WHAT WE DO
Student Governor Impact and Development Programme
An annual programme running between July to June supporting student governors to maximise their role on the Board of Governors.
This programme comes with targeted and bespoke support at intervals from just before the appointment, induction, through the cycle of Board meetings and then to handover and transition.
The programme is structured to offer bitesize support to student governors throughout the year and to compliment institutional induction, ongoing internal support, and the one-off national induction event offered by Advance HE in September. This programme can offer personalised, confidential, expert support to student governors in their role, whilst enabling strategic continuity within institutions.
Over the course of the programme student governors should expect to receive the following support:
Onboarding session in June/July - Onboarding session which introduces student governors to their role on the Board, building institutional context (garnered from the outgoing governor and university governance team), establishing relationship between the governor and the programme facilitators.
Three hour long 121 sessions per governor - Pre board confidential discussion with governance expert to help them consider how best to navigate upcoming meetings, including preparation they may need to make before the meeting itself
Experience tracker, analysis, plus annual report - Confidential pulse surveys for student governors to track their views on governance effectiveness, gauge the support they are getting, measure their views on how the student voice is being listened to, and thematic issues they are interested in .
Termly briefing session - Governance policy briefing to ensure that student governors understand how the evolving HE policy environment is impacting on university governance and their role as a student governor.
Optional video diaries to coincide with the pulse survey and annual report Student Governor diaries where participants can confidentially share with the programme facilitators their experience of being a governor through the year.
Annual review process - Facilitated 360-degree review for the student governor (capturing their input, as well as views from the governing body and university governance team) to help them evaluate their performance, consider how these skills will be transferable for the future, and capture valuable intelligence to support their successors
What the university/institution should benefit from by supporting their student governor to participate in the programme:
Confidence that student governors are getting year-round support to both understand and make the most of their role on the governing body.
Ensuring that student governors can access confidential, external expertise with a deep understanding of HE governance and the dilemmas facing student governors.
Support which should accelerate student governors to hit the ground running and make a more meaningful contribution to institutional governance.
A formal mechanism to build institutional memory by formally capturing matters raised in the previous year, onto the new student governors.
Confidential benchmarking data where the university will be able to compare student attitudes toward governance effectiveness and the extent to which the student voice is actively engaged with in their institution (compared to the sector).
Bespoke support for student governors who generally require more intensive support as typically this is the first board/governing role.
Knowledge that your student governors will be able to access support which is contextualised to issues in the sector.
Able to formally feedback on the contribution and progress your student governors are making. Assurance to the full Board that student governors are being appropriately supported.
Our Team
Denza Gonsalves