Background

The AUA’s Student Experience and Engagement network was launched in April 2019 to bring together staff within this field of university administration. We want to create a hub of activity for all of those working within the areas of student experience and/or student engagement. We also want to help those working in other areas of university administration to understand more about this area of work. 

We’re delighted that over 200 people have already joined the Network and we’re keen to ensure that this keeps growing to encompass every region – and eventually every institution – in the UK.

The Network is run by its Coordinator David Gilani, Head of Student Engagement and Advocacy at Middlesex University London, alongside Deputy Coordinators Siobhan Dumphy, Education and Student Experience Manager within the Division of Natural Sciences at the University of Kent, and Chris Whitehead, Student Engagement and Communications Officer at the University of Surrey.

We see this network as having four main aims: 

• Giving you a space to SHARE best practice, methods of working, and approaches to enhancing the student experience
• Creating opportunities for you to LEARN about this relatively new and exciting area of work within higher education
• Facilitating COLLABORATION between different institutions on innovative projects to improve the student experience
• Helping you to CONTRIBUTE to wider debates around the sector through online discussions, conferences and other events

How can you get involved right now? 

If you haven’t already, you can join the network by logging in to your My AUA page and adding yourself to the network.

Being part of the network, you will:

• Receive a quarterly newsletter, including helpful updates on the network, how you can get further involved and other opportunities/events around the sector
• Have the opportunity to take part in catch-ups and video conferences with other network members
• Be able to join our brand-new Microsoft Teams group to discuss ideas and thoughts more regularly – COMING SOON!
• Be able to join our Jiscmail list dedicated to all things Student Experience and Engagement – an easy way to email others around the sector who are working within this field

Even if you don’t work in the fields of student experience or engagement yourself, you’re welcome to join if you’d like to learn more about this exciting area of work. You can also really help us out by sharing the details of the network with anyone else who works at your institution in this field.

We also welcome ideas and discussion points from all network members! If you would like to propose a new topic or initiative that you think other members would find useful then please get in touch with one of the coordinators.

We also welcome ideas and discussion points from all network members! If you would like to propose a new topic or initiative that you think other members would find useful then please get in touch with one of the coordinators.

How to contact us

You can email us at:

David Gilani: D.Gilani@mdx.ac.uk

Chris Whitehead: C.Whitehead@surrey.ac.uk

Siobhan Dumphy: S.Dumphy@kent.ac.uk