Change Agents’ Network Conference 2023
The University of Hertfordshire and Jisc are proud to announce the next Change Agents’ Network conference which will be on 17th and 18th May 2023 “Reimagining student/staff partnerships to generate new learning opportunities”.
The University of Hertfordshire, supported by Jisc, is proud to announce the next Change Agents’ Network conference which will be on 17th and 18th May 2023, “Reimagining student/staff partnerships to generate new learning opportunities”.
17th May will be an online access conference day, and 18th May an in-person event at the University’s Fielder Centre conferencing facilities. This is the 10th anniversary of the Change Agents’ Network Conference.
The conference aims to deliver an exciting blend of both online and in-person activity, offering a variety of ways for us all to connect, discuss, share, develop and shape our student-staff partnership work. Whether you are new to student-staff partnerships, looking at how to sustain partnership practice or are well-established in the sector, there will be sessions to help you think through and develop your practice and connect with others at a similar stage to you.
Keynote speakers
Tamara Reid
Kingston University
Tamara Reid is Inclusive Curriculum Consultant Programme Lead at Kingston University, where she supports the development of an inclusive curriculum through student-staff partnership. She has worked previously at both the University of Hertfordshire and the University of Bath in supporting student success, student engagement and curriculum development with a strong focus on inclusion. The Inclusive Curriculum Consultant Programme allows students to be involved in the development of curricula, share their voices and perspectives, working in partnership with staff. Tamara recognises partnership as empowerment and will share her reflections from the programme.
Liam Earney
Joint Information Systems Committee (Jisc)
Liam is managing director of higher education and research at Jisc and leads HE member engagement through and with Jisc’s account management team. Alongside his role as managing director, he is responsible for Jisc’s digital content and software negotiations, its provision of discovery services and its work in open research. He has a particular interest in the development of partnerships and collaborations at Jisc to improve access to knowledge and information to support education and research.
Helen Barefoot
Helen Barefoot University of Hertfordshire
Helen is Interim Director of Learning and Teaching and has responsibility for leading professional development activity for academic staff. She is a very strong advocate of inclusive practice and has introduced and lead University wide work on addressing awarding gaps, including student partnership work with our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Student Advocates. She worked extensively on technology enhanced learning, and assessment and feedback projects, and is connecting that work with that of inclusive practice.
Tom Lowe
University of Portsmouth
Tom Lowe is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education, where his research includes student engagement in development of education, embedding employability into the curriculum and belonging. Prior to this Tom was the Head of Student Engagement and Employability at Winchester, where he led the University’s student development, internationalisation and extra-curricular opportunities, staffing and strategies relating to fostering student success. Tom is experienced in the practicalities surrounding student engagement in quality assurance, learning and teaching, University governance and Students' Unions, as well as student involvement in extra-curricular activities and overcoming barriers to student success through inclusive practice.
What to expect
Students and staff will share their work on partnership in the spaces around:
- wellbeing and a sense of community
- making digital learning more inclusive in times of cost of living concerns
- investing in staff and students’ digital capabilities
- making active engagement in partnership work
There will also be those who have a great story to tell about staff student partnership work.
There will be a range of formats delivered both live and online, or pre-recorded, or in-person. Some of the formats are listed below:
- 5-minute lightning talks
- Engaging asynchronous content in the form of micro-videos (less than 5mins), narrated poster presentations and short case studies.
- Longer sessions of 20-30 mins that are interactive in nature, enabling you to think through and develop your own practice.
- Collaborative activities and networking opportunities through workshops, round tables, or discussion, delivered in person.