Supporting estranged students’ success – Improving university policies and services for students without family support, is the title of the latest webinar by the welfare, student safety and security accreditation scheme for universities, ProtectED. The free event online is running on Thursday, October 29 at 11am.
Their previous webinar with Trevor Jones, head of security at the University of Salford, features in the November 2020 print edition of Professional Security magazine.
As the organisers point out, there are over 9,000 students in the UK considered ‘estranged students’. The shift in focus to improve access to higher education by disadvantaged students and those from a non-traditional background has enabled more estranged students than ever to attend uni.
This ProtectED Reflections event will discuss the support available for this vulnerable student group, policies and services universities have in place; and where improvements can be made to support estranged students’ at uni.
Speakers invited are:
– Susan Mueller, HE Director of Stand Alone, a charity to support and raise awareness for people estranged from their family;
– Jelisha Catnott, Student Support and Welfare Manager at Brunel University London, a ProtectED Founder Member institution; and
– Helen Arber, Head of Operations at Unite Foundation, providing university scholarship support for care leavers and estranged young people.
The panel will discuss the need for support from organisations such as Stand Alone and the Unite Foundation, how estranged students navigate needing a guarantor, and the processes and practices universities have developed to support estranged students over term time and holidays. Also discussed will be student retention, and what can be introduced to reduce the number of estranged students leaving their courses early, or having to defer their studies.
Sign up for the webinar at https://www.protect-ed.org/upcoming-events.
Picture by Mark Rowe; Leeds campus.
