Don’t stop listening to students when pandemic ends, v-cs told

The pandemic has demonstrated to universities the “value and necessity of listening to diverse student voices”, and this must continue post-Covid, a report says.

The final report of the UPP Foundation Student Futures Commission, produced by a panel of UK sector leaders and published on 14 February, notes that “some of the best outcomes of the pandemic were institutions, students’ unions and students working together to tackle enormous challenges”.

It charts a rise in the use of town hall meetings where students can ask questions of university leaders, pulse surveys to check if initiatives are working, and “greater empathy and understanding on both sides of the institutional divide”.

Such an approach, the report says, allows university leaders to work more quickly and students to feel more empowered and engaged. It recommends that such partnership working become a permanent feature of university life, through the creation of “student futures manifestos”, co-signed by institutional and student representatives and setting out “specific and measurable commitments” about the post-Covid campus experience.

“The commission feels that the pandemic showed the value and necessity of listening to diverse student voices, and engaging students at every stage of the student lifecycle as active partners within the institutions,” the report says.

“This is about more than the old adage of ‘meeting students where they are at’. It’s taking the time and initiative to meet students as equal partners in decision-making and in co-creating solutions which benefit their future success.”

The UPP report says the manifestos could outline planned teaching and learning methods for students’ courses, and what the benefits of these approaches are, as well as a package of support for the most disadvantaged students to address digital inequality.

Polling of more than 2,000 students and recent graduates published as part of the report found strong support for in-person lectures and seminars, but also a preference for hybrid options, where students can choose whether to attend in-person or virtually, and whether to catch up using recorded footage.

The report says manifestos should also cover how students can access mental health support, and wider adoption of pulse surveys to monitor learners’ well-being, with the UPP polling finding that 73 per cent of respondents felt that the pandemic had had a very or somewhat negative impact on their mental health. More than one in three – 35 per cent – said they would be reluctant to contact their university for support currently.

The report adds that manifestos could also cover better support to help students prepare for university, induction programmes for each year of study, and access to extracurricular activities. They could also set out career support extending from before arrival to after graduation, including opportunities for work placements and work-related learning.

To ensure that the manifestos are acted on, the commission recommends that they have a named member of the senior leadership team holding responsibility for them, and that they be regularly monitored and evaluated.

The report also sets out some areas of further work, including the creation of a new national technology infrastructure strategy, a commitment to a “what works” review of online teaching and assessment, and additional funding for initiatives to support student mental health.

Richard Brabner, director of the UPP Foundation, said students had been “selfless in putting the needs of others above themselves during the pandemic”.

“Our report…is a clarion call to put their needs first. We can do that by rebuilding the student experience based on a true partnership between universities and their students. prioritising what students really want, not what we think they want,” he said.

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com