Common use of Contextual Data Clause in Contracts

Contextual Data. The University recognises the vital role that admissions have in ensuring its continued success in supporting the progression of students from under- represented groups into Higher Education. During the period of this access agreement work will continue to support and further develop our policies and procedures in this area. The University is committed to making its Foundation Year programme more accessible to those currently under-represented in higher education. In the 2012 entry cycle we introduced the use of contextual data to support the selection of students for our foundation year with a Widening Participation background. Some of the contextual information provided by UCAS has been used to provide a full and rounded view of achievement and potential. This is particularly the case where an applicant's background may have adversely affected their academic performance. This development was informed by the good practice guidance produced by Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA). 3.5.1 Student Retention and success, including employability i. As befits our stated intention to prioritise activity that will have a beneficial impact upon retention and employability, we have had a number of major projects and initiatives over recent years which have been part of a whole- University approach to the student experience, student retention and success. This approach has encompassed the development of relevant institutional frameworks, and practical activities that have been designed to support and enable student retention and success. It has resulted in a wide range of improvement actions, most of which have become embedded within the mainstream work of the University. We firmly believe that the strategy we have adopted is well-considered and appropriate for improving the chances of success of all of our full-time students. ii. Through our processes, systems and surveys and via our faculty-based Student Support Officers, and in particular through a retention risk diagnostic that will be offered to all full-time students in the first few weeks of the first year to enable targeted support of at risk students, we will seek to improve our monitoring and measurement of the combined impact of the improvement actions we have taken in relation to the target groups, and identify where particular problems can be addressed by specific additional action. iii. Our Enhancing Quality and Assessment for Learning Initiative (EQAL) has overhauled the curriculum and the associated learning environment to improve the student experience and make academic support processes more efficient. EQAL aims to facilitate higher rates of student satisfaction and progression. It incorporates a range of innovations including the streamlining of assessment, more effective feedback and greater student engagement. A major aim of the project is to eliminate over-assessment and to focus resources on support aimed at ensuring student success. The revised Level 4 curriculum commenced in 2011/12 and Levels 5 and 6 in 2012/13. Our assessment of its impact will include analysis of the performance of target group students. iv. During the period covered by this Agreement, we will seek to develop and refine our approach in the new context, in the following ways: • specifically, re-visit the Threshold Standards Statement and the Strategic Framework for Learning, Teaching and Assessment to ascertain whether revisions are needed in the new context and the context of this Agreement; • review the processes which contribute to the student lifecycle and revise any which impact the target groups adversely; • ensure that as part of our current reviews of course approval and monitoring processes, and of the further development of our “course health check” process, we make optimum use of scrutiny of their performance in relation to the target groups covered by this Agreement; • ensure that Student Information Points (SIPs) and the new Student Hub, make particular provision for information and support for the target groups; • implement the new MMU Commitment and keep it under regular review; • deliver through outreach activity a programme of Information, Advice and Guidance to a range of students at pre- and post-application stages to help their preparation for the HE environment. Targeted support will be available at the various stages of transition and from the point of application to ensure the journey into HE is seamless and fully supported. v. The University has recently launched a Graduate Intern scheme where recent graduates are employed to help support staff to improve the student experience, as well as gain valuable experience and training to boost their own employability. As part of this scheme, additional posts have been created within the Institute of Education and the retention of students, particularly those in the target groups, will be monitored to assess their effectiveness. This programme will be evaluated to determine the impact on retention and may then be expanded further. vi. We believe our strategy to be fit for purpose and will set a target to minimise differences in the retention rate of students in the target group compared to the retention of those who are not. Should particular issues emerge from our monitoring of the target groups, we will consider what specific additional support would be appropriate.

Contextual Data. The University recognises the vital role that admissions have in ensuring its continued success in supporting the progression of attracting students from under- under-represented groups into Higher Educationgroups. During the period of this access agreement work will continue begin on re-shaping our admissions policy to support ensure it fully supports the progression and further admission of students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. We aim to develop our policies new systems and procedures in this area. The University is committed to making its Foundation Year programme more accessible to those currently under-represented in higher education. In the 2012 entry cycle we introduced processes that will allow the use of contextual data to support during the selection of students for our foundation year with a Widening Participation background. Some of the contextual information provided by UCAS has been used to provide a full and rounded view of achievement and potentialadmissions cycle. This is particularly the case where an applicant's background may have adversely affected their academic performance. This development was work will be informed by the good practice guidance produced by Supporting Professionalism in Admissions (SPA). We will enhance the targeting of our outreach initiatives by making improved use of admissions data to support all of our widening participation work. 3.5.1 Student Retention and success, including employability i. As befits our stated intention to prioritise activity that which will have a beneficial beneficially impact upon retention and employability, employability we have had a number of major projects and initiatives over during recent years which have been part of a whole- University approach led to the student experience, student retention and success. This approach has encompassed the development of relevant institutional frameworks, and practical activities that have been designed to support and enable student retention and success. It has resulted in a wide range of improvement actions. In the main, most of which have become these actions are becoming embedded within the mainstream work of the University. We firmly believe that the strategy we have adopted is well-considered and appropriate for improving the chances of success of all of our full-time students. iiUniversity activity. Through our processes, systems and surveys and via our facultyFaculty-based Student Support Officers, and in particular through a retention risk diagnostic that will be offered to for all full-full time students in the first few weeks of the first year to enable targeted support of at risk students, we will seek to improve our monitoring and measurement of the their combined impact of the improvement actions we have taken in relation to the target groups, and identify where particular problems can be addressed by specific additional action. ii. We firmly believe that these strategies are well considered and appropriate for improving the chances of success for all full time students. In particular, the Student Induction and Transition Project aims to support students at the most vulnerable stages of their study and during their transition into HE. We believe that the strategies will benefit all full time students. iii. Many institutional development projects at MMU have been initiated in support of the strategic objective to improve retention. They comprise a range of central and local initiatives and activities, as part of a whole-University approach to the student experience, student retention and success. Key elements of this approach have included: Strategic Framework for Learning, Teaching and Assessment; Retention and Student Success Project; Shock Absorber Project; Threshold Standards Statement; Student Induction and Transition Framework; Timetabling Project; EQAL Programme (see (iv) below); Faculty/Campus Student and Academic Services Service Enhancement Programme. iv. Our Enhancing Quality and Assessment for Learning Initiative (EQAL) has overhauled is overhauling the curriculum and the associated learning environment to improve the student experience and make academic support processes more efficient. EQAL aims to facilitate higher rates of student satisfaction and progression. It incorporates a range of innovations including the streamlining of assessment, more effective feedback and greater student engagement. A major aim of the project is to eliminate over-assessment and to focus resources on support aimed at ensuring student success. The revised Level 4 curriculum commenced will commence in 2011/12 and Levels 5 and 6 in 2012/13, coinciding with this Agreement. Our assessment of its impact will include analysis of the performance of target group students. ivv. Development projects around Retention have led to changes both centrally and locally, within faculties, departments and course teams. At Faculty level, there are now Retention Strategy Groups and/or Faculty Executive Groups which report to the Faculty Academic Development Committees and co-ordinate initiatives that are led often by Senior Learning and Teaching Fellows. Retention is monitored at Faculty level through Action Plans within our Annual Monitoring and Evaluation process. vi. During the period covered by this Agreement, we will seek to develop and refine our approach in the new context, in the following ways: • draw together and implement a new University Retention Framework for the new post-2012 context – which reflects the University‟s positioning, revised Widening Participation Strategy and the new commitments for the target groups (by July 2012); specifically, re-visit revisit the Threshold Standards Statement Standards, Student Induction and the Transition Framework and Strategic Framework for Learning, Learning Teaching and Assessment to ascertain whether revisions are needed in the new context and the context of this Agreement; • review the processes which contribute to the student lifecycle and revise any which impact the target groups adversely; • ensure that as part of our current reviews of course approval and monitoring processes, and of the further development of our “course health check” process, we make optimum use of scrutiny of their performance in relation to the target groups covered by this Agreement; • ensure that Student Information Points (SIPs) and the new Student Hub, make particular provision for information and support for the target groups; • implement review the new MMU Commitment University/Student Agreement and keep it under regular review; • deliver through outreach activity consider development of a Student Contract a programme of Information, Advice and Guidance will be delivered through outreach activity to a range of students at pre- and post-application stages to help their preparation for the HE environment. Targeted support will be available at the various stages of transition and from the point of application to ensure the journey into HE is seamless and fully supported. v. The University has recently launched a Graduate Intern scheme where recent graduates are employed to help support staff to improve the student experience, as well as gain valuable experience and training to boost their own employability. As part of this scheme, additional posts have been created within the Institute of Education and the retention of students, particularly those in the target groups, will be monitored to assess their effectiveness. This programme will be evaluated to determine the impact on retention and may then be expanded further. vivii. We believe our strategy to be fit for purpose and will set a target to minimise differences in the retention rate of students in the target group compared to the retention of those who are not. Should particular issues emerge from our monitoring of the target groups, we will consider what specific additional support would be appropriate.