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Enhancing Student Transition and Progression

The aim of this SIG is to bring together colleagues from across the College to facilitate the sharing of good practice, resources and innovative ideas for supporting student transition and progression. It will consider transition and progression in the broad sense from school to university, across years, into post-graduate studies, and into employment. These different domains of transition will allow this SIG to have a wider appeal to different stakeholders in the Imperial community.

Transition into higher education degrees, whether UG or PG, is a time of challenge for students and encompassing many areas such as academic and social integration, transferable skills development (including academic, technical and metacognition), student identity, disciplinary and professional identity. This SIG aims to create a forum where colleagues from diverse groups, including teachers, under/postgraduate liaison officers, academic support units, graduate school, careers service and the student union, can collectively contribute to a dialogue around transitions. We aim to bridge knowledge gaps by utilising institutional expertise to assist departments and others in promoting and supporting transition-related activities and initiatives. To address the multifaceted nature of transition and progression, each SIG meeting will focus on a specific theme, such as admissions, skills development, induction and continuing support for the undergraduate academic journey, supporting Imperial and non-Imperial postgraduate transitions, etc. We recognise the importance for in-depth discussions and propose a meeting format that includes panel discussions, presentations from different departments and services, and World Café-style engagement to encourage diverse perspectives. Such diverse formats will allow for a more thorough exploration of ideas and practices, fostering an environment where good practices can be shared and adapted.

This year, the SIG is co-lead by:

Tiffany Chiu (Principal Teaching Fellow in Educational Development - Centre for Higher Education Research and Scholarship)
Magda Charalambous (Principal Lecturer - Faculty of Natural Sciences)
Jackie Bell (Principal Teaching Fellow - Faculty of Engineering)
Jon Fenton (Senior Strategic Teaching Fellow - Faculty of Natural Sciences)

Meeting Schedule:

We convene once a term to ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate and contribute. These meetings serve as a forum for lively discussions, presentations, demonstrations, and networking opportunities.

Communication Channels:

Our primary communication platform is Microsoft Teams. Here, you'll find updates on upcoming events (General Channel).

If you would like to join a SIG, fill out the form here to be added to the mailing list. You will then be informed about future activities

13 February 2024

View the recording of this event (Imperial log in required).

Agenda

12.00 – Enhancing Student Transition and Progression Launch Presentation and Mentimeter question: ‘What transition and progression issues are relevant in your practice/context?’

12.15 – ICU Enhancing Student Transition and Progression Presentation by Andreea Cojocea (Deputy President, Welfare) and Yi Yang (Deputy President, Education) from the Student Union. Followed by Q+A.

13.00 – Small group discussion and joint discussion on ‘How have the SU presentations informed or challenged your thinking about student transition and progression?’

13.25 – SIG wrap-up

Summary

The Enhancing Student Transition and Progression SIG Launch meeting featured insights from the Student Union’s perspectives. Members shared issues and thoughts on student transition and progression and recognised the importance of fostering a platform where practices and resources can be shared and adapted. Discussions also highlighted the need for creating opportunities that enable students to succeed once they arrive at Imperial (where traditionally much of our focus has been on improving ‘access’). Members are also encouraged to use the SIG Teams space to continue sharing thoughts, resources and connecting with each other.

9 May 2024

View the recording of this event (Imperial log in required).

Agenda

12:00 - Lunch and Networking

12:15 - Presentation and Q&A: 'Faculty of Engineering New Starter's Programme for WP Students', by Dr Jackie Bell (Project Lead), Department of Computing, and Mohammed Tayyab Khalid, Electrical and Electronic Engineering

12:45 - Presentation 'Supporting the Transition of Masters' Students into their PhD Programme', by Dr Helal Ahmed, Graduate School

13:15 - Networking

Summary

Wraparound support for undergraduate and postgraduate students was discussed, following presentations by Jackie Bell and Helal Ahmed showcasing current support for undergraduate widening participation students in the Faculty of Engineering and postgraduate taught students embarking on PhD study at Imperial, led by the Graduate School. An interactive discussion followed each presentation, linking ideas with Imperial’s new Access and Participation Plan (APP) and further collaborative projects between departments and faculties.

11 July 2024

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Agenda

12:05 - Presentation: Transition Support for Underrepresented Students - US & NZ Learnings by Ali Lyons, Evaluation Manager, Outreach followed by Q&A

12:40 - Presentation: Outreach at Imperial by Mel Bottrill, Head of Outreach Programmes followed by Q&A

13:15 - Information about the Attributes and Aspirations short course from Katie Dallison, Careers

13:20 - Discussion in groups

Summary

Ali Lyons shared insights on innovative support strategies for underrepresented students from her research on seven key programmes across six universities in the US and New Zealand: targeting, aims and formats, and how these programmes integrate with wider university support systems. She also considered some best practice elements which can be applied in the UK context.

Mel Bottrill also gave a very helpful presentation about Outreach work at Imperial, describing who the Outreach team are, what they do, where and why.

7 November 2024

View the recording of this event (Imperial log in required).

Agenda

Transitions to UG and PG study – a departmental approach (DoLS)

Undergraduate transitions - Amelia Barron ( Undergraduate Liaison Office) followed by Q + A

Postgraduate transitions at Silwood Park Campus - Clara Bradbury (Post Graduate Student Experience Coordinator ) followed by Q + A

Summary

The meeting considered undergraduate and postgraduate (taught Masters) transitions to the Department of Life Sciences. Amelia and Clara talked about the many initiatives that have been put in place over the last couple of years since they joined the department. On the UG front, a recent website (Biosphere) has been created with StudentShapers to provide information to students before they arrive and to help to manage expectations. We heard that community building events such as CommuniTea and Bowling have been great successes and that there have been many wellbeing events including Therapy Dog days. On the PG front, Clara spoke about resources for students at the Silwood Park Campus, including the importance of understanding cultural differences, the need for community building and also the difficulty at times of getting students to attend events. There was lots of discussion around both talks, sharing information and practice. One fabulous impact of the meeting was that PG student experience staff from different campuses were reaching out to each other to form a network, and we look forward in future to hearing about that initiative.