Getting Ready to Welcome Our New Students

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Posted on 12 September 2012

Getting ready to Welcome our new Students

The Student Life and Learning and International Student Support teams in SSDS welcomed this summer three enthusiastic Student Ambassadors: Katriona Towell, Chelsea Turner and Vicky Knight to assist the teams in ensuring that the Orientation and Induction for Keele students is as effective as is possible .  Recognising how students can act as drivers for change, working alongside the three has resulted in an energy and enthusiasm to deliver a service that will be recognised and appreciated by our students. In particular, they have helped the teams prepare for  our pre arrival events, promote the Keele Mentors scheme and finalise the activities planned for International Student Orientation and Welcome Week – with a particular focus upon the Keele Welcome Festival – new for the 2012/13 Academic Year.

Following the success of our forMat event last year we have again planned this two day pre arrival to all students over 21. We are now expecting 40 students to attend this event this week which provides them with a chance to get familiar with the university, meet and socialise with other students and staff and refresh their study skills. We received excellent feedback about this event last year and some of last year’s participants are coming back to help out at this event and share their experiences and tips about being a mature student at Keele.

We have also organised a new pre arrival event this year, ‘Get on Up’ for students living off campus and commuting to Keele. So far 55 students have signed up for this event, again taking place this week.  The event provides opportunities for students to familiarise to the campus, meet new friends and find out how to get involved and make the most of all that Keele has to offer.

                                             

 

This year we also launched the Keele Mentors scheme in the following schools:

  • Chemistry
  • Computer Science and Mathematics
  • Criminology and Sociology
  • Educational Studies
  • Life Sciences
  • Management
  • Medicine
  • Nursing and Midwifery

The scheme is also open to all international students, mature students, care leavers and students who previously participated in the Widening Participation and Outreach e-mentoring scheme.  Student who wish to take part will be matched with a trained mentor from the same school and they will begin with email contact before meeting up at our Mentor Launch Event during Welcome Week. We are really excited about this new initiative which enables students to offer support, advice and tips about studying and living at Keele to our new students. 

The Student Life and Learning Team and the International Student Support Team have spent the last few months liaising with colleagues from across the university and Keele SU to plan and organise International Student Orientation and Welcome Week. All the details about the range of activities have been publicised to students online at  http://www.keele.ac.uk/newstudents/ and further information is also available in the Welcome Guides http://www.keele.ac.uk/newstudents/welcomeguides/

 

Our Student Ambassador Team Leaders have done a fantastic job pulling all this together and finalising our plans. They will be joined by a team of 35 student ambassadors who will be working with us throughout International Student Orientation and Welcome Week. Last year they did an amazing job and made such a difference to the experiences of our new students.  We also have lots of varied  events and activities planned for Welcome Week this year starting off with Keele’s first ever Welcome Festival on Sunday 23rd September.  All new students will be welcomed by  Vice Chancellor, Professor Nick Foskett, Joe Turner (President, Keele SU) and Andy Irwin (President KPA)   Following the welcome address, the curtain will open on the Keele ‘Welcome Festival’.  Activities are planned for the afternoon,  including bands, dance performances, sports classes, inflatables, stalls as well as food and drink. It really should be a great afternoon and a fantastic start to Welcome Week. Throughout the week we will also have lots of other activities for different student groups including quizzes, film nights, games evenings, a Keele has Talent Show and trips to Trentham Gardens, Alton Towers and Ikea! It really should be a great week and we are all looking forward to it! We hope that all these different new activities will improve the Keele student experience and ensure that our new student’s  transition to university is as seamless as possible.

Claire Slater-Mamlouk, Student Life and Learning Manager

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