JISC

The aim is to take a fresh look at the support available on-course and pre-exit for students on programmes who either come to college with issues which may create barriers to success, or who are remote from the college and may feel isolated at times when they need help and support most.

This project should address issues felt by students who need support through their course of study in a manner that is appropriate, effective and efficient. It is anticipated that most activity will be around processes and procedures rather than specific content creation.

The project will start by reviewing processes and procedures in place for student support through Learner Services and then look to see how well these fit with the needs of the learner. This may lead to revision, adjustment or wholesale change as found to be appropriate. The ideal outcome will be a clearly stated menu of support which will suit the business of the college and the delivery of appropriate support to students.

A particular aim is to look at the use of technology to develop a support structure which responds quickly to needs, responds appropriately to the learners’ situation and provides a cost effective service on the part of the college

Being based in an area which has traditionally had low uptake of Further and Higher Education, with many school leavers heading for negative destinations, students have had to overcome barriers on coming to college and rely on the support of staff to maintain their studies due to pastoral and educational issues.

We will focus on ways of developing communication with and addressing the learning and support needs of the young people. The desire of Scottish Government and local Council action plans is to ensure learners are supported into positive destinations. Specific Scottish Funding Council funds to support these learner groups have now been withdrawn but there is a desire that colleges should maintain engagement and serve the needs of the local communities.

Objectives

• Review the current position and the views of students on how they are supported.
• Examine the systems and processes involved in delivery of the support available to students.
• We will develop a plan for revision of the support package as required based on the outcome of the review phase and an examination of service design.
• Monitor and review the systems in place across the course of the coming academic session and adjust to meet the needs of learners and the experience of the pilot programme.
• We will review available options for technology to support communication with learners.
• We will communicate the activities of the project and the pilot programme to internal and external stakeholders across the period of the project.
• There will be production of a project review and dissemination of outcomes to meet the needs of the JISC project guidelines and other opportunities as they arise

Anticipated Outputs and Outcomes

• Review of where we are at and what is needed
• Knowledge of what works for students and how staff can help
• Technological resource – the tools that are appropriate for the job
• Policy and Practice development based on what we find out that suits learner needs
• Case study and information to help the college and other organisations