‘Education and Student Experience’ is one of the six aims in our University Strategy, Creating Better Futures. Together which covers specific areas of activity. The Education and Student Experience Core Plan has been developed to define a set of actions which will ensure the delivery of this key overarching aim from now until 2030.
Through a sector-leading, innovative academic experience we will support, inspire, empower and enrich the lives of our students and staff across the University. The creation of a culturally vibrant student community is at the heart of this vision and is aligned with our ambitions to become more internationally engaged. We will continue to ensure that our student experience is full of opportunities which all students can access to develop the skills they need for their future life experiences and fulfilling careers.
Led by Professor Rachel Thomson (Pro Vice-Chancellor of Education and Student Experience) and Dr Manuel Alonso (Deputy Chief Operating Officer), the Core Plan is based on eight strategic ambitions highlighted by the University strategy. Derived from these ambitions, the Core Plan lists four overarching key objectives which will further strengthen the University’s education and student experience offering.
These are as follows:
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To create a sector-leading and innovative academic experience at Loughborough.
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To create an equitable, inclusive student experience which ensures all students (from all backgrounds, at all levels) feel they belong at Loughborough.
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To create a future-fit learning and living environment which enhances the student experience.
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To deliver a life-long learning offer which aligns with Loughborough’s strengths and engages students/ learners beyond our usual reach.
The development of the plan included extensive consultation with many groups across the University, including the Learning and Teaching Committee, the Student Experience team, Loughborough Students’ Union, as well as several focus groups held with different groups of staff and students. We’d like to thank all those who contributed to this process and played a part in producing the final plan.
The ambitions of the Core Plan will be achieved by adopting a phased approach over the next few years, prioritising projects and initiatives in a way that is pragmatic, consultative, and reduces the impact on staff and encourages collaboration. We have already identified a number of changes to student assessment and have begun a process to review the academic year structure, which could have a significant positive impact on workloads and help to create capacity for other activities. We’re also looking at other ways to reduce workloads through Project Enable and, whilst there is further to go, we have already removed approximately 2,000 days of work across our campuses in the last year.