bring them anywhere near the academic side of Warwick. They don’t leave with the idea that “this is where knowledge is being created”. The IAS will seek to ensure our research is accessible to a wide audience beyond the scholarly community, for example through symposia exploring themes from films which touch not only academic departments across the University, but perhaps public user groups or others engaged in the issues outside.
• Avenues for the IAS that were suggested/discussed were: ‘Friends of the IAS’; public lecture series (eg with the distinguished Visiting Fellows); enabling the publishing of interim research work; co-ordinating the dissemination of research (eg through ‘best practice for dissemination’ package); work on ‘Cyberinfrastructure’ (cf University of California Humanities Research Institute’s work); identifying niches of research at Warwick which do not have formal support structures (eg research across the University on Sub-Saharan Africa which does not have a “home” research centre); funding for PhD students to visit Warwick – eg through a senior visiting fellow bringing a junior academic; summer schools for post docs and recent PhDs; conduct research into what the barriers are to interdisciplinary or collaborative work.
• Not all of these ideas are feasible with IAS’s current budget – but we are looking into a number of these for further discussion/planning.

Conclusion

Overall, the sessions showed the high level of interest and also the high expectations for the IAS. There is a real need to find new ways for colleagues to meet and explore potential collaborative research across the University and IAS can be one of the mechanisms for achieving that. Having only been established in April 2007, there is a great deal of scope for input from colleagues on how the Institute can fulfil its goals and IAS would welcome further suggestions and ideas.

Living and Breathing Environmental Sustainability at Warwick

Objectives

Environmental issues are attracting an ever-increased profile across the university, This session focussed on energy use, carbon management, waste and recycling, and sought to:

• provide a brief update regarding environmental initiatives across the University, with particular focus on energy use, carbon management programme, waste reduction and recycling.
• establish a series of University-specific best practice measures to contribute towards environmental improvements at the University.

Were session objectives met?

In general, all workshop participants were keen to contribute to the session and showed a high level of awareness of environmental issues affecting the University.

The afternoon workshop was unfortunately hijacked by a vociferous member of the University’s administration with his own personal viewpoint as to carbon management. Fortunately other attendees were eventually able to subdue this individual for the benefit of the session.

Ideas Generated and Future Work

1. Energy use

Individual measures:

• Take responsibility for switching things off
• Bring the “home ethos” around good energy efficiency practice into work
• Turn off lights and monitors
• Unplug items at the socket
• Cycle or walk as opposed to short car journeys
• Close windows, use curtains and wear more clothes
• Promote energy efficiency to fellow employees

University "Warwick's Future" Ideas

• Devolved energy budgets to allow departments to focus their efforts
• Include an assessment of University activity-related air mileage in the carbon management programme
• Cap printing allowances for clubs and societies
• Provide pool bikes to make short campus trips
• Identify energy wardens across the university
• Extend cleaners’ minibus collection scheme to include other staff
• Incentive scheme for individuals to catch minibus or use public transport
• Include facilities for cyclists in all refurbishments
• Centralise the shut down of PC equipment in communal areas

2. Waste and Recycling

Individual measures:

• Use recycled paper
• Use the existing office waste scheme and minimise the amount of waste going into the general waste
• Return unwanted packaging etc to suppliers
• Consider whether I need to print that item onto paper
• Use the duplex printing option wherever possible

University "Warwick's Future" Ideas

• Inclusion of Warwick HRI within the recycling initiatives
• Improved facilities for cardboard, metals and small batteries
• Default option on printers to be set at duplex.
• Improved information to be provided with regards to what can be recycled and where.

Making and nurturing partnerships: The CAPITAL Centre: teaching Shakespeare (and more) through collaboration between a university and arts organizations

Session Outline

• What is CAPITAL?
• What is it for?
• How do we achieve our objectives
• Case studies
• Nature of collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company and others
• Conditions required to effective partnership
• Logistical challenges of working with arts organisations

References

Bate , J., & Brock, S. (in press). “The CAPITAL Centre: Teaching Shakespeare (and more) through a Collaboration between a University and an Arts Organisation”. Pedagogy, 7 no. 3 (Fall 2007), 341-58. (electronic resource)
CAPITAL Centre: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/capital/

Key Objectives

• To introduce the work of the CAPITAL Centre
• To consider opportunities for partnerships and collaborations between the University and arts organisations
• To learn about such partnerships which may already be in existence in the University
• To learn about new approaches to teaching and learning and the international impact of such flagship collaborations

Session’s success in fulfilling initial aims and objectives

The 15 colleagues who attended should now have a better idea of how CAPITAL came into existence, its objectives and opportunities for collaboration. Participants represented the following departments: Library, Careers Service, WMS, Research Support Services, SHSS, Institute of Education, CEDAR, Centre for Lifelong learning, International Office; Warwick Arts Centre, Campus Affairs, University Secretary’s Office.

A range of ideas was put forward to support collaborations based on the idea of What’s in it for me?’:

The University can offer to arts organisations

• Staff expertise
• Links to other partners in the HE sector
• Access to young people
• Mentoring, administrative guidance, business skills, professional development
• Direct funding and/or access to HE funding streams
• Strategic location for national/international conferences
• Stamp of credibility/authority

Arts organisations can offer the University:

• Approaches to teaching ‘performance’ in all areas
• Drama as a powerful medium for teaching and learning
• Promotional value especially for overseas students
• Wow factor of environment
• Plus factor of professional expertise
• Reputation

Information was shared about the work in this field by Creative Partnerships (www.creative-partnerships.com) Arts and Business (www.aandb.org.uk) Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR) (www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/cedar/)

Personal Tutoring

The Objectives for this session were for participants to:

• Share their views and concerns about personal tutoring and support for this
• Discuss issues raised by experiences of personal tutoring
• Identify what is needed to support personal and senior tutors in their work and draw up clear action points

Participants listened to short presentations but most of the session was devoted to a discussion of participants’ concerns about the personal tutoring system and identification of action points.

Concerns and Action Points (in no particular order)

1. There appear to be differing views of the role of the personal tutor and inconsistency in students’ experiences of personal tutoring.

One view is that the personal tutor’s role is a pastoral role requiring tutors to take an interest in and support the personal welfare of the student. Difficulties here are that some personal tutors do not appear to be well equipped for/or wish to take on this role. There are also dangers for students and tutors if the latter involve themselves in counselling when they are not trained to do so.

Another view is that the personal tutor’s role is to act as a kind of academic mentor who follows the academic progress of students, intervenes/supports if there are academic related problems and performs administrative duties. The difficulty here is that students may rarely see their personal tutor and do not have a sense of an ongoing relationship or that they are being supported.

In practice, it seems that many tutors opt for one of these roles so that students have very different experiences of personal tutoring and are unclear about the nature and purpose of the personal tutor’s role.

Action Point: There is a need to review the role of the personal tutor and arrive at an agreed view and set of expectations that all tutors are required to meet and all students are aware of.

2. The first months of a student’s stay at Warwick can be a difficult time and it was felt that for some, not enough is done to make them feel welcome, cared for and supported. There is a risk that unhappy students will withdraw.

While some departments offer a welcome event, others do not. Some students do not see their personal tutor for several weeks and this meeting is not always particularly welcoming. There was a feeling that the University’s development priorities should include students’ personal experience of Warwick and that there is a need to balance aspirations to be ‘ahead of the game’ academically, with a concern for the personal dimension.

Action Points: There is a need to explore and develop ways of welcoming and supporting students in their first year, for example:

• an expectation that departments and personal tutors will provide some kind of welcoming event followed by individual tutorials
• the introduction of a student ‘buddying’ system for first years
• providing new students with ‘wallet cards’ listing the numbers of all student support services

3. There appear to be problems in the co-ordination of and communication between personal/senior tutors and the student support services.

In previous years, the University Senior Tutor (Peter Byrd) played a key role in co-ordination and communication, but problems appear to have arisen with his departure.

Action Point: There is an urgent need for both a co-ordinator and a clear, publicised system to ensure that when a student needs specialist support, all of those who can and should be involved in providing this, work together effectively.

4. Questions were raised about capacity of university personal support, counselling and mental health services/systems to deal with the number of students in need of specialist support.

Participants were aware of a review of the counselling service and developments, including the introduction of an on-line counselling service. However, the existence of long waiting lists for one to one counselling leaves personal/senior tutors with uncertainties about how to seek and secure adequate support for students in need.

It was also suggested that there might be a gap in the system for those students who do not appear to be at risk of serious self harm, cannot be proactive in seeking help but need immediate and on-going specialist support.

A further concern related to the difficulties for personal/senior tutors in identifying or ‘diagnosing’ students’ needs in order to refer them to the appropriate service.

Action Point: There is a need for a review of all student support services in relation to the current demand/need for specialist support and in relation to the roles and needs of senior/personal tutors.

Professional Jugglers - Family Friendly Policies

Session Aims

The aim of the session was to examine the current range of family friendly policies and provision made by the University and to discuss what provision will be needed in the future.

We started by looking at the current range of policies the University holds, including;

• Maternity and paternity leave
• Flexible working hours
• Staggered working hours
• Working from home
• Unpaid leave

We also discussed the current provision made by the nursery, the development of the new nursery and a range of new services the nursery is hoping to provide, including a holiday club for school aged children.

Some points were raised:

• Flexible working should be available across the whole University: It was highlighted that there were some cases where managers were unaware of the University’s policy or unwilling to implement them. It was acknowledged that it wasn’t always possible for a department to offer flexible working – the nursery is a prime example of this as correct staffing ratios have to be maintained at all times. However, where these restrictions did not apply the right to flexible working arrangements should be accessible to all.
  There should be a proper process in place to apply for flexible working, rather than just left to managers’ discretion.
• Here again it was felt that some line managers were unaware of the University’s policy on home working, and in some cases unwilling to allow staff to take this option. As with flexible working it was again acknowledged that it wasn’t always possible to work at home – nursery staff for example. It was also acknowledged that there can be difficulties to working from home, as cited on the personnel website, such as IT support, health and safety etc. however, it was agreed that most of these barriers could be easily overcome if the whole team works together.

Future developments

• Networks It was suggested that there should be a co-ordinated network of mutual support. Although employees come to the University from all directions there are many cases of families living in the same areas and children attending the same schools. Some kind of system, perhaps a register, of people prepared to offer support such as shared school runs etc would be useful.
• Holiday Club The need for a holiday club for school aged children is urgent and well documented. The nursery development plan includes the establishment of a club for children aged up to 8 or possibly 11; however, it was felt by the group that this would not be enough and that the plans should be revised to include children up to 14 years. It was also proposed that the capital services on campus; the Arts Centre, Sports Centre and IT Services, etc should be utilised to create specialist clubs.
• After school club As Cannon Park School operate an After School club the need for the University to have one was not evident. However, it was pointed out that not all schools have this service and so it would be useful if the University had one that parents could bring their children to themselves.

The overall view was that although the University has a number of policies in place there need to be greater harmonisation over the implementation of these. But more importantly the University must ensure that family friendly policies, with a strong and adequate provision of childcare for children aged 0 -14 years are a part of the core vision for the future of the University and not just an ‘add on’ It was also suggested that greater consultation with parents working on campus should be held to ensure that the services required are being provided.

Recruiting Postgraduate Research Students

Warwick has a relatively low population of postgraduate research students compared with other Russell Group and ‘world-class’ universities. At the same time, its proportion of taught postgraduate students is one of the highest among Russell Group institutions. Postgraduate research students are seen as particularly important in enriching the research culture and environment and in some disciplines are fundamental to the operation of research projects.

This session explored some of the issues around the recruitment, support, funding and management structures for postgraduate students which will need to be addressed to achieve the goal of increasing Warwick’s PGR population by over 1000 students by 2014.

In group work, particular challenges were discussed to try to identify potential solutions and areas for work. The issues included:

• Funding
• Implications for academic departments
• Implications for student support infrastructure
• Implications for administrative departments
• The future role of the Graduate School
• Which departments had most scope for expansion

Each group reported back and this established a number of ideas to be considered in terms of implementation, including the need to think more creatively about delivery and supervision; to provide a more streamlined and proactive recruitment strategy; to make funding information accessible; and to consider the balance between postgraduate taught and postgraduate research supervisory commitments.

Stand-alone Modules

In Brief

Session objectives

To discuss ideas for the broad content and structure for stand-alone modules in cross-disciplinary/inter-disciplinary areas and identify potential problems. This was very much an initial idea-generating and sharing forum.

Format

Open discussion

Were Objectives Achieve

We did discuss the idea of developing stand-alone modules, and identified a number of key questions that could form the start of further investigations, including delivery mode, market research to establish likely demand, questions of structures and frameworks for such modules, and possible links with similar modules/training available within the University.

In More Detail

Introduction, context

• This is point 2.2 of the University Strategy.
• Stand-alone modules are seen as a way of broadening study opportunities available to students, e.g. by providing modules which students might take during vacations, or between summer exams and the end of term.

Mode of delivery

Group questioned necessity of these being delivered via e-learning:

• e-learning is expensive to develop, deliver and support
• other modes of delivery may broaden the range of possible activities/themes
• we might investigate negotiated independent learning opportunities for credit (North East London Poly model? Also cf. Reinvention Centre’s work)
• possibility of accrediting/recognising tandem learning (e.g. language exchanges, mentoring)

Possible themes/areas for self-standing modules

• Social Enterprise
• Coaching/mentoring (but not intended for specialist roles, cf. existing WSC and Open Studies offerings)
• Ethics for Scientists
• Cultural Awareness/Inter-cultural skills
• Critical Thinking (cf. new courses available at AS/A2, and parts of International Baccalaureate – might offer follow-on, careful not to repeat)
• follow-ons from the Warwick Commission
• Food, Nutrition and Cooking (incl. politics of food – fair-trade, food miles etc – as well as practical implementation; could lead to a “Cookout” competition)
• Management/work-related skills, perhaps along the lines of an MBA-lite

Possible areas where achievement/learning might usefully be recognised

cf. discussions in Michael Whitby and Sean Russell’s sessions on “Accreditation and the University of Life”

• One World Week coordinators probably achieve learning at national level 5 for Management
• Economics students organised a summit for all students
• Similarly the Polish History conference (Legacy of Solidarity) was organised by students and may have had learning opportunities within it
• Running SU societies may provide learning opportunities which could be recognised
• There may be potential for “recognition short of credit” for some such activities, or an NVQ route. Someone suggested an analogue to an Oxbridge Blue – so you might get a Warwick Blue for SU/sport organisation and management

Links with existing offerings

Must be careful not to overlap detrimentally with/detract from (content and timing) things such as:

• Open Studies classes (credit-bearing evening classes, day schools)
• Skills Certificate modules, Careers Management certificate
• Language Centre modules
• Warwick Shootout

Issues to consider

• Resources will be vital – extra cash? charge students who choose these modules? incorporate some of these things into an elective/ancillary subject system? Will over-catting (and Seymour) continue?
• Market research would be vital to identify likely take-up, subjects/themes likely to prove attractive
• UG curriculum shape: is there too little flexibility in UG degrees which are based around 30-credit modules? Might we consider a University-wide bank of modules? We might perhaps require all Bachelors students to take at least x credits from a bank of generic modules. (cf. “spine modules” idea)

Issues not discussed but important

• size of stand-alone modules (whether accredited or not)
• assessment – optional? compulsory? How, when, who?
• delivery/availability – available all year round or at specific points in year?
• support – some face-to-face support available? (e.g. drop-in sessions in Learning Grid?) on-line support, e.g. moderated discussion forum?
• examples elsewhere? e.g. Southampton have self-study/guided study module on Citizenship

Supporting International Students

This session was held twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. At the beginning of each session, Gerard Sharpling (CELTE) gave a short presentation encouraging participants to view the challenges faced by international students and staff as more than simply linguistic (and superficial) in nature. Following this, outlines of support for international students and staff were provided by: Laura Goodall (International Office); Rachel Hardy (Centre for Development and Student Enterprise); and Michaela Borg (Learning and Development Centre). There then followed a wide-ranging discussion, during which time participants were asked to consider the needs of international students and staff, and to ascertain how these needs were being met in their respective departments and groups.

The main objectives of the session were:

• To provide an overview of the variety of ways that different groups within the university help to support the needs of international students and staff.
• To elicit, through discussion and the sharing of best practice, a range of ideas for further developing and extending the support provision for international students and staff across the University.

A number of topics and key areas for future consideration were identified and discussed:

• To investigate how to bring together information about all the areas of support for international staff into a single A4 sized document, which could be sent out by personnel with other formal documentation, appointment letter, etc.
• To provide a similar document to the above, for the benefit of international students. Some cost-sharing would be required between the various centres.
• To provide a proof-reading service for international students and staff, with information on the internet about who does the proofreading, and what charges they make. This information could be made available on the internet to registered students.
• To investigate what would be involved in developing a suite of general English language classes in the evening for members of the general public and the university, staffed by part-time lecturers. This would bring CELTE's provision more into line with what is currently provided by the Language Centre. There would be likely to be high demand for this and it would be an effective income generator.
• To explore how stronger links could be forged between international staff/students and the wider local community in Coventry. Such increased links and a better understanding of the local community could significantly enhance the quality of international students' experience, and could also help to avoid negative experiences which might cascade negative feedback to future students. It would be useful to set up a small working group that could meet periodically to look at this matter.
• To explore how a dedicated language course for international staff could be funded and implemented.
• To explore what would be involved in providing English classes and activities for the children of staff and students at the university.
• To consider ways that the university community as a whole could be better informed about the provision that is already offered to international students and staff.
• To keep in mind the need to consider the diversity of all students and staff and aim for a situation in which diversity is celebrated as the norm in our university.
• To look further at the issue of induction/orientation: there is currently an issue of limits on how many international students can take part, and there is no current provision for home students. It is important to bear in mind that inter-cultural awareness is not simply something that one expects of international members of the university, but of all students and staff.
• To further develop university-wide cultural awareness training, not only for international students and staff, but home staff and students as well, given that everyone operates within an international environment. Such inter-cultural awareness is already well promoted in the different groups but an extension of this would be useful.
• To consider the possibility of having a dedicated induction for international staff.

If you led a session and have not yet supplied a write up please email it to internalcomms@warwick.ac.uk