Empowerment and Partnership in Student Engagement

With an opening address delivered by Simon Harris TD, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, this conference will feature a series of keynote speakers including:

• Dr. Lucy Mercer-Mapstone (Lecturer in Curriculum at University of Sydney)
• Ms. Sophia Abbot (PhD in Education at George Mason University, USA)
• Dr. Cathy Bovill (Senior Lecturer in Student Engagement in the University of Edinburgh),
• Ms. Hillary Gyebi-Ababio (Vice-President of Higher Education for the National Union of Students UK),
• Ms. Gohar Hovhannisyan (Vice-President of the European Students’ Union),
• Mr. Sjur Bergan (Head of the Council of Europe’s Education Department)
• Ms. Lorna Fitzpatrick, President of the Union of Students in Ireland

Please note: registration is a requirement for attendance.

Purpose

Empowerment and Partnership in Student Engagement will bring together several strands in the national endeavour to enhance student engagement.

Guided by three main themes – Provocative Partnerships, Impact and Embedding student partnerships in higher education – we will explore the interrelated concepts and priorities of student engagement.

From empowering students and staff to collaborate and to co-create impact in enhancement, to embedding partnership in quality assurance and enhancement processes, this event will be a day of active engagement with, and considered reflection on the effectiveness of our endeavours.

Against a background of pandemic restrictions impacting on traditional programme delivery and the student experience, the conference organisers believe a focus on the topic of student empowerment and partnership has never been more timely.

Who should attend?

We have aimed this conference at policy-makers, managers and academic management, front-line educators, support staff and quality assurance teams from across the higher education, further education and training, and students and student representatives in the HE sector, all of whom who wish to better understand the importance of student engagement.

As a result, a spectrum of attendees from across the Irish post-secondary education system – public universities, technological universities, institutes of technology, education & training boards, students’ unions, professional regulatory bodies, sectoral representative bodies, and private higher education providers, are invited to attend.

Event schedule

11.00-11.15: Welcome

Opening address delivered by the Minister Simon Harris, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

11.20-12.15: Provocative Partnerships

Keynote presentations by Dr. Lucy Mercer-Mapstone and Ms Dr. Sophia Abbot (authors of The Power of Partnership: Students, Staff, and Faculty) and Dr. Cathy Bovill (Senior Lecturer in Student Engagement in the University of Edinburgh) will be followed by commentary and questions, led by the co-Chairs, Mr. Kevin McStravock (USI Vice President for Academic Affairs) with the remaining chair to be confirmed

12.15-13:00: Impact

A short introduction of a StudentSurvey.ie paper on impact will be followed by a keynote presentation by Ms. Hillary Gyebi-Ababio (Vice-President of Higher Education for the National Union of Students in the UK). The session will also feature contributions from StudentSurvey.ie participating institutions who have made progress on their goals to achieve impact on foot of StudentSurvey.ie results.

12.55-13.15: Launch – StudentSurvey.ie National Report 2020

National Report to be launched by Dr. Siobhán Nic Fhlannchadha (StudentSurvey.ie Project Manager) and Mr. Kevin McStravock (USI Vice President for Academic Affairs) with contributions from students and staff in participating institutions.

13.15-13.45: Virtual lunch break

Breakout rooms and a topic per breakout room. Topics for informal discussion over lunch or coffee:

• Postgraduate Student Engagement

• Inclusivity in Student Engagement

• Partnerships to enhance the Student Learning Experience

13.45 – 14.30: Break for all

14.30-15.15: Embedding student partnerships in higher education

Keynote speakers Ms. Gohar Hovhannisyan (Vice-President of the European Students’ Union) and Mr. Sjur Bergan (Head of the Council of Europe’s Education Department) deliver presentations and participate in a panel discussion with the Co-Chairs.

15.15 – 15.30: Closing Remarks

Closing address by Ms. Lorna Fitzpatrick, President of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI).