Our pilot project sought to proactively reach out to students and support them to re-engage with their learning in a holistic and intentional way, during those challenging periods of remote learning.
Following consultation with our colleagues in academic departments, we commenced a personalised reach-out to students who were recommended by their academic departments for support.
We successfully engaged with over 600 students by telephone to provide guidance, information, support, and reassurance, tailoring our response to individual student needs.
Referrals were made to several academic supports for approximately 20% of students we spoke with And a third of the students contacted were referred to Student Services for personal supports.
Student feedback on the pilot was positive. Students welcomed the process of the University proactively engaging by way of a ‘check-in’. This pilot also facilitated discussion between academic departments and support units on how best to identify and offer support to disengaged students.
Overall, the findings from the pilot demonstrated that providing needs led, proactive student support, at key junctures during the Academic year has the potential to positively alter a student’s journey towards success while at University.
This pilot outreach has now been mainstreamed as part of the introduction of the university Student Helpdesk.
For more information about the Student Engagement project, please contact Emma McDermott (Project Lead).
The Student Success Strategy work package developed a strategy and proposed opportunities for development framework focused on embedding a shared vision and culture of student success across the student journey at Maynooth.
This began with a scoping exercise to identify what we do well and to identify areas for enhancement. We also held a series of consultations and workshops with staff and students on key themes, as well as focused polls and surveys to help us develop our vision for Student Success here at Maynooth.
Our vision, supported by 6 guiding principles, is “to develop and embed a university-wide, integrated, and holistic approach to student success so that each student is empowered to recognise and fulfil their potential academically, personally, and professionally.”
Our strategy outlines key areas where we can embed a coherent, consistent, and effective system of supports and responses that meets the needs of our students as they navigate the different aspects of the student journey.
Our proposed opportunities for development framework provides guidance to enable our student success practices, responses, and infrastructure to adapt and evolve to the changing needs of our students.
The key outputs including strategy and proposed action plan will be provided for consideration and integration within the current MU strategic planning process.
For more information about the Student Success project, please contact Eddie Corr Student Success Project Officer/ Kirstin Barnett (MU Interim Head of Student Skills & Success).
The Data for Student Success project is focused on identifying and analysing student data gathered from various sources within the University to identify accurate and reliable information that can be used to facilitate decision-making related to student success and engagement, through a process traditionally known as Learning Analytics.
Following consultation across the University community, we discovered an enthusiasm from both students and staff in using data positively to impact student success. We also confirmed how important it is to our stakeholders that student data be used in an ethical and transparent manner.
The Data for Student Success project focused on identifying and analysing student data gathered from various sources within the University to identify accurate and reliable information that can be used to facilitate decision-making related to student success and engagement, through a process traditionally known as Learning Analytics.
Following consultation across the University community, we discovered an enthusiasm from both students and staff in using data positively to impact student success. We also confirmed how important it is to our stakeholders that student data be used in an ethical and transparent manner.
Our scoping exercise identified the types of student data currently being collected across the University. We built on this by partnering with Student Services and the Maynooth Access Programme to build data dashboards to enhance institutional decision-making regarding student success processes, structures and supports.
This process also established that our understanding of student success includes areas such as extra-curricular activity, skills development, employability, and career success. This was ultimately reflected in us adopting the term ‘student success analytics’ in place of learning analytics to refer to the analysis of student data.
The project also developed a set of Guiding Principles which will provide a foundation upon which we can ensure ethical, effective practice that is in-line with the University’s values and ethos as well as the needs of our students and staff.
Finally, the project made a set of recommendations concerning the strategic value of student data analytics, and the importance of a phased introduction, development, and adoption of this analytical approach across the University.
For more information about the Data for Student Success project, please contact Laura McElwain (MU Institutional Research Officer).
