Indie Okoye, Student Ambassador, Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences

Going to UNC Charlotte University was a really great experience and part of me wishes I could stay because the experiences and the opportunities they gave to their students were just amazing. Not just from an educational standpoint but also from a social standpoint. It felt like they were working to create well rounded human beings that could integrate into society well but also leave university with the prospect of a work placement or even a great well paid job to match their degree.

On a social standpoint they offer so many different ways of integrating into society, confidence building and other things like that. From the over 350 societies, clubs and other events like The International Festival and social gatherings, they invest so much money and time to ensure that each student reaches their full potential.

What I found really amazing was through all this support that was offered you still found students that would give their free time to give back to their community. HCAP (Hispanic College awareness programme) are an amazing society that works without pay to support and increase the number of Hispanic students in Higher Education. This is something that I feel Kingston could really learn from. We have a huge volunteer department but educating their students about it more could enhance the number of students who participate.

From an educational standpoint they offer a lot of support to students including both the SoS (Students obtaining Success) and BEST (Building Educational Strengths and Talents) Programmes.

The SoS programme supports students that are on academic probation, giving them the chance to lift their grades and recover their academic situation.

BEST Learning Community works with first generation students and minority students supporting them through University life. These two programmes were my favourite because I fell that really captured what students really need to know to be successful in their university experience but they offered so much more to really support the student.

What should Kingston University do to improve student experience?

I believe that Kingston needs a better and stronger mentor programme. They need to cater to a lot more students from many different backgrounds and life experiences. I think they need to look at enhancing the social aspect of the university for the students investing in their future, and I think that will relay on to the academic side. I think things like a greater student union and activities for the students. More money needs to be spent to help students gain a rounded experience ready to work in society. It feels like Kingston runs on the mentality that you go to school then go home with nothing in-between to really create a well-rounded human being.

With the increase in tuition fees more needs to be given back to the students because not a lot is given at the moment. I also believe that teachers need to be supportive. In UNC Charlotte I found that teachers went the extra mile to support the students. Teaching was a 24-hour job. They completely focused on supporting students. Kingston may not be able to completely deliver this line of support but I feel something along the lines of this teacher support should be offered.

My plans for the future haven’t changed, I still believe Kingston University is a great university and I would like to stay and finish my education and go on to do my Masters maybe at Kingston. I

wouldn’t go to America because I feel our education is a lot stronger and better. In all my experience was amazing, I met so many amazing and new people and I am so happy I got the chance to experience what American university is like.

Craig Umenyi, Student Ambassador, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing

The trip to Charlotte was a great opportunity to see how the university experience differs outside of the UK. What really surprised me was the wide range of different extra-curricular schemes and programs on offer and how popular these appeared to be with students. There were various mentoring programmes where first year students were regularly helped and assisted by students in the academic years above. Not only did it surprise me how many

students participated in these as voluntary mentors but perhaps more so, how well those being mentored responded to this and embraced the support, both academic and personal, that their mentors provided. The SOS (Students Obtaining Success) program impressed me particularly, with mentors aiming to boost the academic grades of mentees which are currently below a 2.0 GPA and if this were to be maintained, would see them fail. This

programme has an extensive evaluation and research elements, including feedback from mentees and mentors, which helped inform focused action plans and targets set for mentees. Much of the extra-curricular activities I came across were also voluntary and

I was genuinely surprised at how passionate students were, not only about schemes such as this, but also about the societies they belonged to.

A program which we learned much about was UTOP (University Transition Opportunities Programme). This is a five week experience event held over the summer where incoming first year student live on campus and participate in a range of activities and workshops to

familiarise them with the university and what it entails prior to enrolling. Students invited are from ethnic minority backgrounds that are unfamiliar with what university entails e.g. first-generation university students in the family. The research results provided by UNC Charlotte show that those who participated were more likely to complete their university degrees and finish with a higher academic grade compared to ethnic minority students who did not.

Anecdotal feedback from students suggested that the social aspect of this also greatly helped by ensuring that they knew people once they arrived on campus to start their first year. I personally feel this is a great programme and could really be beneficial to students,

particularly first-generation university students who may not have anyone close to them to inform them of what to expect at university. We collectively acknowledged this would be

difficult to perform at Kingston University, with most students not sure of what university they

will be attending until they receive their A-level results in late August. However, a one week programme prior to freshers week could be easily accomplished I believe.  Getting the most out of the student experience and having an extra-curricular and social presence within the university is heavily emphasised and appears as though these types of activities are not only

preferred by employers but almost expected. I personally feel as though the undergraduate degree system in the UK (with the final year being so heavily weighted towards final degree

classification) does not encourage students to do more than simply get a degree and therefore many undergraduates come out of university still lacking the inter-personal and life skills needed in the workplace.

With so much done towards building well-rounded, well-educated adults, it wasn’t a shock to find the university placed a large amount of effort into promoting career-based help, especially sourcing work placements and internships as well as encouraging students to

think about their prospective careers from early on within their first year. Career fairs are also common where local and national employers will come to meet students who could become potential employees. This could be done at Kingston University, but a lack of dedicated staff makes this extremely difficult. Career workshops where students can discuss these matters are very time restrictive.

An increase in concentrated effort and resource in regards to this would help although incoming budget cuts would make this difficult. I think it would take a culture change from the university and more importantly, students to encourage the building of CV’s beyond education and part time jobs. I do however feel that in my personal experience, the Faculty of Business and Law do a very good job in sourcing employability opportunities but more needs to be done to encourage students to take up work placements and internships during their degrees so they come out of university with the necessary knowledge, skills and experience to get their desired jobs, particularly in this increasingly competitive jobs market. I also think that although it would be difficult to hold our own career fairs at the university on a scale as large as UNC Charlotte’s, career fairs elsewhere in the country could be more heavily marketed and promoted around the university.

I think the trip has definitely made me think further about doing more extra-curricular activities, whether that be volunteering, new roles around the university or increasing time spent working on the student ambassador scheme but this is extremely difficult whilst being a third year student in the UK.

David Banfro, Student Ambassador, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing

After being invited to attend the UNC Charlotte tour in September I was more than curious as to what our partner university in the United States had to offer. We arrived in Charlotte on Saturday evening and we began our activities on Sunday morning. Once we had settled into our hotels and acclimatised ourselves with the area which didn’t take long, we were invited to an introductory lunch at the University on Sunday evening. We were picked up by the university Minibus and chauffeured to the university campus which was less than a 10 minute drive away. Once we reached the campus I was immediately struck by the sheer size of the campus.

We were informed that the whole site was just under a 1000 acres and that more buildings were due to be developed. The site had a feel of a new city centre just being opened with the pavements clean and the air surrounding the campus being quite fresh. The buildings were red bricked and new, and statues of former sport stars and Charlotte city legends were dotted around our route into the campus. As we drove into the campus we bypassed a huge

plot of land that was being developed for a 30,000 all seated American football stadium which would open in 2013, adding to the immense size and scale of the university. We met the alumni and staff members for the first time shortly afterwards and I was immediately struck by the level of hospitality and warmth we received from the UNC Charlotte staff. After we had been formally introduced to the staff we were invited by one of the students to watch a movie that night in the student union.

The student union by itself was impressive, fitted with its own cinema and four fast food restaurants, shops and an Apple store. They also had a Student Union shop which contained a Barnes & Noble bookstore alongside memorabilia of the university including

t-shirts, sweaters, hats, scarves and many other clothing items.  And as we watched Steven Spielberg’s latest’s film in the 210 seated cinema, I was quietly excited and intrigued as to what more Charlotte had to offer.

For the next five days we were picked up in the morning by the university minibus and we were always greeted warmly by a member of staff who would be looking after us and chauffeuring us to and from different meetings during the day. Two members of the

university faculty stood out for me in particular; Dennis Weiss and Dr Sam Lopez and we had the pleasure of being in their presence for the duration of our trip. Dr Lopez in particular had a fantastic rapport and closeness with most of the students on campus which if I am

honest I have not seen from many staff members at Kingston. He organised many meetings and social evenings so that we could meet the students and integrate into the university life. I remember him taking us to an El Salvadorian restaurant on the outskirts of Charlotte where we were treated to good food and hospitality by the students. Another meeting Dr Lopez organized took place the following morning when I and a member of the KU staff, Rebecca

Lees, were asked to attend a learning community class. So without really knowing what to expect myself and Rebecca made our way over to the Lynch building. We were greeted by Terence who I later discovered was the Resident Coordinator for Hawthorn Hall. Terence

led us into the classroom where we met Tanya the coordinator for the group that day. We were soon introduced to the group which consisted of about fifteen students who were in the preparation stage before beginning the freshmen year. Once everyone had settled down Tanya took up her seat at the back of the room and three of the students led the group through a fifteen minute session on leadership. The session was completely student led and followed up by quick quiz on the presentation. Every student was fully engaged and involved in the quiz before eagerly participating in leadership games and activities. Every activity the group covered was done together and nobody was left isolated and alone. There was a genuine spirit of friendship and camaraderie between the students. Tanya finished the session with a five minute talk on leadership and looking out for each other, the session finished with socialising and students hugging each other. When I asked one student what made for the unique atmosphere he replied “we’re in this together, we are a team although some of us may take different pathways we’ll stick together because together were unstoppable!”

Reflection

So in summary, never have I been received with such warmth and kindness as we have been given by the students and faculty at UNC Charlotte. Since our arrival in Charlotte we were treated to a real Southern welcome. We have been greeted, chauffeured, pampered, doted on and fed by the staff and students at the university. It surprised me what lengths the University had gone to, to make our stay a comfortable one. From the moment we met the

staff on Sunday they have made us feel more than welcome and have showed us the real meaning of Southern hospitality. We have been treated to good food movies, tours, and outings by the university. Before arriving in North Carolina I was aware of the term

Southern Hospitality, but I never envisaged how friendly it would actually be. I only hope we can replicate the same atmosphere of warmth when UNC Charlotte students and faculty arrive in Kingston. The visit to UNC Charlotte has definitely strengthened my belief that university is more than just a place for learning and graduating. In my opinion university is where you form relationships, rules, and build the foundation for your life. So just by

looking at the examples of friendship hospitality teamwork and selflessness that I saw at UNC Charlotte, I can truly say that I am glad to be a KU student as I see many of the same values on our campuses and I look forward to implementing some of the Charlotte programmes at Kingston. Thank You UNC Charlotte

Jenni Woods, Widening Participation Coordinator, ADC

As the University’s Widening Participation Officer I attended the UNC Charlotte study tour with a particular interest in finding out about the pre-entry transition and on course support programmes available to help non-traditional groups of students adjust to university life and achieve the best possible academic outcome.

During our visit we were warmly welcomed by a wide range of staff at different levels who gave up their time to talk to us about the various initiatives at UNC Charlotte that encourage access and success. Myself and David Taylor, Head of Widening Participation, worked particularly closely with Dr Sam Lopez, Director of the Office of Multicultural Academic Services and Mr Howard Simms, manager of the UTOP programme as well as a number of student representatives who answered our questions honestly and spoke about the programmes with great enthusiasm.

The University Transition Opportunities Programme (UTOP) celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and is credited with establishing UNC Charlotte’s commitment to prepare underrepresented students for the shift from high school to college, which is also the main purpose of the Compact Scheme at Kingston University. Therefore, I was keen to learn more about what the programme consists of and its impact on the students who take part. UTOP is open to all first generation applicants to UNC Charlotte, but predominantly targets students from African American backgrounds. It was introduced to address the lower attainment of black students compared to more traditional entrants (a discrepancy that has also been identified within Kingston’s student population) and has proved extremely successful in closing this gap. UTOP consists of a five week residential summer school and

includes three courses worth academic credit as well as social and orientation activities. Research from the past 10 years indicates that students who participated in UTOP had higher retention and graduation rates than students from similar backgrounds who did

not take part. As well as the academic rigour at its core, staff and students emphasised that the shared experience creates a sense of community and support amongst participants that greatly contributes to their success.

Myself and one of the Kingston students were fortunate enough to be invited to a meeting of the UTOP Learning Community during the week of our visit, as well as a meeting of the Learning Community Steering Group. Learning Communities (LCs) have a 10 year history at UNC Charlotte and play a key role in providing pastoral care and supporting students’ attainment during their first year. There are 16 LCs at UNC Charlotte with around 750 students (approx 24% of all Freshmen). LCs are discipline based (e.g. Engineering, Psychology) or have a common theme (e.g. UTOP, Gender Excellence). They are first year academic programmes that carry credit but also benefit the students through providing a

community of peer support, academic mentors and a stronger connection to the institution. We were shown evidence that LC participants achieve a higher grade point average, a better first year retention rate and are more engaged than non-LC students.

Students in the UTOP Learning Community we observed were in the fifth week of their first semester. The LC Coordinator was Mr Howard Simms, an academic member of staff who also manages the UTOP summer school. The students were given an assignment based

on a set text and completed an activity requiring them to reflect on their first few weeks on campus. However, the class also gave students an opportunity to ask questions and clarify matters that had arisen in their early weeks of higher education. Mr Simms was able to offer

them advice and prompt them to take certain actions, e.g. those who had not yet met with their academic adviser to finalise their timetable were told to do so. The students were also encouraged to become involved in activities outside of their course to enhance their skill set on graduation and Mr Simms spoke them about how to present and conduct themselves on campus.

Overall the UTOP students were extremely enthusiastic and clearly felt they had benefited from their involvement in the programme and the Learning Community (though some did admit they had been reluctant to attend the summer school initially!) The students felt the

summer programme had given them a head start in terms of their familiarity with the university and their preparation for study, as well as the comfort of having familiar faces around campus and a secondary academic adviser in Mr Simms. They trusted Mr Simms

and felt a desire to make him proud of them. The students were also confident of how to access support should they need it and that any academic issues would be identified early.

Kingston’s Compact Scheme is being expanded and developed for 2012 entry as part of our recent agreement with the Office for Fair Access. A number of factors, including the UK admissions process and different structure of our degree courses mean that we cannot

provide a programme exactly like UTOP. However, we will be developing short summer schools (2-3 days) to firm applicants in 2012 with preparation activities and study skills related to particular subject areas, as well as an enhanced induction and orientation

session. We are also keen to pilot one or two “Learning Communities” within the Compact Scheme to support new students as part of the transition process (i.e. during the first 4-6

weeks of term). These would initially be co-ordinated by trained student leaders, with input from Faculty staff, and promote regular contact between Compact students based on common themes or subject areas. It is hoped that, as is the case at UNC Charlotte, the

LCs will begin to encourage strong ties between the students and engagement with the institution, as well as ultimately improving retention and attainment in the first year. We will be working with the students who came to UNC Charlotte to develop these aspects of the scheme and intend to recruit and train student leaders to facilitate the work. Since its inception the Compact Scheme has had a significant impact on conversion rates through engaging applicants and advising them on the most appropriate courses to apply for. Retention amongst Compact students from first to second year has also been slightly better than the university overall.

We hope that by developing these new Compact initiatives, and incorporating some of the best practice we witnessed at UNC Charlotte, we can build on this success and ensure that we are supporting students in achieving their full potential at Kingston University.

Marion Webb, September 2011

I had three main priorities for this visit. The first was to discover more about the variety of mentoring schemes in place at UNC Charlotte to support students once they were enrolled on UNCC courses. I wanted to bring this knowledge back with a view to introducing mentoring schemes for a large number of first year students as part of Kingston’s Access agreement.

Learning points from Charlotte’s mentoring schemes are:

• A Mentoring Committee brings together representatives from all schemes. This would be helpful at Kingston to ensure that inappropriate overlaps are avoided.

• Mentoring schemes need administrative support

• Student clubs and societies are a useful source of recruitment for mentors

• Mentors at Charlotte all receive three days’ training. This training involves topics such as “How to interact with a lecturer”, managing conflict and facilitation skills. It is also recommended that one day of the training should focus on employability skills.

• The Careers Service employs a number of “Peer Career Assistants”.

These assist at careers events, check students’ CVs, manage the Careers social media sites and make presentations to students.

• The Careers Service uses employers and alumni to act as mentors

• Many mentorship schemes contain an observation component.

Mentors are given feedback on their rapport with their mentees, ways in which they provide feedback to students and ways in which they check understanding. It would be helpful for

Kingston’s mentoring scheme to ensure that an observation protocol was established.

I was also interested in the Learning Communities which have been in operation at Charlotte for ten years. These are small groups of students and staff who work closely together with the aim of promoting a sense of belonging and thereby aiming to improve the students’ chances of academic success. Some of these exist within disciplines such as Psychology and Business (and the recently completed evaluation suggests that these subject based communities are the most successful in terms of retention and results) but others focus on themes or groups, such as first generation students. I observed a BEST (Building Educational Strengths and Talents) session for first generation HE students. This was led by a PhD student from UNC Chapel Hill who used a range of drama exercises to encourage these first year students to act out issues around stereotyping. The students participated with enormous enthusiasm (I participated too but slightly less enthusiastically). One of the principles around learning communities is that they should involve experiential learning techniques, such as problem-based learning and they incorporate extra-curricular (“co-curricular”) activities, such as going on “retreats” or volunteering.

Following my work with the Outduction project (http://www. outduction.ac.uk/) I have a particular interest in working with student interns. At UNC Charlotte a variety of internships exist. Some of these are under the banner of “49erships” which are non credit bearing

where students work a minimum of 80 hours a semester in a career related position (placement) to gain professional experience.

Other internships are credit-bearing and the students are assessed by assignments based on their placements, which could take place over the summer outside of teaching time. The Careers Service at UNC Charlotte stresses the importance of “Occupational Literacy”

which is a combination of understanding careers and the demands of various jobs with self-awareness. Interestingly, the Careers Service listed the skills that US employers value as Verbal Communication, Strong Work Ethic, Teamwork, Analytical Skills, Initiative. These are

similar to our KEYS but I did sense that there was less obligation on staff to incorporate these skills into the curriculum.

My conclusions are that many of the ideas from UNC Charlotte could be adapted for the Kingston context. We already make use of student mentors but need to increase recruitment considerably. We could certainly increase our use of student interns and students

generally employed on campus. The Learning Communities model already exists within the APPL groups in Nursing and it would be exciting to see this spread perhaps though personal tutor schemes.

successful in terms of retention and results) but others focus on themes or groups, such as first generation students. I observed a BEST (Building Educational Strengths and Talents) session for first generation HE students. This was led by a PhD student from UNC Chapel Hill who used a range of drama exercises to encourage these first year students to act out issues around stereotyping. The students participated with enormous enthusiasm (I participated too but slightly less enthusiastically). One of the principles around learning communities is that they should involve experiential learning techniques, such as problem-based learning and they incorporate extra-curricular (“co-curricular”) activities, such as going on “retreats” or volunteering.

Following my work with the Outduction project (http://www.outduction.ac.uk/) I have a particular interest in working with student interns. At UNC Charlotte a variety of internships exist. Some of these are under the banner of “49erships” which are non credit bearing

where students work a minimum of 80 hours a semester in a career related position (placement) to gain professional experience.

Other internships are credit-bearing and the students are assessed by assignments based on their placements, which could take place over the summer outside of teaching time. The Careers Service at UNC Charlotte stresses the importance of “Occupational Literacy”

which is a combination of understanding careers and the demands of various jobs with self-awareness. Interestingly, the Careers Service listed the skills that US employers value as Verbal Communication, Strong Work Ethic, Teamwork, Analytical Skills, Initiative. These are

similar to our KEYS but I did sense that there was less obligation on staff to incorporate these skills into the curriculum.

My conclusions are that many of the ideas from UNC Charlotte could be adapted for the Kingston context. We already make use of student mentors but need to increase recruitment considerably. We could certainly increase our use of student interns and students generally employed on campus. The Learning Communities model already exists within the APPL groups in Nursing and it would be exciting to see this spread perhaps though personal tutor schemes.

The Education Liaison Team are combining forces with the Royal Borough of Kingston (RBK) in a new initiative to engage young people in education. The focus has been placed on students working within six of Kingston’s schools, and who all have free school meals (fsm) status. This cohort has been selected as a key priority for the council as these students consistently underachieve in comparison to their non-fsm peers.

The project takes a similar format to other Education Liaison activities and sees pupils working closely with our student ambassadors. Pupils engage in activities regarding student life, qualifications and progression routes for their futures, as well as study skills for exam success.
On 18 January 2011, 44 pupils attended the pilot session at the Penrhyn Road Campus. They were very positive about the experience, with 43 out of 44 either agreeing or strongly agreeing that they found the session informative and helpful for their current studies. There was also a lot of interest in subsequent sessions.
Quotes from the attendees included: “Please do it again, regularly, with the same people”;  “I loved meeting new people”; and “My ambassador was awesome!”

Talks are currently being held with RBK and the headteachers of the participating schools. A second and third session are being
planned for later this year.
Emily Butters, Education Liaison

The University will be co-hosting a three day Sports Summer School for local Year 10 pupils after a successful bid for funding with Aimhigher London South. The school, which has 40 places, will take place in the Easter holidays. We will be working with a number of education providers in the area to provide a fun and engaging programme which will highlight progression routes and careers in the sports industry.

Students will have a taste of Sports Science at the University working with undergraduates and the Faculty of Science who will be running bio-mechanics sessions in their labs. In a session at Kingston College students will have the opportunity to consider their next steps and find out about post-16 qualifications. Furthermore they will meet students and athletes from the College’s successful sports Academy athletes who will share their experiences.

For a site visit they will go to a top sporting venue and look at the commercial aspects of large scale events and tournaments followed by an afternoon at St Mary’s University College to participate in sports activities.  Current students from Kingston University, Kingston College and St Mary’s University College will be working alongside the Year 10 pupils throughout the programme to ensure they get a firsthand experience of what it is like to be a student in further and higher education.

For more information about the Summer School, please contact me on e.moore@kingston.ac.uk  ext 63286

Emily Moore

Education Liaison Events Co-ordinator

Hi, my name is Greg Harradine and I have been helping to run the recent recruitment drive, along with my fellow SAs Paul Hammond and Sharifa Logan. We put in a few long days positioning eye-catching posters (designed by Charlotte Mulley) around all four campuses, as well as handing out leaflets advertising the scheme. The job was also advertised on many of the plasma TVs around university and on the university JobShop as well.

All our promotion certainly paid off because we had 166 applications and have invited 103 potential SAs to attend one of two assessment sessions on the 3^rd and 4^th of March. At these assessment sessions, the applicants will take part in a number of teamwork exercises in which they will be judged on their interpersonal and communication skills. From here we will whittle those 103 down to approximately 40 people who will make up the new intake of SAs.

The new SAs will be invited to induction sessions where they can meet all the current SAs and be fully trained up, ready to undertake any of the various roles which SAs fulfil on a weekly basis.

Paul Westren