Transcript Student support and e-learning: parallel universes?

Student support and
e-learning: parallel
universes?
Donald Lush
Director of Student Support
WAES
Who am I?
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Senior manager in ACL
Fifteen years in student support
Worked in FE, sixth form colleges, adult
education
London convenor of NAMSS (National
Association of Managers of Student Services)
Why is what I do important?
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Budget of £1.7 million
Premises
Staff
Resources
Facilities
Training
Inspection
Why is what I do important?
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Willy Russell
“I wrote the play (Educating Rita) only a few
years after having had to really go through a
struggle to get back in to mainstream
education myself. I’d left school without doing
O-levels or A-levels or anything like that. And
when I tried to get back in, I just met a
stonewall of absolute resistance.”
Why is what I do important?
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Mina’s story
Why it’s important - values
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Equality
Access
Transformation
Excellence
Service
What is it like to be me?
The Robin Hood scenario.
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Sole practitioner
Unique viewpoint
Senior buy-in?
Peer support at college?
A “cost”
Lonely (sometimes)
Loved by the learners (ahem!)
Solutions
The merry men and women
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NAMSS - history and function
No external funding, no staff, no premises
Executive, regional groups, JISC mail list,
website, annual conference
http://www.namss.ac.uk
NAMSS - purpose
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NAMSS aims to provide members with a forum for
developing quality services that promote and
enhance the learning offered by colleges by:
* Providing information to members
* Developing and promoting quality standards of
student services' practice
* Representing the needs of students and student
support services
NAMSS - mission
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NAMSS aims to provide support and
professional development for managers of
services that support learners in post 16
education and training.
NAMSS - Strategy
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To develop and implement strategies for enhancing the
support NAMSS offers to its members to develop and
implement strategies to support regional activities
To develop and strengthen alliances with other
organisations
To review and develop the management of the
association's resources, processes and procedures
To develop strategies to enable NAMSS to influence
policy and practice on issues relevant to members
To develop strategies to market and publicise the
association's activities
NAMSS - why is it successful?
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Clear vision, mission and strategy
Meets real needs
Credibility/integrity
Self-help is an organising principle - ownership!
Achieves results
Mutual understanding and support
Excellent communication (some through ICT)
Valued and supported by members