Presentation
Good wellbeing and coping skills are essential for student retention and engagement, to ensure a successful graduate outcome, and, not least, for students to enjoy the university experience.
What are these skills and how can universities help students to identify and improve them at scale?
Targetconnect and Bath Spa University are collaborating on a self-service Wellbeing Assessment Framework. The framework is not diagnostic, but a “coaching and discovery” tool that students can return to at any time. It helps them understand areas of wellbeing, identify their strengths and weaknesses and provides them with pathways and activities to explore and improve their skills.
Join this session to gain an insight into how Bath Spa University and targetconnect designed and developed the framework and its benefits for students and universities.
Joel has over 20 years of experience in higher education, with the past decade dedicated to student support and wellbeing. Currently he is Deputy Head of Student Wellbeing Services at Bath Spa University, and leads disability and wellbeing teams focused on removing barriers to academic success and enhancing the student experience.
Joel is a committed advocate for inclusivity, with a particular focus on ensuring equitable access to learning for disabled students. He has led strategic initiatives to embed inclusive teaching practices across the university, working closely with academic and senior colleagues to align approaches with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles.
Passionate about widening participation, Joel plays an active role in efforts to improve access to higher education for underrepresented groups. As a key contributor to initiatives such as the university’s Access and Participation Plan, he is dedicated to supporting all students to thrive and reach their full academic potential, regardless of background.
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https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/students/student-wellbeing-services/
James is Key Account Manager and Student Services Lead for targetconnect and works extensively with services such as counselling and mental health, disability, study skills and funding. James has been working with targetconnect for over ten years and has 25 years’ experience in platforms and EdTech.
As the Student Services Lead, James is the voice for Student Support Services to ensure that targetconnect continues to develop features and tools to help university teams support their students.
James is also a parent of a young person at a UK university who is receiving support from their institution’s Disability and Wellbeing Services, so also sees the sector’s challenges, and the impact of student support, from this perspective. James is enormously grateful for how Student Services support students at such a pivotal time of life, and is proud to be a small contributor to this process.
James is keen to work more with the targetconnect community and gain new insights into the sector. You can message James or visit targetconnect at their stand in the exhibition area to share ideas and best practice about targetconnect and supporting students.