09.30
| Registration and refreshments
|
10.00
| Welcome from the morning chair
Debra Humphris, Vice-Chancellor, University of Brighton
|
10.05
| Universities Minister Address
Michelle Donelan MP, Universities Minister - invited
|
10.25
| Admissions: a reflection on 2020/21 intake
Mike Nicholson, Director of Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach, University of Bath
Dr Andrew Ross, Head of Widening Access and Participation, University of Bath
More speakers to be announced.
The admissions cycle for 2020/21 intake would have been one of the biggest challenges that the UK Higher Education sector has faced. We take a first look on how institutions responded to the impact of Covid-19, what actions they took to support their most disadvantaged applicants and how the admissions and widening participation agenda’s work in harmony with each other.
|
11.00
| Supporting students through blended learning
Kate Lister, Manager for Accessibility and Inclusive Practice, The Open University
More speakers to be announced.
For many higher education providers, being propelled into a virtual world of distance learning and subsequently blended learning was not even remotely business-as-usual. This session will hear from institutions with extensive experience of providing distance learning with a focus on best practices and top tips on how to successfully deliver online teaching and blended learning which is accessible for all students, regardless of background and borders.
|
11.40
| Refreshments and networking
|
12.00
| Breakout sessions
|
| The student success journey: graduating into a post-Covid-19 World
Paul Wakeling, Head of the Department for Education, University of York
Stephen Isherwood, Chief Executive, Institute of Student Employers
Ensuring that the future for the UK’s most vulnerable graduates and postgraduates still looks positive in the aftermath of Covid-19 might be a challenge. Higher education providers need to grow their understanding of the current labour market so that they are providing the right careers advice, resources, and support to current students and alumni; including options for postgraduate study. Employers need to adjust their practices to the post-Covid-19 world without further disadvantaging widening participation graduates.
|
| The impact of Covid-19 on care-experienced and estranged students
Katharine Sacks-Jones, Chief Executive, Become Susan Mueller, Project Director, Stand Alone Amie Waterman, PhD student, Durham University What have we learnt from the needs of students without any traditional family support throughout this crisis? After a period of detachment, have we seen a spike in dropouts from care-experienced students and students who are estranged from their families? Key organisations who have been at the forefront of supporting these students share their findings on how best to support these students now, and what we can learn to inform the future.
|
| Access, participation, and Covid-19: exploring the work of the small, specialist and new higher education providers
Jess Woodsford, Director of SEER (Specialist Evidence, Evaluation & Research), Applied Inspiration
Ross Renton, Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Worcester and Chair of the Widening Participation Network, GuildHE
This
session will look at the research into small and specialist colleges with
regards to their responses to Covid-19 and the impact on students particularly
in respect of Access and Participation Plans and under-represented groups.
|
13.00
| Lunch and networking
|
13.40
| Breakout sessions
|
| Successful school partnerships in a virtual environment
Rebecca Bowen, Senior Student Recruitment Officer, University of South Wales, and Wales Chair, HELOA Dr Andrew Ross, Head of Widening Access and Participation, University of Bath
Higher education providers will have been working hard to achieve outreach activities without physical interventions. When we get back to ‘normal’ and can start delivering on-campus activities, it will be too late for some school pupils who may have never even thought about going to University. Our panelists will answer the question ‘Is digital outreach possible?’ and share their experiences of how Universities and Schools have worked in partnership with each other to ensure success in future recruitment cycles.
|
| How virtually accessible are you?
Dr Kay Hack, Principal Adviser Learning and Teaching, Advance HE
Amy Low, Service Delivery Director, AbilityNet
Osayuki Igbinoba, Pharmacy Student, Kingston University – invited
Higher education providers are experienced in adapting their campuses to be physically accessible; they will also have support services in place to ensure that regardless of the disability or learning difficulty, students have the support they need to academically succeed. However, what happens when we are thrown into a world of virtual learning and the unique challenges that presents? Is the technology and virtual learning environment actually accessible for all students regardless of physical or learning disability? What can we learn from the Covid-19 pandemic to better support students with disabilities in the future?
|
| Increasing access to lifelong learning
Lindsey Fraser, Deputy Director in the Lifelong Learning Centre, University of Leeds. More speakers to be announced.
Creating more opportunities for adults to participate in education and lifelong learning poses many benefits. With an increasingly aging population, technology rapidly moving on and an accelerated virtual working environment; how can adults from unrepresented groups be supported and realise their potential.
|
14.40
| Refreshments and networking
|
15.00
| Welcome from afternoon chair
Professor John Storan, Director, Continuum, University of East London and Principal, Action on Access
|
15:05
| Lessons learnt from the Covid-19 lockdown
Professor Gavin Brown, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Liverpool
More speakers to be announced.
When the UK was forced into lockdown, higher education providers were able to make decisions with astonishing speed and success for their current and prospective students. Did this support work equally for all students? What have we learnt, and how can this learning help inform not only our response to any future lockdowns, but also help us to better support students especially those from underrepresented groups and disadvantaged backgrounds?
|
15:45
| Improving the student experience of BAME studentsGurnam Singh, Associate Professor of Attainment, Coventry University
Sandy Ogundele, Black and Minority Ethnic Students' Officer, Students’ Union UCL – invited
Chair: Professor John Storan, Director, Continuum, University of East London and Principal, Action on Access
More speakers to be announced.
Our panellists explore how Covid-19 has impacted BAME students and endangered the progress that has been made to close the BAME student attainment gap. With so much disruption in the sector and the ‘Black Lives Matter’ protests that have taken place across the world, what should institutions be learning and how should they be adapting to ensure an inclusive student experience?
|
16:25
| Closing remarks
|
