Student Experience & Engagement Officer

It is important that students have a positive and distinct experience at each step of their University career.This post holder is therefore responsible for enhancing student engagement, driving continuous improvement in the student experience, and ensuring that students are appropriately supported throughout their journey to graduation and beyond.

Whilst some of these improvements to the student experience and engagement will be informed by student feedback, the post holder will adopt a proactive approach, engaging with students and staff on a day-to-day basis and also looking at best practice across the University and the wider-sector to continuously review, evaluate and enhance services, support and teaching and learning.

Working with academic and professional services colleagues across the University, the post holder will: develop and coordinate the delivery of an annual programme of activity to support students; manage student feedback mechanisms in order to identify opportunities to enhance student experience; and, deliver a range of dynamic communications to all students. They will also provide the first point of contact for a broad range of issues associated with student transition, mobility, progression and retention.

Although focusing on current students, the post holder will also provide a critical role working with colleagues in Student Recruitment and Admissions, Careers, and Alumni Relations to join up activity across the complete student journey.

Main Duties:

• Working with academic leads and appropriate professional services staff, develop and coordinate the delivery of an annual programme of student engagement activities (for example,student recruitment, Welcome and induction/re-induction, Wellbeing Week, through to graduation events and alumni engagement) which support and enhance the student journey; acting as the first point of contact for staff, student societies and groups and supporting the development of student led activities (for example networking events).
• Ensure the effective operation of a range of student feedback mechanism e.g. student surveys, module/programme review, staff student liaison committees, student reps etc., providing professional services support for the development and coordination of the delivery of action plans in response to the student feedback received to ensure the continuous enhancement of the student experience.
• Develop and deliver a range of dynamic communications to all students, prospective students and staff around student engagement and enhancement activities, continuously reviewing and improving the effectiveness of these communications.
• Working with the appropriate professional services and academic leads, contribute to the development and delivery of the student engagement strategy and related policies, processes, operational plans and budget; ensuring that appropriate KPIs and targets are included and that mechanisms are in places for monitoring and reporting on their delivery, sharing and learning from best practice, and that these are periodically reviewed to remain up-to-date and relevant.
• Work with colleagues to deliver College wide projects and support the work of other Student Experience and Engagement Officers as requested.
• Working with colleagues across the institution, assist in the planning, promotion and delivery of a range of personal skills development activity, supporting mentoring, employability, student mobility (international and industrial, and generic skills development etc.
• Prepare as required regarding key themes related to student engagement making recommendations as appropriate.

Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications and Experience Required:

Person Specification:

Essential:

• Educated to Degree level or equivalent relevant experience in a similar role.
• Considerable experience of supporting students in higher education (either in a voluntary or paid capacity)
• An understanding of undergraduate, postgraduate and Distance Learning education and the student lifecycle and specifically, issues affecting higher education (nationally and internationally) and the importance of the student experience and the importance of student feedback systems.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills and a proven ability to work with a range of stakeholders including students, academics and senior managers, across the institution and a high degree of personal accountability with the ability to influence, motivate and win support.
• Proactive, highly motivated and well organised, with the ability to work on own initiative and prioritise workloads in order to set up and coordinate new activity or initiatives with a flexible, creative and proactive approach to problem solving
• Willing to do things differently and has the experience of delivering projects and initiatives with measurable outcomes and deliverables
• Ability to analyse data and to use the outcomes to inform action planning
• Effective team working skills
• A track record of delivering an excellent customer experience
• Excellent IT skills and an aptitude for learning new packages to support analysis, presentation and communication of information (including VLEs, social media and other digital communications)
• Willingness to work flexibly, occasionallyoften outside of normal working hours
• Commitment to continuing professional development and training

Desirable:

• Experience in developing web-based and social media materials
• Prior experience of supporting the successful implementation of student survey and feedback action plans
• Prior experience of supporting a diverse blend of academic programmes
• An understanding of relevant external accreditation organisations