Where & When

Location: Virtual

Date: 29th September 2021 - 09:00-10:30

Delivered by: Advance HE

Book here (free for member institutions): https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/programmes-events/calendar/connect-benefit-series-new-transitions-webinar

Details

his webinar is part of our August to October Connect Benefit Series Transitions, Retention and Progression which fosters dialogue and support through a community of practice that is designed to better prepare students, staff and other stakeholders for transitions into and through the 2021-22 academic year.

In this event, an expert panel aims to share their experiences and insights into some of the challenges and opportunities for successful student transitions, progression and retention. The event will begin with a short presentation from each of the four speakers, the panel will then dedicate the majority of the session to crowd-sourced questions submitted by members.

Members can submit their questions to the panel ahead of the webinar via this form here.

The aim is to provide participants with practical solutions and ideas to try out, as well as guidance on what to consider when supporting student transitions, progression and retention.

Expert panel members

Michelle Morgan, Dean of Students, University of East London

Michelle is currently Dean of Students at the University of East London. Prior to this, she was Associate Professor and Associate Dean for the Student Experience at Bournemouth University. Amongst her many achievements and outputs, in 2016 Michelle led a £2.7m HEFCE funded project looking at the Postgraduate Student Experience across all transitions in the student journey. She is also the author of the Advance HE report Exceptional Transitions into Higher Education (2020).

Luke Millard, Dean of Teaching and Learning, Abertay University

Luke is Dean of Teaching and Learning at Abertay University and a Principal Fellow of the HEA. He has an established interest in the development of partnerships within and between universities. This has seen a focus on student engagement within Universities through such work as ‘Students as Partners’, and between as ideas have been shared and partnerships developed internationally and locally. Luke cites chairing the European First Year Experience Conference in 2017 as being one of his most enlightening experiences in this space. At present Abertay is seeking to utilise micro-credentials to support first year student success and Luke is leading a QAA Scotland Collaborative Cluster exploring the value of diagnostic testing for new students across a range of partners.

Christine Rivers, Director of Learning and Teaching and Co-Director Centre for Management Education, University of Surrey

A National Teaching Fellow, Christine heads up the Centre for Management Education at the University of Surrey, as well as being the Director of Learning and Teaching in the Surrey Business School. Christine has work on numerous education enhancement projects with a wide range of global partners including, University of Cambridge, University of East Anglia, Chartered Association of Business Schools, Majan College Oman, and MCI in Innsbruck, Austria. Christine’s expertise and knowledge of developing staff and designing meaningful blended learning experiences has been instrumental in supporting the transition of Surrey during Covid-19. In addition, Christine is SIG Chair for Knowledge and Learning, British Academy of Management, CABS LTSE committee member and Senior Fellow of Advance HE.

Alison Torn, Senior Teaching Fellow, Leeds Trinity University

Alison is Senior Teaching Fellow and a Chartered Psychologist at Leeds Trinity University. As well as numerous projects and outputs focused on her subject specialism in Social Psychology, her research includes work on using digital pedagogies and blended learning to develop student belonging and connectedness. At Leeds Trinity, Alison has taken a leading role developing their educational approach to learning through their ‘pre, live, post’ model.