University of Gloucestershire Student Wellbeing Strategy 2018-23

Introduction

At the University of Gloucestershire, we aim to provide our students with the support and positive encouragement they need to be successful in their studies. We work to empower them to become successful learners from the very beginning of their studies giving them confidence through to completion, and beyond.

With national statistics reporting that students are experiencing significantly lower levels of wellbeing than the national population, and with these results showing a worsening trend (HEPI, 2018), it is more important now than ever to create a framework for a whole University approach to recognising and addressing this issue.

The University’s Strategic Plan 2017-22 outlines our goals for the next five years as follows:

• Goal 1: To provide a breadth and richness of experience that enable all our students to reach their full potential
• Goal 2: To provide teaching and support for learning of the highest quality
• Goal 3: To undertake research and professional practice which enrich students’ learning and create impact and benefit for others
• Goal 4: To build partnerships which create opportunity, innovation and mutual benefit for the communities we serve

This Student Wellbeing Strategy supports the Strategic Plan, and notably links with Goal 1 through its ambition to support the lives of our students beyond their course or studies:

“…our commitment to students goes beyond the formal curriculum and the achievement of qualifications, essential though they are. We have a broader and richer purpose, to give all our students an experience of higher education which will best prepare them for whatever they want the rest of their lives to be. That includes equipping them with the skills and confidence to succeed in their chosen careers, achieve personal fulfilment, and contribute to their communities.”

(Strategic Plan 2017-22)

Wellbeing has been defined as: “a positive state of body and mind. It is the subjective state of being healthy, happy, contented, comfortable and satisfied with one’s quality of life. It includes physical, material, social, emotional (‘happiness’), and development and activity dimensions”
(Waddell & Burton, 2006, page 4).

This strategy describes our ambitions in relation to supporting the wellbeing of students and the steps we will take to achieve them.

Our Guiding Principles:

1. Promoting the wellbeing of our students is an essential element of a student’s learning experience at the University of Gloucestershire, both within and outside their academic programme
2. The support for our students’ wellbeing and welfare is a University-wide responsibility, shared by academic staff, professional services staff, the Students’ Union, other partner organisations and the students themselves
3. Academic and professional services staff will work in partnership, to make best use of expertise and resources to maximise the ethos of pastoral care across the University
4. Wellbeing and personal resilience can be promoted through a wide range of everyday social interactions within our community, through clubs and societies, in living accommodation, in social networks and peer groups, as well as through more formal settings and professional services
5. Ultimately, responsibility for maintaining wellbeing lies with each individual student and we will enable them to access opportunities for support and make well-informed decisions based on their individual circumstances and requirements
6. Our goal is to promote positive wellbeing for all students, both mental and physical, and thereby seek to minimise the number of students experiencing mental or physical ill health requiring professional or medical interventions
7. Promoting the wellbeing of our staff is an essential element of our People and Culture strategy; and we recognise the inter-dependence between the wellbeing of students and staff.

Our Approach to Promoting Student Wellbeing

The University has a strong history of supporting its students to be successful both in terms of academic achievement, as well as within their wider student life. There is a real sense of pastoral care alive within the institution, and this is manifested through:

1. Support being available through the Student Services Department, which is made up of professional colleagues offering information, advice and guidance across the following
services:

• Accommodation & Housing
• Chaplaincy & Faiths
• Counselling
• Course Administration
• Disability and Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Helpzones
• Medical
• Money Advice
• Study Skills
• Welfare Support

2. Guidance and support being offered to students through its Academic Schools, primarily through the Personal Tutoring system. Tutors offer advice and support in relation to:

• General academic skills advice
• Advocacy for mitigating circumstances
• Career direction, employability and further study
• General welfare support

3. Support being available through the Students’ Union, which includes:

• Advice & advocacy for students related to University procedures
• General welfare support
• Access to sports & societies
• Provision of entertainments and events
• Encouraging students to get involved, make friends and take part in social activities
• Volunteering opportunities

4. Access to support and facilities through a range of other departments within the University, including:

• Sports facilities and activities
• IT and Library support
• Work placement opportunities and careers advice
• Catering and bar spaces
• Faith Spaces and the Chapel

5. Support for staff members who provide a range of services that enhance student wellbeing, including:

• Bespoke training related to supporting students facing welfare difficulties
• An accessible occupational health advisory service
• Appropriate ‘clinical’ supervision for staff delivering therapeutic (or equivalent) interventions
• Informal advice and guidance from specialist staff to colleagues facing complex student presentations
• Training and advice to staff on issues relating to faith and religious literacy

The University has twice been classified in the Top 10 for ‘Student Support’ in the annual ‘What Uni Student Choice Awards’ (2015 and 2017).

This strategy outlines nine key themes providing a development framework of support for students. Within this framework, consideration is given for all stakeholders in promoting, supporting and maintaining student wellbeing.

The University’s commitment to addressing barriers to inclusion underpins all of the themes and includes, but is not limited to, issues around disability, age, gender identity, race, religious belief and sexual orientation.

Strategic Themes

This strategy is focused across 9 Strategic Themes, each of which will have a number of actions to be developed across the life of the strategy; the themes are listed below:

1. Personal Ownership of Wellbeing
2. Mental Wellbeing
3. Physical Health
4. Academic Wellbeing
5. Social Engagement
6. Personal Development
7. Campus & Halls Environment
8. Financial Wellbeing
9. Supporting Staff to Embed the Strategy

1. Personal Ownership of Wellbeing

Key aims are to encourage students to:

• Develop positive self-worth. Be comfortable with who you are
• Set goals and living more intentionally. Have a sense of direction
• Build skills in resilience. Increasing their own capacity to bounce back
• Proactively seek timely individual personal support at times of need. Reaching out when you need to

2. Mental Wellbeing

This can be defined as the extent to which every individual is, relatively speaking, happy and satisfied, can cope with the normal stresses of life, and is able to work productively and make positive contribution to University Life.

Key Aims:

• Establishing support structures for dealing with the stresses of University life, including starting university, financial worries, making the transition to independent living and study, relationship issues, academic expectations and employment
• Encouraging students with pre-existing mental health difficulties to register for support,to protect and enhance their mental wellbeing
• Ensure that systems are in place to offer advice and support to students encountering significant life events and day-to-day challenges
• Establish and maintain clear links with local services supporting those with mental health difficulties (e.g., Partner GP Practices; NHS 2Gether Trust)
• Advance awareness raising around issues related to mental health and the experiences of managing student life

3. Physical Health

This can be defined as the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively in work, study and
leisure activities.Key Aims:This can be defined as the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively in work, study and
leisure activities.

Key Aims:

• To enable students to have easy access to a broad range of physical and recreational activities, in order to enhance their level of physical fitness
• To create a greater awareness of the opportunities available to students in relation to physical and recreational activities
• To create a greater awareness and understanding of the benefits of physical fitness in relation to student health and wellbeing
• To identify and breakdown the barriers facing students in relation to participation in physical and/or recreational activity

4. Academic Wellbeing

The University’s Academic Strategy 2017-22 outlines its commitment to students being able to access excellent support, whilst engaging with the academic challenge and personalised learning. In combination this will provide an overall environment where students are both supported to produce their best work and challenged to achieve high standards.

Key aims:

• To enable students to be able to access appropriate support from key academic staff who understand their course and associated pressures
• To support students to have the opportunity to be academically successful wherever possible, even when facing challenges to their personal wellbeing, while always retaining robust and rigorous academic standards
• To ensure students can access their Personal Tutor to get appropriate support
• Establish and maintain clear strong links between academic staff and key advisers within Student Services and other support teams

5. Social engagement

This can be defined as students making social and emotional connections with fellow students and the local community.

Key Aims:

• Encourage students to enhance their wellbeing by interacting outside of their academic studies
• Foster a sense of belonging amongst students within their University communities (e.g., halls, subjects, campuses, etc)
• Provide students with the opportunity to meet, socialise and integrate with others
• Promote the building of student clubs and societies, to support social engagement

6. Personal Development

Wellbeing encompasses not only remaining well, but also flourishing and living life to the full.

The university can provide students with opportunities to grow and flourish in many ways, not just mentally and physically, but also emotionally, socially and spiritually. These include:

• establishing a sense of identity and purpose
• making lasting and positive relationships
• providing opportunities to evaluate, own and express beliefs and values – political, philosophical, religious, lifestyle choices etc
• exploring areas of creativity and self-expression

Providing these opportunities is a key part of promoting wellbeing, whether through teaching and learning, student societies, community ethos, provision of facilities or engagement with staff.Oct 2018

7. Campus and Halls Environment

The physical on-campus environment is recognised as important to the experience and wellbeing of students

Key Aims:

• To promote the development of a safe, accessible and welcoming University environment
• To influence the development of our campuses to engender a sense of community and belonging, allowing students to interact and develop healthy, enriching relationships and interests
• To support the creation of spaces and places on each campus, fit to serve a community of varied interests and needs. For example, designated quiet spaces, student social space, Faith Spaces, outdoor spaces that lend themselves to relaxation and calm as well as physical activity
• To build awareness of, and engagement with, environmental issues, encouraging individual responsibility in relation to sustainability and ‘natural capital’
• To enable innovative and varied student use of the University’s physical space to enable students to take part in a wide range of activities, which will add vibrancy to campus life.

8. Financial Wellbeing

This can be defined as encouraging and supporting students to become independent when it comes to managing their own financial affairs, with the skills to manage their budgets well.

Key Aims:

• To create a greater awareness and understanding of money matters amongst students
• To support students encountering financial difficulties
• To encourage students to develop their skills managing their personal finances
• To allocate hardship funds and other comparable bursaries/awards on an equitable and transparent basis to students in need.

9. Supporting Staff to Embed the Strategy

Key Aims:

• To ensure that all staff have access to training and advice about how they can better promote student wellbeing, and what support is available
• To ensure that consideration of student wellbeing is linked to the forming and agreement of departmental business plans, major project planning and staff responsibilities
• Seek to empower staff and students to make a positive difference for the wellbeing of the student community
• To ensure all staff are aware of protocols and processes relating to student wellbeing