In case you missed them, a quick recap of some recent additions to our COVID-19 information hub (which aren't already the main feature of another article)....
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Sector briefing
New sparqs' events - save the dates!
- SESN informal catch-up - Thursday 1st October
Our second informal, online, catch-up meeting of our Student Engagement Staff Network, to allow network members from both colleges and universities to keep in touch and share practice and experiences during the COVID-19 crisis. Booking information will open nearer the time - the session will take place from 3.00pm until 4.30pm. - SESN meeting - Wednesday 18th November
Our regular, online, Student Engagement Staff Network meeting, for staff in universities and colleges with student engagement roles and staff with responsibilities for student rep system. The event will open for booking nearer the time - it will take up the majority of the day, spaced out with long breaks in between sessions.
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sparqs' comms
At this time of year we usually post out welcome packs, including some key sparqs' resources, to new and returning student officers with an education remit. This year, we have instead sent welcome emails, highlighting sparqs' support, relevant resources and forthcoming events, which have been refocused in the light of the COVID-19 crisis. Please don't hesitate to contact us if your Vice President Education or President hasn't received this email.
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Resources
See below for a few resources recently added to the hub, but please see our sector resources page for the full list.
- COVID-19 Information hub - Student Minds
Useful guidance and resources for students and staff around student mental health and wellbeing. - NADP (National Association of Disability Practitioners) COVID-19 Resource Hub
News, guidance and advice on information impacting staff and disabled students, including a useful guide to ensuring your webinars are accessible. - COVID-19 EDI Resources - Advance HE
A wide range of EDI guidance and resources to support HE institutions and staff through the COVID-19 pandemic. - Engaging students in online distance learning - sparqs
A guide for institutions and students’ associations on engaging online distance learning (ODL) students in shaping the quality of their learning experience. While not a newly-published resource, it may now be of more interest to the wider sector in the light of the COVID-19 crisis. - Tool for developing a forum for students on online courses - sparqs
- a tool developed by sparqs when undertaking consultancy work with Hibernia College in Ireland, as featured in a case study in the above-noted ODL guidance. Again, not a newly-published resource but worth highlighting in the light of the current situation.
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We welcome any other tools you have developed on engaging students in the current changes in learning and teaching. If you have anything you feel it would be useful to share here, please contact us at admin@sparqs.ac.uk.
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Keep up to date with new items added to our hub
For ease of access, our hub now features a regularly-updated page collating the most recently-added items to the hub, whether events, sparqs' comms, sector briefings or resources. So please visit that page whenever you want to do a quick check for anything new.
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As noted above, this article is a simple recap of items not featured in other articles within this batch, so if you haven't already read them, please do check out all those other articles, which feature..... an update on our online Course Rep Training plans for 2020-21, a briefing note to help institutions prepare their course rep system and recruit their reps, a reminder of all our forthcoming events, including newly advertised dates, and the return of our Talking Student Engagement interviews!
