The following post is from Claire Spencer who started her BILT Associate role in supporting students transition to University in August 2021.
Hello, I’m Claire Spencer and I am the Senior Tutor for Postgraduate students in the School of Accounting and Finance. In this role and having taught increasingly larger cohorts of international postgraduate students over the past 13 years, I have become particularly interested in our international postgraduates’ student experience. Postgraduates are only with us for a short time, usually just one year, so it is critical that students’ academic, pedagogic, cultural, and social transition to university and their programme happens as swiftly as possible to enable them to thrive. I am excited to be part of BILT this year contributing to developing practices for the University that are sympathetic to and celebrate our diverse cohorts.
My first task is with fellow BILT Associates Emily Bell and Keith Beasley. We are designing and facilitating a workshop for the Senior Tutors to be delivered before students arrive. This is intended to draw out and share good practice that we know already exists around student support, but also to provide practical resources for staff supporting students as they settle into university life. After this workshop I will continue contributing to the BILT student transition project for example by exploring the research in this area and writing practical case studies.