Higher education is a collaborative endeavour. Any university will say how vital student voice is in shaping policy, environment and student experience. And while approaches vary across the sector, we see excellent examples of true partnership with active participation from both students and staff.
The surveys Russell Group universities run each year are vital to better understand students’ lived experience and what improvements could be made. But as well as receiving feedback, universities want to ensure students feel involved in decision-making, with students and staff equally bringing their own perspectives and experiences to shape the education offer.
During a joint meeting of the Russell Group pro vice-chancellors for learning and teaching and students’ unions in Southampton last year, we established a joint set of principles for effective co-creation. Drawing on inspiring examples from universities who have achieved real success in partnership-led initiatives, here are key principles we set out:
1. Talk to your students – lots of them
Engaging students is obviously fundamental, but it’s worth taking a step back and examining who you are really talking to. We may call it “the student body”, but students are far from homogeneous.
Sabbatical officers and student reps do fantastic work amplifying the student voice and representing the perspective of the wider networks they’re plugged into. Academics also have an important platform but must find creative ways to access wide-ranging student viewpoints across the community. Increasingly, students lead complex lives and seek a more flexible, personalised learning experience, so what works for one student may not work for others.
It’s vital to think about who’s not in the room. The most disengaged students are the hardest, but most important, to seek out. To give voice to those who are often marginalised, Students’ Union UCL runs student networks based on students’ characteristics or life experiences to ensure they have representation and a space to build community, with input into university projects and consultations.
- A guide to co-creation with students
- A toolkit for working with students as partners
- From cohort to community: how to support student-led initiatives
In many ways technology has made student engagement feel easier, but online forms and questionnaires remove essential person-to-person engagement. As anyone who works in student communications knows, students do not read and respond to all their emails – we send them too many. Instead, try seeking out students directly in informal spaces, in common rooms and students’ unions, over breakfast and lunch breaks. Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and the University of Exeter both use this approach with great success. Monthly informal “Tea with the PVC” drop-ins at QUB attract about 700 to 1,000 students per session, allowing students the chance to give feedback on their student experience over a cuppa.
2. Think strategically about the issues you tackle together
Partnership is most effective when tackling issues both sides are genuinely invested in. With sabbatical officers in post for a fixed time, it’s helpful to identify shared – and achievable – priorities from the beginning, with swift outcomes. For example, the University of Southampton’s Rapid Improvement Project on special considerations saw student satisfaction with the process double – from 40 per cent to 80 per cent – in just six months. Co-creating solutions to shared challenges not only fosters stronger relationships, but increases capacity, prevents duplication and maximises impact across campus.
To ensure continuity, Students’ Union UCL produces an annual Student Priorities for Education Report, aggregating key themes from the previous year’s staff and student rep meetings including recommendations for action. This ensures feedback is carried through even after sabbatical officers leave office and student reps graduate.
3. Treat students as true partners
In student-staff collaborations, we might assume that each side carries conflicting viewpoints – but that’s often not the case. Students and staff are often ready and willing to work towards shared goals.
It’s important to dismantle any implicit power imbalance to ensure true partnership, in practice not just in name. It’s now very common to seat students on senates and boards – but they’re usually vastly outnumbered and hold much less power, which can frustrate or demotivate students. As staff, we must be transparent about the influence students have, encouraging them to feed into decision-making and informing them of outcomes.
Equal, authentic partnership also means everyone being in the room from the start, by default. If you only ask for student opinions once you’ve already designed a solution, you’re not really co-creating.
4. Restructure committee meetings
A simple way to reframe the relationship is to interrogate how staff-student committee meetings are run, beginning with terms of reference and agendas. It can be as simple as whose name appears first, who chairs the meetings, and who writes the agenda. Appointing student co-chairs puts them on an equal footing to staff and empowers them to lead, not just respond.
The University of Southampton recently formalised guidance in a co-created Student Voice toolkit, outlining the most effective approaches to collaborative dialogue, co-designed projects and student-led initiatives.
In large, complex organisations like universities, it’s not always possible to consult students on significant decisions. However, staff should always come prepared to be transparent about their decision-making, building trust and understanding.
Where next?
Partnership working can seem daunting. Co-creating with students requires more time, thought and attention than moving unilaterally. It also asks university leaders to share power, give equitable consideration of views and adopt new ways of working. But the benefits are profound, and we’re excited to see the continued development across the Russell Group towards a partnership-first approach – realising stronger learning communities and a more engaging, adaptive and rewarding educational experience for all.
Simon To is director of policy, governance and advocacy at Students’ Union UCL and Deborah Gill is vice-president (education and student experience) and a professor of medicine at the University of Southampton.
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