Student Experience Officer – College of Arts and Law – 44631 – Grade 6

Job title:

Student Experience Officer – College of Arts and Law – 44631 – Grade 6

Company

University of Birmingham

Job description

Job Description:Position DetailsCollege of Arts and LawLocation: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UKFull time starting salary is normally in the range £32,296 to £34,866 with potential progression once in post to £39,105Grade: 6Part Time (22.5 hours per week)PermanentClosing date: 11th November 2024Our offer to youPeople are at the heart of what we are and do.The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.Find out more about theBackgroundTo support the provision of an enriching and engaging student experience for all students within the school of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music that will add value to the students’ experience of the University of Birmingham and their programmes of study. Activities are diverse and include ones focussed on creating community, enhancing student voice and supporting academic enrichment and adjacent activities.Role SummaryThe University of Birmingham is recruiting a Student Experience Officer to work in the School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music based in the College of Arts and Law. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic professional services team designing and delivering a range of academic adjacent opportunities and support. The role combines, planning, direct delivery and evaluation of events and opportunities.The Student Experience Officer is a member of the College’s Professional Services Team and provides a range of online and in-person events and engagement opportunities to students to students within their School by programme/cohort and horizontal cohort relative to particular protected characteristics. The main responsibilities for the role will include:

• Devising and delivering a range of Student Experience Activities that meet the College’s strategic objectives to improve the UG and PGT student experience within your school
• Working with the Student Support Manager (Student Experience), School Head of Operations and Central Student Experience Projects Team, identify opportunities for enhancement by reviewing and evaluating activities in line with emerging trends and best practices within the sector.
• Working with a range of stakeholders to design, deliver and evaluate a programme of welcome, induction and re-induction activities; particularly ones that create a sense of school and college identity and community.
• Working in partnership with academic staff to support student attainment and progression.

The post-holder will ensure the College works effectively with feedback via student surveys (e.g. PTES and PRES) and Staff/Student Fora to ensure issues relating to the organisation and management of UG and PGT provision are responded to effectively. There may be occasional evening and weekend work for which appropriate compensation will be given.Main Duties

• Identify the requirements and desires of current students to inform a student experience offering. This is likely to be through feedback, surveys, focus groups, and conversations with students and relevant committees.
• Devise, promote and deliver an engaging annual programme of activities and events that meet the needs of students. This may include trips, residential, speakers, careers and networking events, or exam support sessions for example.
• Facilitate and promote staff-student committees to foster and develop an interactive community of students and staff that is inclusive and supportive.
• Support students to take ownership of their learning, for example through supporting with system access, promoting scholarship schemes or mentoring opportunities, or developing accessible information about module choices.
• Share communications and act as a key conduit to students, to ensure that everyone is well-informed and knows how they can participate in the school community.
• Contribute to the School or College plan, to ensure the student experience is a prime consideration underpinning the School or College’s approach.
• Support students and refer them to the appropriate support services as required, for example student welfare services.
• Promotes equality and values diversity acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

• Qualified to UK level 5 (e.g. Foundation degree, HND) or equivalent
• Relevant experience of working in Higher Education; it would be advantageous to have worked either in or alongside the areas of languages, cultures, art history or music
• Understanding of the institutional structures and ways of working in the College or School
• Experience of supporting students
• Strong understanding of the student experience, issues, and the student lifecycle
• Knowledge and experience of organising events and trips
• Knowledge and experience of communications, including via social media platforms
• Working knowledge of standard Microsoft Office software
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day to day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly.

DimensionsThis role does not directly manage others but will have some supervisory responsibility for Student Ambassadors who support event work.This role does not own a budget but will contribute to the monitoring of spend.Planning and OrganisingThe role is required to plan and organise an annual programme of events and activities for a specific student group within a school. The planning horizon is therefore typically monthly to a year. The nature of the role means that the role holder needs to be a self-starter and to use their initiative, with the ability to plan and manage their workload effectively.Problem Solving and decision makingThe role has a reasonable degree of freedom to shape the student experience programme, within the overall strategy and direction of travel for a school or programme, and within the School Action Plan (to which this role will have the opportunity to contribute). Some activities will be annual fixtures, some will arise from the School Action Plan, and others will emerge from the student or academic body. The role will need to be analytical and evaluative in interpreting requirements, and then be creative and use their initiative to constantly improve and come up with new activities and offerings.The Head of School can make decisions on whether or not activities go ahead. Role holders do not manage a budget, so if they can deliver an activity or initiative without any spending then they are able to do so. If they require any funds, they will need to seek approval and agree a budget.There are some areas that relate to the student experience that are out of scope of what this role can influence or decide, including teaching and areas of academic judgment, corporate services activities, and things impacting across the institution that are handled centrally, e.g. timetabling considerations.Internal and External relationshipsThis role is very much focused on collaboration and communication, and as such has a wide range of stakeholders with which they work:Academic relationships: the role needs to influence senior colleagues, identifying collaborators and those that can help influence more widely, as well as bring people with them and encourage the participation of academics in events and activities. The key stakeholders are:

• Head of Education
• Heads of Departments
• Head of School
• Other academics within the School or College

Professional Services: the role needs to co-ordinate with a range on professional services around a range of day-to-day activity (such as open days, web page and e-learning updates etc). The main teams that this role interacts and co-ordinates with are:

• Marketing
• Careers service
• Alumni service
• Web team
• Digital Education team
• Student Welfare Officer
• Programme Administrators

Students: students are a core stakeholder group, and the role will need to engage and communicate extensively with students. In their communications, they will need to be a friendly and approachable contact, as well as to encourage their participation in the programme of activities and collect their feedback and input. Key routes to this group are:

• Student Ambassadors
• Community Volunteers
• Student groups and fora

Informal enquiries to Adrian Powney, email:View our staff values and behavioursWe believe there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone .

Expected salary

£32296 – 34866 per year

Location

United Kingdom

Job date

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 06:59:10 GMT

To help us track our recruitment effort, please indicate in your email/cover letter where (un-jobs.net) you saw this job posting.