Student Advisory Panel, Access and Participation

The University of Cumbria Access and Participation Plan, sets out how staff will work together to support students with the ability and desire to go to the University of Cumbria to have equality of opportunity to succeed at all stages with us, whatever their characteristics and circumstances. This Plan is accessible to you, the public and approved by our regulator the Office for Students. You can read the summary on our website.

We have an Access and Participation Steering Group that leads on monitoring the progress and impact of our commitments in the Plan. The Steering Group has representation from the Students’ Union, Leaders in Professional Services and Academic Institutes.

Through data you can find in the Office for Students access and participation dashboard, we know that some student groups at the University of Cumbria are less likely to have equality of opportunity than their peers based on their characteristics. These include:

• Mature students (aged 21 and over)
• Care leaver students
• Black British students
• Students whose home address is in an area with low participation to university, particularly males
• Students with disabilities including mental health conditions

We are working to improve the experiences and outcomes for these students, to ensure that they have equality of opportunity at UoC. To do that we need your help.

It’s important to us to give students a platform to work with us on our access and participation work. From sharing their experiences, to feeding back on our committed interventions to improve equality of opportunity for our students, we will be inviting students to apply to our Student Advisory Panel for the duration of the 2024-28 APP.

Job description: XX133124 Student Advisory Panel Member - Jobs at University of Cumbria

You’ll receive full training and support if chosen to participate in the focus group and benefits for you will include:

• An opportunity to contribute to University Strategy to promote Equality of opportunity for students underrepresented at UoC
• Governance experience- providing a critical friend to staff delivering activity to support students, supporting your personal development and leadership skills
• Developing your communication skills with students and staff at UoC
• Data literacy, training and support to understand national higher education datasets and UoC data to question impact of interventions
• Being paid for your time

We are seeking students to our advisory panel who are studying for their first undergraduate degree at one of our campuses, with current home-fee status  and identify with one or more of the following characteristics:

• are estranged from your parents
• a care leaver or care experienced
• A disabled student (including those with a mental health condition)
• Black heritage
• Aged 21 and over when beginning their degree
• In receipt of the Cumbria Bursary
• You were eligible for Free School Meals at some point in the last six years during your secondary education.

If you are interested in joining our student advisory panel, and have questions please contact Fiona: appstudentengagement@cumbria.ac.uk

If you have any questions or comments about the University’s access and participation plan, or your experiences relating to this work, please contact Fiona or Signy using the email address below. Fiona is part-time and can offer a Teams video-call in the first instance or arrange a face-to-face meeting in Cumbria or Lancaster.

appstudentengagement@cumbria.ac.uk