Common use of Retention and Progression Clause in Contracts

Retention and Progression. i. Numerous studies have shown that ‘a sense of belonging’ is important to ensuring student success. Students who have a network of friends who can provide support when they experience problems are likely to do better. Likewise, uncertainty about the course and what to expect can create a lasting anxiety, which will make it harder for students to succeed. The Pre-Entry, Enrolment and Induction Steering Group has implemented a range of initiatives to help support our students from the time they receive their offer to attend Manchester Met, through the first few critical weeks of their first term. These initiatives include: • Peer Mentoring – This scheme was piloted in 2014 and is designed to provide support to new students through the summer and into the first few weeks of term. Following evaluation of the pilot, the programme was made available across the institution in 2016. • ‘Step in’ Summer Events – These days provide new students with an opportunity to engage with the institution before they start their induction. The programme includes events targeted at leaners with young families, and sessions focussed on enhancing academic study skills. Whilst it is open to all new students, the programme is of particular benefit to those from widening participation backgrounds. These events culminate with a ‘Welcome Festival’, which provides a fun and engaging programme of activities to welcome the new students to the University at the start of induction week. • Enhanced Student Induction – Recognised as a key phase of building a sense of belonging in new students, a series of improvements have been made to our student induction programme. These include the development of an ‘induction self-assessment tool’ used by programme leaders to identify local improvements to their students’ induction, the introduction of a Part Time jobs fair, and an event showcasing language opportunities, study and placement options, international cultures and entertainment. • Residential Advisors (RAs) - RAs are second year, third year and postgraduate students who live in halls and support new students through the transition from home into their accommodation and university life. RAs provide student support and create a community within halls, through a positive intervention programme, in conjunction with, and in support of, wider health and wellbeing campaigns, to enhance the residential experience of students. Following a successful pilot, the roles are being extended across University accommodation. • Academic Transition – This provides an opportunity for University staff to visit school and college sixth forms to understand the prior learning experience of new undergraduate students and ensure their programmes take prior experience into account from the design stage. Students from the colleges also have opportunities to visit lectures and preview learning in the University. ii. Through the University Writing project, additional English language support is available to all students to support their academic writing, and targeted students are encouraged to make use of this support. A complementary Numeracy project provides support through Numeracy Cafes and workshops that are delivered by suitably qualified undergraduates (‘data buddies’), who also give in class support. The data buddies gain useful experience and the students have an opportunity to learn practical numeracy skills in a more comfortable environment. An evaluation will be carried out of the Writing Project and the Numeracy project, to identify their impact on student progression and degree classification and to inform the future growth and development of these areas of support at Manchester Met. iii. The University has created additional posts in each Faculty to augment student- facing support. These posts work alongside Student Support Officers and support the learner journey by providing easily accessible course-related advice and targeted interventions to improve retention and success. These roles are being evaluated for the impact they have on student success, and the outcomes of this evaluation will inform the future development of these roles. iv. One of the key indicators of likely student success is good student engagement. The Student Engagement Monitoring project aims to identify, as early as possible, those level 4 students who appear to be disengaging so that we can work with them to get them back on track. The project provides valuable data on attendance at timetabled classes, engagement with Moodle, coursework submissions and marks, in addition to regular contact with personal tutors. The data provides early warning of non-engagement and enables early interventions to be put in place to support the most vulnerable students. As the project is rolled out across the institution, we expect to be able to improve student retention and progression. v. The University’s Strategy for Learning, Teaching and Assessment makes explicit the need to ensure the curriculum is inclusive and accessible to all. This notion of inclusive curriculum goes beyond previously used definitions that refer only or mainly to disabled students, aiming more accurately to serve the diverse student base at Manchester Met. The University’s Inclusive Curriculum project was set up to ‘join-up’ and embed those dispersed pockets of support that already exist in order to improve the learning experience for all students, utilising the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Self-Evaluation Framework as a basis for reviewing current practice. Guidance for academic staff draws together internal and external good practice for inclusive, accessible and differentiated approaches to teaching and learning. vi. Peer Support is seen as critical in supporting effective retention and progression for new students. We will build on the pockets of excellence in Peer Assisted Learning (PALs) through the new Transition and Peer Support Manager to establish Peer Support programmes across the University. vii. Manchester Met offers a range of events to provide additional support to disabled students, including pre-entry days where they can find out more about the support available. A Peer Mentor scheme provides new students with on- line support from current disabled students before they start their course, followed by face-to-face engagement once they enrol on their course. This has proved very popular with students, with many mentees choosing to become mentors in following years to support other students. We also provide CPD for staff in schools and colleges to increase their awareness of the support available in the University. In addition, we have developed a pre-entry ASD summer school for students who are due to start at Manchester Met. This summer school, piloted in 2016, has proved very popular with students and feedback demonstrates it eased their concerns about starting university. We will look to track the students as they progress to see if there is any noticeable difference in their retention compared to similar students who did not participate in the summer school. viii. During the period covered by this Agreement, we will seek to develop and refine our approach in the following ways: • review the processes that contribute to the student lifecycle and revise any which impact adversely upon the target groups. We will draw on institutional, HEA and HEFCE data that highlights any differential performance of different student groups; • ensure that as part of our current reviews of course approval and monitoring processes, and of the further development of our “course health check” process, we make optimum use of scrutiny of their performance in relation to the target groups covered by this Agreement. ix. As we discover more about the reasons for non-continuation and the factors that influence this, it is important we are providing CPD to staff to assist them in supporting their students. We will therefore introduce additional staff development activity to support the retention of ‘at risk’ students as this need is identified. x. We believe our strategy to be fit for purpose and will set a target to minimise differences in the retention rate of students in the target group compared to the retention of those who are not. Should particular issues emerge from our monitoring of the target groups, we will consider what specific additional support would be appropriate.

Retention and Progression. i. Numerous studies studies, as well as feedback from our staff, have shown that ‘a sense of belonging’ is important to ensuring student success. Students who have a network of friends who can provide support when they experience problems are likely to do better. Likewise, uncertainty about the course and what to expect can create a lasting anxiety, which will make it harder for students to succeed. The Pre-Entry, Enrolment and Student Induction Steering Group Project has implemented a range of new initiatives to help support our students from the time they receive their unconditional offer to attend Manchester Met, through the first few critical weeks of their first term. These initiatives include: •  Peer Mentoring – This scheme was piloted in 2014 and is designed to provide support to new students through the summer and into the first few weeks of term. Following evaluation of the pilot, the programme was is being made available across the institution in 2016institution. •  ‘Step in’ Summer Events – These days provide new students with an opportunity to engage with the institution before they start their induction. The programme includes events targeted at leaners with young families, team- building activities, and sessions focussed on enhancing academic study skills. Whilst it is open to all new students, the programme is of particular benefit to those from widening participation backgrounds. These events culminate with a ‘Welcome Festival’, which provides a fun and engaging programme of activities to welcome the new students to the University at the start of induction week. •  Enhanced Student Induction – Recognised as a key phase of building a sense of belonging in new students, a series of improvements have been made to our student induction programme. These include This includes the development of an ‘induction self-assessment tool’ used by programme leaders to identify local improvements to their students’ induction, the introduction of . Manchester Met has also introduced a Part Time jobs fair, fair and an event showcasing language opportunities, study and placement options, international cultures and entertainment. •  Residential Advisors (RAs) - RAs are second year, third year and postgraduate students who live in halls and support new students through though the transition from home into their accommodation and university University life. RAs provide student support and create a community within halls, through though a positive intervention programme, in conjunction with, and in support of, of wider health and wellbeing campaigns, to enhance the student residential experience of studentslife experience. Following a successful pilot, the roles are being extended across University university accommodation. •  Academic Transition – This provides an opportunity for University university staff to visit school and college sixth forms to understand the prior learning experience of new undergraduate students and ensure their programmes take prior experience into account from the design stage. Students from the colleges also have opportunities to visit lectures and preview learning in the Universityat university. ii. Through the University Writing project, additional English language support is available to all students to support their academic writing, writing and targeted target students are encouraged to make use of this support. A complementary complimentary Numeracy project provides support through Numeracy Cafes and workshops that are delivered by suitably qualified undergraduates (‘data buddies’), who also give provide in class support. The data buddies gain This provides useful experience for the data buddy, and the students have provides an opportunity for students to learn practical numeracy skills in a more comfortable environment. An evaluation will be carried out of the Writing Project and the Numeracy project, to identify their impact on student progression and degree classification and to inform the future growth and development of these areas of the support at Manchester Met. iii. The University has created additional posts in each Faculty to augment student- facing support. These posts work alongside Student Support Officers and support the learner journey by providing easily accessible course-related advice and targeted interventions to improve retention and success. These roles are being evaluated for the impact they have on student success, and the outcomes of this evaluation will with inform the future development of these roles. iv. One of the key indicators of likely student success is good student engagement. The Student Engagement Monitoring project aims to identify, as early as possible, those level 4 students who appear to be disengaging so that we can work with them to get them back on track. The project provides valuable data on attendance at timetabled classes, engagement with Moodle, coursework submissions and marks, in addition to regular contact with personal tutors. The data provides early warning of non-engagement and enables early interventions to be put in place to support the most vulnerable students. As the project is rolled out across the institution, we expect to be able to improve student retention and progression. v. The University’s Strategy for Learning, Teaching and Assessment makes explicit the need to ensure the curriculum is inclusive and accessible to all. This notion of inclusive curriculum goes beyond previously used definitions that refer only or mainly to disabled students, aiming to more accurately to serve the diverse student base at Manchester Met. The University’s Inclusive Curriculum project was set up to ‘join-up’ and embed those dispersed pockets of support that already exist in order to improve the learning experience for all students, ; utilising the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Self-Evaluation Framework as a basis for reviewing current practice. Guidance for academic staff draws together internal and external good practice for inclusive, accessible and differentiated approaches to teaching and learning. vi. Peer Support is seen as critical in supporting effective retention and progression for new students. We will build on the pockets of excellence in Peer Assisted Learning (PALs) through a new post in the new Transition and Peer Support Manager Widening Participation team to establish develop Peer Support programmes across the University. vii. Manchester Met offers a range of events to provide additional support to disabled students, including pre-entry days where they can find out more about the support available. A Peer Mentor scheme provides new students with on- on-line support from current disabled students before they start their course, followed by face-to-to- face engagement once they enrol on their course. This has proved provide very popular with students, with many mentees choosing to become mentors in following years to support other students. We also provide CPD for staff in schools and colleges to increase their awareness of the support available in the University. In addition, we have developed a pre-entry ASD summer school for students who are due University and how to start at Manchester Met. This summer school, piloted in 2016, has proved very popular with students and feedback demonstrates it eased support their concerns about starting university. We will look progression to track the students as they progress to see if there is any noticeable difference in their retention compared to similar students who did not participate in the summer schoolus. viii. During the period covered by this Agreement, we will seek to develop and refine our approach in the following ways: • review the processes that contribute to the student lifecycle and revise any which impact adversely upon the target groupsgroups adversely. We will draw on institutionalInstitution, HEA and HEFCE data that highlights any differential performance of different student groups; • ensure that as part of our current reviews of course approval and monitoring processes, and of the further development of our “course health check” process, we make optimum use of scrutiny of their performance in relation to the target groups covered by this Agreement. ix. As we discover more about the reasons for non-continuation and the factors that influence this, it is important we are providing CPD to staff to assist them in supporting their students. We will therefore introduce additional staff development activity to support the retention of ‘at risk’ students as this need is identified. x. We believe our strategy to be fit for purpose and will set a target to minimise differences in the retention rate of students in the target group compared to the retention of those who are not. Should particular issues emerge from our monitoring of the target groups, we will consider what specific additional support would be appropriate.

Retention and Progression. i. Numerous studies have studies, as well as feedback from our staff, has shown that ‘a sense of belonging’ is important to ensuring student success. Students who have a network of friends who can provide support when they experience problems are likely to do better. Likewise, uncertainty about the course and what to expect can create a lasting anxiety, anxiety which will make it harder for students to succeed. The PreStudent Induction Project, led by the Pro-EntryVice-Chancellor for Students, Enrolment and Induction Steering Group has implemented a range of new initiatives to help support our students from the time they receive their unconditional offer to attend Manchester MetMMU, through the first few critical weeks of their first term. These initiatives include: • Peer Mentoring – This scheme was piloted in 2014 and is designed to provide support to new students through the summer and into the first few weeks of term. Following evaluation of the pilot, the programme was is being made available across the institution in 2016Institution. • ‘Step in’ Summer Events – These days provide new students with an opportunity to engage with the institution before they start their induction. The programme includes events targeted at leaners with young families, team-building activities, and sessions focussed on enhancing academic study skills. Whilst it is open to all new students, the programme is of particular benefit to those from widening participation backgrounds. These events culminate with a ‘Welcome Festival’, Sunday’ which provides a fun and engaging programme of activities to welcome the new students to the University MMU at the start of induction week. • Enhanced Student Induction – Recognised as a key phase of building a sense of belonging in new students, a series of improvements have been made to our student induction programme. These include This includes the development of an ‘induction self-assessment tool’ used by programme leaders to identify local improvements to their students’ induction, the introduction of . MMU has also introduced a Part Time jobs fair, fair and an event showcasing language opportunities, study and placement options, international cultures and entertainment. • Residential Advisors (RAs) - RAs are second year, third year and postgraduate students who live in halls and support new students through though the transition from home into their accommodation and university University life. RAs provide student support and create a community within halls, through though a positive intervention programme, in conjunction with, and in support of, of wider health and wellbeing campaigns, to enhance the student residential experience of studentslife experience. Following a successful pilot, the roles are being extended across University university accommodation. • Academic Transition – This provides an opportunity for University staff to visit school and college sixth forms to understand the prior learning experience of new undergraduate students and ensure their programmes take prior experience into account from the design stage. Students from the colleges also have opportunities to visit lectures and preview learning in the University. ii. Through the University MMU Writing project, additional English language support is available to all students to support their academic writing, writing and targeted target students are encouraged to make use of this support. A complementary complimentary Numeracy project provides support through Numeracy Cafes and workshops that are delivered by suitably qualified undergraduates (‘data buddies’), who also give provide in class support. The data buddies gain This provides useful experience for the data buddy, and the students have also provides an opportunity for students to learn practical numeracy skills in a more comfortable environment. An evaluation will be carried out of the Writing Project and the Numeracy project, to identify their impact on student progression and degree classification and to inform the future growth and development of these areas of support at Manchester Met. iii. The University has created additional posts in each Faculty to augment student- student-facing support. These posts work alongside Student Support Officers and support the learner journey by providing easily accessible course-related advice and targeted interventions to improve retention and success. These roles are being evaluated for the impact they have on student success, and the outcomes of this evaluation will with inform the future development of these roles. iv. One Poor attendance is known to be a significant indicator of the key indicators a student being ‘at risk’ of likely student success is good student engagementfailing/dropping out. The Student Engagement Monitoring project aims to identify, as early as possible, those level 4 students who appear to be disengaging so that we can work with them to get put them back on track. The As part of this project provides a student attendance monitoring system has been developed and implemented, providing valuable data on attendance at timetabled classes, engagement with Moodle, coursework submissions and marks, in addition to regular contact with personal tutorsthose students not attending. The data provides early warning of non-engagement and enables This will enable early interventions to be put in place to support the most vulnerable students. As the project is rolled out across the institution, institution we expect to be able to improve student retention and progression. v. The University’s Strategy for Learning, Teaching and Assessment makes explicit the need to ensure the curriculum is inclusive and accessible to all. This notion of inclusive curriculum goes beyond previously used definitions that refer only or mainly to disabled students, aiming to more accurately to serve the diverse student base at Manchester MetMMU. The University’s Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching are now taking forward initiatives to embed and enhance provision across the institution. The MMU Inclusive Curriculum project was set up aims to ‘join-up’ and embed those dispersed pockets of support that already exist at MMU in order to improve the learning experience for all students, ; utilising the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Self-Evaluation Framework as a basis for reviewing MMU current practice. Guidance for academic staff draws together internal and external good practice for inclusive, accessible and differentiated approaches to teaching and learning.; vi. PAL (Peer Support Assisted learning) is seen as critical in supporting effective being rolled out across faculties, supported by expert training of students who become PALs, targeted at units where progression or attainment is lower. This expect this approach to have benefits for retention and progression for new students. We will build on progression, as well as developing the pockets employability skills of excellence in Peer Assisted Learning (those employed as PALs) through the new Transition and Peer Support Manager to establish Peer Support programmes across the University. vii. Manchester Met offers a range of events to provide additional support to disabled students, including pre-entry days where they can find out more about the support available. A Peer Mentor scheme provides new students with on- line support from current disabled students before they start their course, followed by face-to-face engagement once they enrol on their course. This has proved very popular with students, with many mentees choosing to become mentors in following years to support other students. We also provide CPD for staff in schools and colleges to increase their awareness of the support available in the University. In addition, we have developed a pre-entry ASD summer school for students who are due to start at Manchester Met. This summer school, piloted in 2016, has proved very popular with students and feedback demonstrates it eased their concerns about starting university. We will look to track the students as they progress to see if there is any noticeable difference in their retention compared to similar students who did not participate in the summer school. viii. During the period covered by this Agreement, we will seek to develop and refine our approach in the new context, in the following ways: • review the processes that which contribute to the student lifecycle and revise any which impact adversely upon the target groupsgroups adversely. We will draw on institutionalMMU, HEA and HEFCE data that highlights any differential performance of different student groups; • ensure that as part of our current reviews of course approval and monitoring processes, and of the further development of our “course health check” process, we make optimum use of scrutiny of their performance in relation to the target groups covered by this Agreement. ixviii. As we discover more about the reasons for non-continuation and the factors that influence this, it is important we are providing CPD to staff to assist them in supporting their students. We will therefore introduce additional staff development activity to support the retention of ‘at risk’ students as this need is identified. x. ix. We believe our strategy to be fit for purpose and will set a target to minimise differences in the retention rate of students in the target group compared to the retention of those who are not. Should particular issues emerge from our monitoring of the target groups, we will consider what specific additional support would be appropriate.

Retention and Progression. i. Numerous studies studies, as well as feedback from our staff, have shown that ‘a sense of belonging’ is important to ensuring student success. Students who have a network of friends who can provide support when they experience problems are likely to do better. Likewise, uncertainty about the course and what to expect can create a lasting anxiety, which will make it harder for students to succeed. The Pre-Entry, Enrolment and Student Induction Steering Group Project has implemented a range of new initiatives to help support our students from the time they receive their unconditional offer to attend Manchester Met, through the first few critical weeks of their first term. These initiatives include: • Peer Mentoring – This scheme was piloted in 2014 and is designed to provide support to new students through the summer and into the first few weeks of term. Following evaluation of the pilot, the programme was is being made available across the institution in 2016institution. • ‘Step in’ Summer Events – These days provide new students with an opportunity to engage with the institution before they start their induction. The programme includes events targeted at leaners with young families, team- building activities, and sessions focussed on enhancing academic study skills. Whilst it is open to all new students, the programme is of particular benefit to those from widening participation backgrounds. These events culminate with a ‘Welcome Festival’, which provides a fun and engaging programme of activities to welcome the new students to the University at the start of induction week. • Enhanced Student Induction – Recognised as a key phase of building a sense of belonging in new students, a series of improvements have been made to our student induction programme. These include This includes the development of an ‘induction self-assessment tool’ used by programme leaders to identify local improvements to their students’ induction, the introduction of . Manchester Met has also introduced a Part Time jobs fair, fair and an event showcasing language opportunities, study and placement options, international cultures and entertainment. • Residential Advisors (RAs) - RAs are second year, third year and postgraduate students who live in halls and support new students through though the transition from home into their accommodation and university University life. RAs provide student support and create a community within halls, through though a positive intervention programme, in conjunction with, and in support of, of wider health and wellbeing campaigns, to enhance the student residential experience of studentslife experience. Following a successful pilot, the roles are being extended across University university accommodation. • Academic Transition – This provides an opportunity for University university staff to visit school and college sixth forms to understand the prior learning experience of new undergraduate students and ensure their programmes take prior experience into account from the design stage. Students from the colleges also have opportunities to visit lectures and preview learning in the Universityat university. ii. Through the University Writing project, additional English language support is available to all students to support their academic writing, writing and targeted target students are encouraged to make use of this support. A complementary complimentary Numeracy project provides support through Numeracy Cafes and workshops that are delivered by suitably qualified undergraduates (‘data buddies’), who also give provide in class support. The data buddies gain This provides useful experience for the data buddy, and the students have provides an opportunity for students to learn practical numeracy skills in a more comfortable environment. An evaluation will be carried out of the Writing Project and the Numeracy project, to identify their impact on student progression and degree classification and to inform the future growth and development of these areas of the support at Manchester Met. iii. The University has created additional posts in each Faculty to augment student- facing support. These posts work alongside Student Support Officers and support the learner journey by providing easily accessible course-related advice and targeted interventions to improve retention and success. These roles are being evaluated for the impact they have on student success, and the outcomes of this evaluation will with inform the future development of these roles. iv. One of the key indicators of likely student success is good student engagement. The Student Engagement Monitoring project aims to identify, as early as possible, those level 4 students who appear to be disengaging so that we can work with them to get them back on track. The project provides valuable data on attendance at timetabled classes, engagement with Moodle, coursework submissions and marks, in addition to regular contact with personal tutors. The data provides early warning of non-engagement and enables early interventions to be put in place to support the most vulnerable students. As the project is rolled out across the institution, we expect to be able to improve student retention and progression. v. The University’s Strategy for Learning, Teaching and Assessment makes explicit the need to ensure the curriculum is inclusive and accessible to all. This notion of inclusive curriculum goes beyond previously used definitions that refer only or mainly to disabled students, aiming to more accurately to serve the diverse student base at Manchester Met. The University’s Inclusive Curriculum project was set up to ‘join-up’ and embed those dispersed pockets of support that already exist in order to improve the learning experience for all students, ; utilising the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Self-Evaluation Framework as a basis for reviewing current practice. Guidance for academic staff draws together internal and external good practice for inclusive, accessible and differentiated approaches to teaching and learning. vi. Peer Support is seen as critical in supporting effective retention and progression for new students. We will build on the pockets of excellence in Peer Assisted Learning (PALs) through a new post in the new Transition and Peer Support Manager Widening Participation team to establish develop Peer Support programmes across the University. vii. Manchester Met offers a range of events to provide additional support to disabled students, including pre-entry days where they can find out more about the support available. A Peer Mentor scheme provides new students with on- on-line support from current disabled students before they start their course, followed by face-to-to- face engagement once they enrol on their course. This has proved provide very popular with students, with many mentees choosing to become mentors in following years to support other students. We also provide CPD for staff in schools and colleges to increase their awareness of the support available in the University. In addition, we have developed a pre-entry ASD summer school for students who are due University and how to start at Manchester Met. This summer school, piloted in 2016, has proved very popular with students and feedback demonstrates it eased support their concerns about starting university. We will look progression to track the students as they progress to see if there is any noticeable difference in their retention compared to similar students who did not participate in the summer schoolus. viii. During the period covered by this Agreement, we will seek to develop and refine our approach in the following ways: • review the processes that contribute to the student lifecycle and revise any which impact adversely upon the target groupsgroups adversely. We will draw on institutionalInstitution, HEA and HEFCE data that highlights any differential performance of different student groups; • ensure that as part of our current reviews of course approval and monitoring processes, and of the further development of our “course health check” process, we make optimum use of scrutiny of their performance in relation to the target groups covered by this Agreement. ix. As we discover more about the reasons for non-continuation and the factors that influence this, it is important we are providing CPD to staff to assist them in supporting their students. We will therefore introduce additional staff development activity to support the retention of ‘at risk’ students as this need is identified. x. We believe our strategy to be fit for purpose and will set a target to minimise differences in the retention rate of students in the target group compared to the retention of those who are not. Should particular issues emerge from our monitoring of the target groups, we will consider what specific additional support would be appropriate.