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STAR Gazing. Tony Cook Star@ulster.ac.uk. Aspects. Institutional policy Staff attitudes Student attitudes Retention as an issue. Take home messages. Policy unpredictable Changing management priorities will mould staff attitudes
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STAR Gazing Tony Cook Star@ulster.ac.uk
Aspects • Institutional policy • Staff attitudes • Student attitudes • Retention as an issue
Take home messages • Policy unpredictable • Changing management priorities will mould staff attitudes • Changing economic circumstances will mould student behaviour • Retention measures will decrease in importance - replaced by student success measures. TIMESCALE for success?
Policy changes • Performance indicators • Same effect as student assessment • Easy to be critical • National support • HEA will get its act together and provide a resource centre for practitioners • Educational groundhog day.
Staff Attitudes “Chuck the lazy gits out” • Most institutions have reasonable retention/ transition policies • Does practice follow policy? Are staff rewarded for good practice? • Has “retention” got a high priority in the minds of staff?
Staff attitudes • More institutions will focus on teaching • Funding follows students who graduate • Funding associated with Widening Participation • Staff more career minded • Easier to manage through an appropriate recruitment reward system
Student attitudes • With the increasing financial burden: • new students more likely to be job focussed; • more likely to do their research on institutions and courses; • More strategic learning (even more); • More “part time” full time students; • More “helicopter parents”; • More litigious.
Student attitudes • Depend on staff attitudes
Retention as an issue. • Move agenda on • from “retention” to “student success”. • From continuously redefining the problem to addressing it • From ad hoc, bolt on “retention units” to embedding and resourcing student support across all academic activities
What we know we know • Why students leave • Make bad choices • Course/institution/life ….not as expected/ unsuitable • What will keep them • Match students to courses/ encourage change • Tell them the truth/ meet their expectations • Value for money • Make University a social experience
What we know we don’t know • How to share good practice with those who need to implement it most • How to promote institutional risk taking • in a measurement regime (QAA, HESA). • How to get students making better decisions