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Due to the continuing impact of COVID-19, our events continue to be run online. The events and meetings have worked incredibly well, with increased participation demonstrating one of the benefits of the online environment in terms of accessibility. We have also been able to hold our network meetings and advisory group meetings more frequently due to the online nature, ensuring we're keeping up with the changing needs of both sectors and providing more regular support where needed. We have worked hard to make our events as interactive as possibe and ensure sufficent breaks and time away from screens throughout the events.
The agendas of all of our events and meetings have continued to be refocused to address the new priorities of the current circumstances.
See our schedule of 2021-22 network events below. Past events from 2020-21 are detailed further down.
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2021-22 SESN and NEON meetings!
With the continuing impact of the pandemic, our network meetings continued to take place more regularly, all from 10am until 1pm, by VC.
SESN dates:
- Tuesday 14th September 2021
- see the event page for further details and the materials from the meeting. - Thursday 4th November 2021
- see the event page for further details and the materials from the meeting. - Tuesday 7th December 2021
- see the event page for further details and the materials from the meeting. - Thursday 27th January 2022
- see the event page for further details and the materials from the meeting. - Thursday 24th February 2022
- see the event page for further details and the materials from the meeting. - Thursday 24th March 2022
- see the event page for further details and the materials from the meeting.
NEON dates:
- Thursday 30th September 2021
- see the event page for further details and materials from the meeting. - Thursday 11th November 2021
- see the event page for further details and materials from the meeting. - Thursday 9th December 2021
- see the event page for further details and materials from the meeting. - Thursday 3rd February 2022
- see the event page for further details and materials from the meeting. - Thursday 3rd March 2022
- see the event page for further details and materials from the meeting. - Thursday 7th April 2022
- see the event page for further details and materials from the meeting.
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Past events held during the COVID-19 crisis (most recent at top):
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Monday 9th & Tuesday 10th August 2021 - That's Quality! Colleges
Our annual induction day for college student officers, which included a focus on the ongoing impact of the pandemic as students begin to return to campus. Participants were required to complete a short, online training module prior to the event, which provided essential background information to enable successful participation in the training days. The training took place online via Zoom, from 9.30am until 2.30pm on both days.
- see the event page for further details and to view the materials from the days.
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Monday 12th & Tuesday 13th July 2021 - That's Quality! Universities
Our annual induction day for university student officers, which focused on the ongoing impact of the pandemic as students begin to return to campus. Participants were required to complete a short, online training module prior to the event, which provided essential background information to enable successful participation in the training days. The training took place online via Zoom, from 9.30am until 2.30pm on both days.
- see the event page for further details and to view the materials from the event.
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Tuesday 22nd June 2021 - sparqs' Student Engagement Awards ceremony
A short awards ceremony to celebrate the successes of the sector’s partnership working during this turbulent year, launch our report highlighting case studies from across our institutions and students’ associations, and of course announce the winners of our Student Engagement Awards for 2021. The ceremony took place online, from 5.00pm until 6.30pm. Thank you to everyone who joined us, and congratulations to all the winners and everyone who submitted a nomination!
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Tuesday 8th June 2021 - SESN network meeting
Our regular, online, Student Engagement Staff Network meeting of 2020-21, for staff in universities and colleges with student engagement roles and staff with responsibilities for student rep system.
- see the event page for more information and materials from the session.
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Thursday 20th May 2021 - NEON meeting
Our regular, online, national officer network meeting for both university and college officers with an education remit. The meetings are a space for officers to network and work on issues together in a cross-sector capacity. We welcomed both outgoing and incoming officers to this meeting, and the agenda was themed around ‘outduction’, handovers, etc. It took place online, from 10.00am until 1.00pm.
- see the event page to view the materials from the day.
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Thursday 13th May 2021 - SESN network meeting
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. It took place online, from 10.00am until 1.00pm.
- see the event page for more information and to view the materials from the meeting.
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Thursday 15th April 2021 - SESN network meeting
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. It took place online, from 10.00am until 1.00pm.
- see the event page for further information and to view the materials from the meeting.
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Thursday 18th March 2021 - NEON meeting
Our regular, online, national officer network meeting for both university and college officers with an education remit. The meetings are a space for officers to network and work on issues together in a cross-sector capacity.
- see the event page for more information and materials from the session.
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Tuesday 9th March 2021 - SESN network meeting
Our regular, online, Student Engagement Staff Network meeting of 2020-21, for staff in universities and colleges with student engagement roles and staff with responsibilities for student rep system. It will take place online from 10.00am until 1.00pm.
- see the event page to view the materials from the day.
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Tuesday 9th February 2021 - SESN meeting
Our second regular, online, Student Engagement Staff Network meeting of 2020-21, for staff in universities and colleges with student engagement roles and staff with responsibilities for student rep system. The event took place online, from 10.00am until 1.00pm.
- see the event page to view the materials from the meeting.
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27th January - 4th February 2021 - a series of national sparqs' events:
The impact of COVID on the Student Learning Experience
- A series of 5 national events designed to gather the views of 5 student cohorts from across Scotland on the impact of COVID on their Student Learning Experience.
The student cohorts we sought feedback from were:
- Postgraduate Research students.
- Students with parental/caring responsibilities.
- Apprentices and work-based learners.
- Medical and healthcare students.
- Students studying National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers at college (this cohort was cancelled due to lack of sign-ups).
See the SLE events sub-page for details on all of the events. Many thanks to all the students who contributed to the success of the events - your feedback has been invaluable and will inform our next steps.
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Thursday 21st January 2021 - NEON meeting
A meeting of our National Education Officers' Network (NEON) for college and university student officers with an education remit.
- see the event page to view the materials from the session.
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Tuesday 15th December 2020 - SESN informal catch-up
Our December informal, online, catch-up meeting of our Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) allowed network members from both colleges and universities to keep in touch and share practice and experiences during the COVID-19 crisis. There was also an opportunity for members to co-create the next meeting scheduled for February 2021.
- see the event page to view the presentation from the session.
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Tuesday 24th November 2020 - NEON meeting
Our National Education Officers' Network meeting for college and university student officers with an education remit.
- see the event page for more information and to view the materials from the day.
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Wednesday 18th November 2020 - SESN meeting
Our first regular, online, Student Engagement Staff Network meeting of 2020-21, for staff in universities and colleges with student engagement roles and staff with responsibilities for student rep system.
- see the event page for more information and to view the materials from the event.
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Wednesday 7th October 2020 - NEON event for both college and university officers
Our regular National Education Officers' Network event for both college and university student officers with an education remit.
- see the event page for further information and to view the materials from the event.
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Thursday 1st October 2020 - SESN informal catch-up
Thanks to all those who attended our second informal, online, catch-up meeting of our Student Engagement Staff Network. The catch-up allowed network members from both colleges and universities to keep in touch and share practice and experiences during the COVID-19 crisis.
- see the event page for further details and to view the presentation.
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Wednesday 16th September 2020 - Joint Advisory Group (JAG) meeting
Following the JAG meeting on 6th May, it was agreed that a further meeting of this (usually annual) meeting would be beneficial in the Autumn. JAG brings together our College Advisory Group (CAG) and our University Advisory Group (UAG) to explore joint work areas across the sectors. Once again, the September meeting was extremely valuable and we thank members for their continued support and involvement.
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25th-27th August 2020 - Residential Training Event for course rep student trainers
Our annual training event to equip trainers with the skills and knowledge necessary to fulfil their role delivering a range of Course Rep Training products. The online event was for the sparqs' team of Associate Trainers (ATs) as well as Institutional Associate Trainers (IATs) recruited to deliver in-house Course Rep Training by institutions in our IAT scheme.
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Thursday 20th August 2020 - NEON catch-up for university officers
While NEON meetings are usually for officers from both sectors, please note that this meeting was aimed at university officers only, as college officers had already attended our two-day That's Quality! Colleges event during August, and we were mindful of the significant time commitment involved in that. See above for the next NEON meeting for both sectors, in October.
- see the event page for more information and to view the materials from the catch-up on 20th August.
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13th & 14th August 2020 - That’s Quality! Colleges
Our annual 2-day quality induction event for college officers and those who support them. The event was designed to help new officers engage in quality processes at the college level. The online format involved short manageable blocks, spread across the two days. The event also included a short, online training module containing essential background information, which participants completed prior to the two-day event.
- see the event booking page for further information and the materials from the day.
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13th & 14th July 2020 - That’s Quality! Universities
Our annual 2-day quality induction event for university student officers and those who support them. The event helped to equip participants with the knowledge and ability to use the quality enhancement agenda to deliver change for their students’ learning and teaching experience. The online format nvolved short manageable blocks, spread across the two days, with plenty breaks bult in. The event included a short, online training module containing essential background information, which participants were required to complete in advance.
- see the event page for further information and to view the materials from the event.
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24th June 2020 - SESN informal catch-up
A shorter, informal catch-up meeting of our Staff Student Engagement Network, to allow network members to keep in touch and share practice and experiences during the COVID-19 crisis.
- see the event page for more information and view the presentation from the session.
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Thursday 7th May 2020 - National Education Officers Network (NEON) meeting
Our network event for student officers with an enducation remit, from both colleges and universities. Many thanks to all those who attended and participated online.
- see the event page for further information.
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Wednesday 6th May 2020 - Joint Advisory Group (JAG) meeting
JAG is a joint meeting of our College Advisory Group (CAG) and our University Advisory Group (UAG), which takes place annually to bring together both groups to explore joint work areas across the sectors. Many thanks to everyone who attended and contributed online! It was a very useful meeting, the outputs from which will be invaluable in informing our work over the coming weeks and months.
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Tuesday 5th May 2020 - Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) meeting
Our regular event for staff in universities and colleges with student engagement roles and staff with responsibilities for student rep system. Many thanks to all those who attended and participated.
- see the event page for further information and to view the materials from our first ever online event!
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Online meeting security
Our online meetings and events will be run using Zoom. You do not need an account to join the meeting and you don’t need to download the app. Simply copy and paste the link directly into your browser. The link is not available on social media or our website and is sent by email only to those who have registered for the event. To ensure only those who have registered join the meeting, we ask that you do not share the link with anyone. If you are not an authenticated Zoom user (i.e. you don’t have an account) you will be asked to input a password to join the meeting. When you join, you will go to a “waiting room”, a member of sparqs staff will then admit only those who have registered. If the identity of a person is not known, they will not be admitted, so please enter your name on Zoom as the name you registered to attend.
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Queries and further information
Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries about any of our events, either by contacting the staff member noted against an individual event, or by emailing us at admin@sparqs.ac.uk
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