Co-Creation Officers: Additional Resources
The Co-creation Officer role has been implemented in several areas of the University in the last couple of years, originating in the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning. There is a variety of resources available which you can use to help you in starting to build a culture of student engagement and co-creation in your team.
Useful Links and Resources:
- Examples of the Job Advertisement for a Co-creation Officer (via unitemps).Please note, these would need to be adapted to fit the requirements for your project.
- IATL Co-Creation Pages - The IATL team have produced fantastic resources for co-creation, many of which were created by student Co-creation Officers. This includes further detail on overcoming challenges to co-creation, questions to ask, tips of reflective practice, and more. These pages provide details into what key considerations we should keep in mind when working with students, such as acknowledging power dynamics and institutional barriers.
- Unitemps pay scales- these are accurate as of October 2023. Please contact unitemps directly for more up to date information. The rate of pay for Co-creation Officers can vary but should start at grade 4. The Dean of Students Office has some useful guidance for working with unitemps which you can find here - Working with Unitemps (warwick.ac.uk)
- Co-creation principles poster, This can be used to support with co-creation work in helping you develop student co-creation in your team through devising student roles, recruitment and ways of working. These principles were developed by Wiki Jeglinska through a workshop with the IDG Portfolio Delivery Team
- Co-creation workbook, designed by Wiki Jeglinska, Naomi De La Tour, Yasmine Ballout and Alice Khimasia, for a co-creation symposium event. This was created to support staff who are starting to think about including co-creation in their work. The workbook presents some definitions of co-creation, outlines benefits and challenges of co-creation, proposes co-creation in projects, and provides some space for reflections.
- Bookable co-creation space in the Library (available to book in Term 2).
- Hear from Student Project Officers on their podcast and YouTube playlist as a part of the Designing Together WIHEA Project.
- Snakes and Ladders Handout - an example activity that can be used as handouts or examples in workshops and activities. Use this template to facilitate interactive discussions around snakes (detractors) and ladders (enablers) especially when looking at the topic of belonging.
Co-creation Officers - Case Studies:
Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL)
IATL employs a team of Co-creation Officers to support and advocate for co-creation in IATL and more widely. IATL’s Co-creation Officers are students from across the University who work as part of the departmental team for approx. 7 hours per week, over the course of a full academic year. There is typically a team of 4 Co-creation Officers. Incoming co-creation officers are supported and mentored by students who have been in the role for longer, passing on and developing important institutional knowledge and practices that they've developed in the role. Co-creation officers in IATL support various departmental initiatives, such as providing advice on funding for project support, leading the social media strategy, facilitating student focus groups, producing online learning materials and leading wider engagement activities. Listen to a conversation with previous Co-creation Officers here.
Student Experience - Student Transitions Project
The University’s new Student Experience Division has started a project looking directly into what transitions University students go through (and struggle with) when moving from 1st to 2nd year. The team have recruited a group of Student Transitions Co-creation Officers who will work in the team for 5 hours per week. The main roles and responsibilities of the Co-creation Officers include: organising and supporting workshops with students, leading focus groups, producing written reports and other project tasks. The students were recruited and will be inducted through the approach outlined in the toolkit.
STEM Grand Challenge
Growth in STEM research and teaching is a key priority in the University Strategy ‘Excellence with Purpose’ to 2030. To deliver that goal, the STEM Grand Challenge has been established to consider how best to grow and strengthen our existing world-class STEM research and education activities, and to consider the key enablers of innovation and scientific discovery in a changing world. Acting as an umbrella programme, the STEM Grand Challenge has several workstreams including the development of new research and teaching spaces for the Departments of Chemistry, Engineering and Physics, whose buildings are rapidly coming to the end of their useful life. Recently, the STEM GC team have recruited two Co-creation Officers, working with the team for 10 hours per week, to support the programme in engaging with the wider student body.