A few reminders from our January articles and our New Year round-up, in case you missed them....
Launch of our new STEP guidance
In January we were pleased to publish our new Practical Guide to Scotland’s Tertiary Enhancement Programme (STEP), which provides context and overview to the STEP programme of activity and makes practical suggestions of what SAs and officers need to do at each stage. See our separate article on the new STEP guide for more information. It is also encouraged that institutional staff involved in reviews read through all of our guides and consider how they will contribute to student partnership in the process.
Our next SESN and NEON meetings
See below for the dates for our next network meetings, for which we are trialling a new process. Members were previously required to register for each individual meeting; Instead, calendar appointments will now be sent to all those signed up to our Jiscmail list for each network and members will be asked to accept/decline to confirm whether they plan to attend each meeting. This will hopefully streamline the process for online SESN and NEON meetings (in-person meetings will still require registration for practical purposes, e.g. for the annual, joint meeting in May).
SESN
Our Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) remains a key opportunity for updating staff on national sector developments and allowing them to contribute appropriately. There have been two meetings so far this academic year and the next meeting is taking place in February…
- Thursday 12th February 2026 – online, 10.00am-12noon
See our separate SESN news article for more details on the February meeting and the new process noted above, which no longer requires registration. If you are not already signed up to the SESN Jiscmail – please sign up to ensure you receive future appointments and other relevant comms.
NEON
Our National Education Officers' Network (NEON) meetings continue to build on our That’s Quality! training by strengthening student officers’ understanding on the Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF) and by preparing them to engage with the process. We have had two meetings so far this academic year and the next meeting is taking place in early March....
- Thursday 5th March 2026 – online, 10.30am-12.15pm
See our separate NEON news article for more details on the March meeting and the new process noted above, which no longer requires registration. If you are not already signed up to the NEON Jiscmail – please sign up to ensure you receive future appointments and other relevant comms.
Buddy Scheme - closing date 13th February!
At the beginning of the academic year we again invited applications for our Buddy Scheme, aimed at pairing practitioners in student engagement across institutions and students’ associations. The scheme gives participants the opportunity to discuss and have a sounding board external to their own institution. sparqs matches the buddies into pairs based on their responses and provides guidance with some suggestions on how to structure the meetings. In the Autumn intake we paired up 4 sets of buddies and we are pleased to re-open applications for a new intake of the scheme, for anyone who missed it. The closing date for applications is Friday 13th February 2026 – see our separate Buddy Scheme news article for more information and how to apply.
...and if you missed our New-Year round-up article itself, read it for a summary of activity so far this academic year and a look ahead to what's coming up, including exciting new resources and events!