Creating and nurturing a sense of place

and Community on campusAndy Schulten – Head of Student Experience UPP

Tim Woodman-Clarke – Head of Accommodation Services NTU

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Working in Partnership – Nottingham Trent University

UPP’s support helps NTU to upgrade, grow to meet demand, compete and improve the student

experience. The UPP approach means that our interests and those of NTU are aligned.

Since 2002, UPP have secured more than £200 million of funding for Nottingham Trent, working

in partnership to realise the University's vision for its residential estate- upgrading facilities and

providing services that add value for their students.

The development of the multi use Student Union building brought together Student

Accommodation, the Students’ Union, the University Sport and Lifestyle department, UPP and

the University estates team. This building was developed in partnership with input and feedback

from students throughout the process.

"Placing such a high quality sports and fitness offering right at the heart of the Students' Union building not only works to

support the training of athletes studying at university but is also a fantastic way of encouraging more young people to try

sports.“

Lord Sebastian Coe - 2012

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Working in Partnership – Nottingham Trent University

Circa 26,000 students studying at NTU, 20,000 of those Undergraduates

Students begin engagement with Accommodation and UPP at Open Day Stage

NTU Market and Sell all UPP accommodation.

Students book on-line via NTU website, accept the terms and conditions and pay

NTU.

UPP remain the ‘silent’ partner

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Introduce and Inform

What is a University community?

• There are 4 major categories

Importance of university communities.• Identify & respond to students at risk

• Helping transition to HE

• Relationship and communication with staff

• Improve social integration

• Sense of belonging

• Student motivation & goals

• Active engagement

• Good communication from University

• Access to student support

• Vital to retention and degree completion

Students overall perception of community on campus will be affected by

institutional characteristics such as size, location, history etc.

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So…What do we do to create a sense of community?

NTU / UPP initiatives – offering much more than just a room…

• Early engagement

• Residence Identities

• A fantastic welcome

• Peer to peer support from day 1

• Charitable / Community Work

• Joint Projects

• Staff interaction and Engagement

• Design of facilities

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Using Social Media channels for Early Engagement

• Number of different Social Media Channels including:

- Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram

• Facebook page - business front

• Facebook Groups – 1 for each of the halls of residence – these

are great for creating a sense of community

• 4657 students on the individual halls groups

• 1648 followers on Twitter

• 3730 Tweets

• Use Hoot suite to manage multiple channels

• NOT POLICED but heavily monitored by both NTU / UPP

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Facebook pages and groups

Facebook page for the business front

Individual Facebook groups for each halls of residence

As soon as students book in Feb/March they can join

Start to meet their flatmates – comment

Under the block letters

Build friendships before they arrive

Joint ownership with NTSU

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Facebook groups

• Target audience to communicate with

• Can post pre arrivals information – count down & info

• Share events that are taking place

• Get an idea of students life in halls

• Informal way of communicating

• Branded with the halls logos

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Challenges

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Before Arrival: Social Media

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Halls Logos

• Every hall has a unique logo and colour

• There is a story and history behind each logo

• Creates a sense of belonging, identity &

community

• Students use the logo for themed nights out

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Halls logos and branding

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Arrivals: At Residences

• HelloU Boxes

• Welcome Guides

• Residence Info

• Pasta Packs

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A Fantastic Welcome: Welcome Week

• Activities, events, inductions

• 350 Opportunities to make friends and get involved

• Accommodation Super Sunday.

• Join societies and attend taster sessions

• Attend organised day trips and evening events

• Course inductions

• Closing with Saturday Antics!

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Saturday Antics

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Peer to peer support from day 1: Fresher Reps

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Residence Assistants

• Launched in September 2011 across our residences

• Senior students - second and third-year undergraduates, and postgraduate students

• Peer-to-peer information and support

• Informal behavior management

• Key role during arrivals, induction and Welcome Week

• Ongoing advice and guidance

• Highly visible!

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Residence Assistants

Training related to:

• Listening skills

• Conflict resolution

• Student conduct and behavior management

• Incident response and reporting

• First aid

• Crisis intervention

• Student safety and security

• Student advice and advocacy

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Residence Assistants

• Provide out-of-hours assistance and support

• Run activities and events

• Link students to other teams and departments, including:

• Residence management team

• Hall committees

• Student Support Services (including Mental Health Support, Counselling service, Chaplaincy)

• SU Fresher Reps (during Welcome Week)

• Students’ Union Advice Centre

• NTU Warden Service

• Address issues and resolve minor problems

• Bring community and cohesion, right from the start

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Hall Committees

Providing students with:

• Representation

• A collective voice

• Liaison with residence staff to discuss common concerns and recurring issues

• Planning and organising of events

• Established in 2012 through a collaborative initiative between UPP, NTU and NTSU

• Hall logos

– Designed by NTSU

– Input from Hall Committees

– Final agreement with residence management

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Hall Committees

• Create social, charity, sports events and trips (e.g. Interhall competitions and Hall Parties)

• Showcasing student talent via organised events, and providing fantastic community

volunteering opportunities for student residents

• Use halls budget for planned activities, such as hiring local sports pitches, or buying communal

equipment)

• Promote the benefits of staying in halls!

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Returners to Halls Statistics

Year Percent of Returners in Halls (including RAs)

2011/12 6.0%

2012/13 6.2%

2013/14 7.3%

2014/15 9.4%

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Charitable and Community Work

Fundraising, volunteering and community

projects and events, including:

• Community Christmas event (including bake sale)

• Christmas 2014 Food bank collections

• British Heart Foundation community collection banks

• Community gardening project

• Flower Pod Welcome Week BBQ

• Community Watch buddying project

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Joint Projects - NTU Growing to Give allotment

Launched in September 2014

Based at UPP Peverell Residence, but open to all students

Key aims:

• to promote sustainable food production

• to educate students about healthy food choices

• to produce food that can be donated to local charities other community partners

• to build a sense of investment and engagement in halls

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Joint Projects - Varsity

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Staff Engagement and Interaction

Student Experience Champions

To help raise awareness of student experience across the business

Demonstrating to our partner institutions and students our focus on

student experience

Observing how we interact with residents and how that mirrors what our

University partners are doing

Recommendation following discussion with residents and staff how we

can improve the service or experience in our halls

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AY 13/14 Customer Satisfaction Survey Positive interaction

Maintenance Man always does a brilliant job and leaves a lovely note! Makes my day.

The cleaner who deals with our flat is absolutely lovely, she makes conversation with

whoever she sees enter the flat/kitchen, yet still manages to quickly and sufficiently clean the

flat. Very very impressed with her service

they gave us chocolates and greeting card during Christmas, which I feel like home. I'm an

international student which I didn't get a chance to go home for Christmas, they give me a

sense of home .Thanks

Tracey (security staff) is the exception. She's incredibly kind, caring and compassionate and

is always there to help, if needed. She listens to any issues you may have and is fair in the

way that she deals with problems. Gill Street would be nothing like the kind of place it is,

without Tracey.

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Residence Design

HERE research – help develop a sense of belonging

Developing a sense of belonging to the wider university community

• Social areas in residences, mixed use

spaces and common rooms

• Bedrooms space remains a premium

but having an area for guests to sit

rather than just the bed helps the

space feel less intimidating

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Successes – How can it be measured?

• NSS 2014 - 90% of students would recommend NTU as a place to study

• More campus engagement - Higher numbers of students voting in the

Student Union elections:

• 2014 - 6838 students voted, 2013 - 5974 students voted,

• 2012 – 5948 students voted, 2011 – 4864 students voted

• UPP/NTU Student Survey shows clear increase in sense of belonging and

affiliation to residence and students feeling part of the wider NTU community.

• Increase in returning / continuing student accommodation bookings

• Higher numbers of students volunteering

• More money being raised for charity

• Increase of usage and engagement on social media

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So what next at both NTU and our other partnerships?

• Better use and design of common rooms via student engagement

• Better use of external space e.g. Outside Gym, External table tennis, allotments etc.

• Introduction of Shared Study Space

• Introducing local businesses to talk to students

• Employability prospects

• Analysing expectations of the next generation of students

• -UPP Wincanton School Project

• Continue to invest and develop in welcome events

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Challenges…..

What are our challenges going forward?• E.g.……

• Ever changing nature of the campus population

• Keeping up with technological advances

• Keeping up with the ever changing landscape of social media.

• Uncertainty around higher education funding

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Thank you.

Andy.schulten@upp-ltd.com

Tim.woodman-Clarke@ntu.ac.uk