Student Fellows

This is a new role building on the success of our previous ‘Student Quality Reviewers’ scheme.

What is it?

Student Fellows work with UCL to take an in-depth look at different areas of academic practice. They help to improve how the university works by providing detailed feedback and analysis from a student perspective. They also work with us to identify the impact of student engagement activities to ensure we use a student-centred approach to establish what is working and make improvements.

Through this role, you will develop your research skills and take a look ‘behind-the-scenes’ at UCL to use an evidence-informed approach to driving change.

What will I be doing?

You will be part of a small panel of students involved in some of the following activities:

• Review ChangeMakers project applications to decide which projects receive funding;
• Conduct follow-up research (mainly through interviews) to establish the impact of previous ChangeMakers projects and other student engagement initiatives;
• Write engaging case studies for the wider UCL audience;
• Arrange a celebration activity for the ChangeMakers ten-year anniversary;
• Work with other students to help staff develop new programmes through the Programme Development workshops;
• CHART assessments across programme and discuss your findings with staff to help them visualise and understand the student experience of assessments across a whole programme;
• Other opportunities that come our way e.g., being a student panellist at education events.

There will be a chance to identify the opportunities would most interest you and help you develop skills and gain experiences that will help you in your academic and professional careers. Some opportunities will depend on your availability, or may require students from certain disciplinary areas.

As part of your role you can expect to:

• Attend meetings with senior staff and other students;
• Review and analyse all sorts of datasets and paperwork;
• Collaborate with others, both staff and students;
• Do desk research and background reading;
• Undertake interviews, focus groups and surveys;
• Produce your own reports, case studies, and other outputs; 
• Reflect on your development;
• Help reach solutions and devise possible ways forward;
• Commit to activities and be organised and reliable

Through this role, previous students have developed skills in the following areas:

• Leadership;
• Negotiating and influencing;
• Giving constructive feedback;
• Teamwork and communication;
• Data analysis;

We are dedicated to supporting you in your role and the various activities you will be involved in. Through this role you will build your confidence in giving feedback, making suggestions for change, helping others reflect on their current practices and, we hope, feel empowered that your contribution as a current student is important. 

How many hours?

You would be working around 45 hours flexibly across the academic year. You will be fully trained and supported throughout!

It can be difficult to predict some of the activity, so there may be an option to increase the number of hours you do (and therefore the stipend, see below).

Example of hours 1

• Programme Design workshop, discussions with department staff: 6 hours
• Reviewing five ChangeMakers project applications and discussion with staff: 4 hours
• Interviews (including transcription and analysis) with 2-3 previous ChangeMakers project teams, plus writing up short case studies/articles: 10 hours
• Arranging a celebratory event for the ChangeMakers ten year anniversary: 20 hours
• Training and development (including a written or recorded final reflection): 5 hours

Example of hours 2

• Reviewing five ChangeMakers project applications and discussion with staff: 4 hours
• CHART assessments and discuss with programme lead, including training: 6 hours
• Desk research around student-staff partnership: 8 hours
• Surveys/focus groups with students to discuss partnership experiences: 8 hours
• Writing up findings, defining partnership for UCL: 12 hours
• Attending meetings to present the definition: 2 hours
• Training and development (including a written or recorded final reflection): 5 hours

Is it a paid role?

Yes, you get a £600 [TBC] stipend in recognition of your time and the value of engaging with our students as partners in these vital quality assurance and evaluative processes.

Senior Student Fellows

If you have been involved in one of our activities previously (Programme and Module Approval Panellist, Internal Quality Review panellist, ChangeMakers student partner or Programme/Assessment design partner), you can take on the role of a Senior Fellow. In this role, you will be expected to provide some peer support to other students taking on this role. You will receive an extra £100 stipend for this work.

Who can apply?

• We welcome applications from all students but particularly taught students (undergraduate and postgraduate students on Masters courses).
• We particularly welcome applications from students who are underrepresented and/or identify as belonging to a marginalised group.
• We need students from all disciplines!

Student Fellows might especially suit students who have taken on a previous role at university including:

• Academic Rep
• Role in a society
• Transition Mentor
• Student Quality Reviewer
• Student Experience panellist
• ChangeMakers project student partner

However, a desire to improve the student learning experience at UCL is really all you need to get going as we give you plenty of training and support.

What training and support will I get?

• An initial 2-hour f2f training session:
  • Review a ChangeMakers application;
  • Coaching and feedback techniques;
  • Programme/Assessment Design examples and work-throughs.
• Peer mentor support (subject to recruitment of Senior Fellows).
• Individual role training, depending on what opportunities you take on.
• Access to the full schedule of ChangeMakers training and events.
• Support from the ChangeMakers team.
• All opportunities you take on will involve a pre-meet and ongoing support from UCL staff involved with the opportunities you take on.

Contact us

Questions? Just drop an email to: changemakers@ucl.ac.uk