2024 Online Events
Developing new Access & Participation Plans (APPs) in English HEIs: data and evaluation
(March 2024)
Developing new Access and Participation Plans in English HEIs: data and evaluation
Dan West and Jo Astley, University of Derby
AoP Construction & Target Setting at University of Southampton
Dr. Christian Hoggard, University of Southampton
Wolverhampton APP data analysis and evaluation
Phil Gravestock, Colin Gibson, Matt Horton, Ruby Hart, University of Wolverhampton
APP Risk Assessment and Evaluation - Derby’s approach
Dan West and Jo Astley, University of Derby
This session focused on the new approach being taken by the English Higher Education Regulator, the Office for Students (Ofs) on regulating equality of opportunity and what that means for HEIs in England submitting new Access and Participation Plans (APPs) in 2024.
Presenters included colleagues from institutions that submitted and gained approval for their new APPs in Wave 1, and of course there was a focus on how IR, data analysis and evaluation can support the development and enhancement of the new Plans.
PRESENTERS
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University of Wolverhampton – Professor Phil Gravestock (Dean of Students and Education), Dr Matt Horton (Evaluation Manager), Colin Gibson (Senior Planning Officer), and Ruby Hart
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University of Derby – Dan West (Research and Policy Lead APP) and Jo Astley (Widening Access Manager)
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University of Southampton – Dr Christian Hoggard, Senior Data Insight Analyst
Measuring Educational Gains in TEF 2023: how students succeed throughout their journey.
(June 2024)
Presentations were conducted by two experts, Professor Dilly Fung and Professor Kristyan Spelman Miller, followed by a Q&A chaired by Phil Gravestock.
Professor Dilly Fung
Prof Dilly Fung is an Emerita Professor in Practice at LSE (London School of Economics and Political Science) and a higher education consultant. She recently retired from her role of Pro-Director (Vice President) for Education at LSE, where she was the strategic leader responsible for student education and students’ experiences. She was previously Professor of Higher Education Development at UCL (University College London), where she published her open access book A Connected Curriculum for Higher Education, which draws on philosophies of education to explore the unity of research and teaching in curriculum design. Her wider work focuses on the circle of scholarship that connects research, learning, engagement and leadership. Dilly has been a TEF assessor throughout TEF’s evolution, sitting on both the main panel and referral panel for TEF 2024. She drew on these experiences to write two independent reports for the OfS, one on educational gains and one on institutional strategic improvements.
Professor Kristyan Spelman Miller
Kristyan has been Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education at Keele University since July 2021, leading the institution’s strategic approach to education and the student experience. She has many years of experience as an educator and education leader, having held senior positions at the Universities of Liverpool, Reading and Winchester prior to joining Keele.
She leads on transforming the educational experience through inspiring curriculum design, teaching and assessment practice, and excellent learning environment. Institutional initiatives she has led over the years focus on students’ academic skills development, transition into and through learning, student engagement in research, and innovative interdisciplinary experiences. She was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2011 and is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE). In 2022-23 she served with the Office for Students (OfS) as a Teaching Excellence Framework panel member.
Kristyan is an active member of a number of professional networks nationally and internationally. Her disciplinary background is language and linguistics, having taken a first degree in French, a Masters and PhD in Applied Linguistics, and having taught English as a Foreign Language for a number of years in France, Japan and Malaysia, before returning to the UK university sector to specialise in the academic study of language learning and teaching. She is a strong advocate for the importance of students gaining international perspectives and learning opportunities outside the classroom.
Leveraging AI at the University of Westminster to drive data-driven decision making
(December 2024)
This presentation explored the university of Westminster’s implementation of AI software for qualitative analysis, and its implications for institutional research. Kirsty and Matthew outlined the use of Explorance’s MLY during the analysis of major internal and external surveys, as well as institutional research project. The presentation included a case study of a research project and how AI enhanced findings to inform programme change management to improve the student experience.
