It’s now less than two weeks until the deadline for nominations for sparqs’ Student Engagement Awards, held to celebrate our twentieth birthday as an agency. It's not too late to make a submission.... by 10.00am on Friday 30th June!
So, in this special news article, we’re sharing nine top tips on how to work with staff and student colleagues on submissions of your outstanding student engagement activity.
- Tell your course reps! Get messages out to your course rep mailing lists and communications channels. We have an Outstanding Academic Rep award that course reps may wish to nominate themselves or each other for, and course reps will be well-placed to nominate the fabulous staff they work with for the Outstanding Staff Member award.
- Tell your students! Do they have a fabulous course rep or know a staff member who is brilliant at student engagement? Put something on your all-student communication!
- Tell your staff! Teaching and support staff will know of great student reps they’re working with who they could nominate for the Outstanding Academic Rep award, or might nominate each other (or themselves!) in the Outstanding Staff Member category.
- Tell your heads of department! Staff who lead academic and support areas know of good colleagues and student reps they could nominate, they will also be aware of the different projects and initiatives in their area which might suit the project-based categories. What great things have they and their colleagues been doing?
- Co-ordinate! Meet with key colleagues in quality, the SA and student engagement to develop a shared approach to communicating the awards and supporting submissions. Remember, there is no limit to the number of submissions anyone or any institution/SA can make, either within or across the categories, but equally you may want to ensure there is no duplication of similar entries and plan together how each submission might best adhere to the criteria.
- Build on your successes! Where else have you been sharing good practice in student engagement? Has your institution presented student engagement case studies at major conferences recently such as the College Expo or Enhancement Themes conference, or have your internal awards, such as for teaching staff or student reps, highlighted any particular successes? If so, consider entering them to our awards!
- Use your experts! Three of our categories are for sustainability in the learning experience, diverse voices, and digital partnership. Who are your leads and specialists in these areas, and what great practice could they share in an award?
- Think big… or little! There’s no limit to the scale of project you could submit. A worthy entry could equally be the development of a major new student engagement strategy, or a limited activity that had a deep impact on outcomes for a small area.
- Speak to sparqs! If you are unsure about your ideas or approaches for the awards, or have further questions, please get in touch with your sparqs' contact.
Good luck, and our judges look forward to reading your submissions!
