Student Co-creation: Getting Started

The University is home to nearly 30,000 students and they hold countless experiences and unique perspectives. By involving and talking to students we are more likely to create longer-lasting and better provisions for the future. Co-creation isn't a one-size-fits-all. The different parts of a project where students can be involved could be Insights - Ideation - Design-Testing - Implementation - Review.

Find out more about creating paid opportunities for students to work as Co-creation Officers.

Co-creation Officer Recruitment

Co-creation with students ensures that students are treated as equal partners and are paid for their work. The student Co-creation Officer role should be advertised to students via Unitemps. Find out more about following the recruitment process, including examples of interview questions.

Pre-Induction & Induction

You will need to ensure that students receive a comprehensive training and induction before they are asked to contribute as Co-creation Officers. You will need to make sure that the students have a general understanding of any acronyms, terminology, organisation charts, and other things they may encounter in the role.

Supporting Skills Development

Taking on a co-creation role can be a great opportunity for students to gain some work experience. Introducing a personal development task as part of the role is a great way to cement the commitment to contributing students’ professional development. Find out more about professional development tasks you can introduce.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The way we implement co-creation with students will vary depending on the needs of your project or workstream. Please see our FAQs which may support you with implementing this exciting way of working.

Additional Resources

The Co-creation Officer role has been implemented in several areas of the University in the last couple of years. There is a variety of resources available which you can use to help you through this process, such as a template job advert, and examples of best practice.

Wiki Jeglinska

I am proud to have been part of the Warwick community since 2018 when I joined as an undergraduate student in the Department for Education Studies. Throughout my studies, I was always keen to get involved in various student engagement activities and part-time work opportunities on campus. In 2021, I started my Masters by Research in Education, and I also got the role as a Student Co-creation Officer (CCO) in the Institute for Teaching and Learning (IATL). In my role as a CCO, supported by Naomi De La Tour, I led the work on IATL's social media, and I contributed to creating the 'Understanding Wellbeing' online module for all Warwick students with Dr Elena Riva. I also worked with my fellow CCOs (there were four of us) on facilitating various student engagement activities, such as focus groups and virtual events. My time working as a CCO in IATL was incredible, I learned so many skills and met so many wonderful people, and it was what made me want to pursue a career in Higher Education.

In March 2022, I joined the Information and Digital Group (IDG) as a Projects Support Officer, where I worked on various projects, in the IT space and beyond. In this role, I noticed an opportunity to increase our student engagement across our projects. I championed the work of IATL and my personal experiences to push for co-creation with students in IDG. In November 2023, we recruited two wonderful CCOs to join the STEM Grand Challenge programme team!

In January 2024, I will be joining the Development and Alumni Engagement Team as a Philanthropy Officer and I am keen to explore how we put student experience at the heart of what we do across the University.

Overall, I truly believe that working with students as partners is essential to our success and our community. I hope that this toolkit helps in promoting co-creation across the University. I am keen to speak with anyone who wants to chat further about this, just drop me a Teams message or email me on .

Michelle Watson

I have been a part of the University, for 6 years, either as a student or as a staff member. Whilst I never had the opportunity to co-create as a student, I have always been a strong advocate for involving the voices of all, and especially the voices of those who will be using our services. Diversity, both in the traditional sense, and in diversity of thought and experience, only ever makes us stronger as a community. We have no right to create something for any group, without consulting that group first- whether it's students, staff or members of the public.

My passion for improving the journeys and experiences of all those involved has also reached my profession and on joining the Student Experience Team I immediately got to work bringing in the student perspective. The project I am working on will focus on all first to second year transitions- what students struggled with, how/where the University could have supported them, and where there are any gaps in provisioning. The project will used student co-creation to identify, define and propose solutions for the problems students face.

Co-creation and student-staff partner working, are incredibly important to me. Having had some difficult times myself at University, I know how impactful being asked to work towards a solution can be. By involving students in our work, we will create a stronger and better foundation. Not just for our current students who we have the privilege of meeting and educating, but for future students as well.

I understand how daunting it can be, and how difficult it can be when exploring new ways of working. However, by bringing in students as equal partners we open up the University to be so much more than it is now.

I hope this toolkit provides you with the support and help you need to bring in students as part of your work! If you ever need help, myself and Wiki are always keen to speak and offer guidance. You can find me on teams or email me on .