Student Services?is pleased to announce the launch of the new Student Engagement support service.

Comprising three Student Engagement Advisors and a Service Delivery Manager, the team’s focus is on improving student retention by working across departments to offer proactive and dedicated support to all students who are at risk of disengaging?from their studies.

Key features of the new Student Engagement service include:

• A new online engagement tool, the Student Engagement Early Warning System (SEWS). Purpose built for our University, SEWS works by monitoring undergraduate students’ use of various online systems and compares this to their peers; enabling us to offer targeted support to undergraduate students who are at risk of disengaging from their studies.
• Ensuring all our students receive the tailored support they require. By coordinating?the provision of multiple services for students who may require cross-departmental support, the team will enable students’ continued engagement and success with their studies.
• Linked to our Access and Participation Plan, the team will be implementing strategies to support and improve the success and overall experience of our students from underrepresented groups, including Care Leavers, Estranged, Mature and Living at Home (local and commuting) students.

Professor Alex Neill, Vice President (Education) said:

“The University is dedicated to helping all students to achieve their potential and the Student Early Warning System allows us to reach out?proactively?to students who might need some extra support.? I am delighted that, after a successful pilot, we will be rolling this system out to cover all undergraduate students from January 2019.”

The Students’ Union Vice-President for Welfare, Isabella Camilleri, said:

“This initiative will enable students to hear from a friendly face that someone is looking out for them, and to learn about support services and how to access them before reaching crisis- an effective proactive way to helping the wellbeing of our student community. I’m very happy to support this project and to continue to work with the University to ensure that student wellbeing is considered at the forefront of our activities.”

For any questions about the Student Engagement service, please contact studentengagement@soton.ac.uk or Leanne White, Service Delivery Manager for Student Engagement:?L.White@soton.ac.uk

Find out about the background of the project (previously known as Student Success and Student Retention).