iNDUCTION REPORT TO COUNCIL

8/7/2019 iNDUCTION REPORT TO COUNCIL

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Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development

Introduction

In April 2009 the new Policy framework for the Student Experience of Arrival, Induction and

Orientation was approved by Academic Council, which coincided with the discontinuation of the

Enhanced Induction

project.

This

paper

will

report

on

the

impact

of

the

Policy

framework

so

far

and

on the embedding of enhanced induction practices in Schools and Offices. As a direct result of the

Policy, of the Enhanced induction project, and of Educational Development work, considerable

progress has been made in establishing a number of concrete initiatives which are continuing and

being shared between Schools and disseminated across the University. However, a textual analysis

of student comments from this year’s induction survey provides evidence of particular areas

requiring further work, including better and timelier communication with students, and increasing

opportunities for socialisation with students and tutors.

In addition to specifically commenting on these, this report will offer a number of concrete

recommendations for future work.

Developments in 2009/10:

1. Policy The Central Enhanced Induction Steering group has acted as a key coordinating group as specified in

the Policy overseeing the planning cycle, monitoring activities and evaluation, and facilitating

collaboration and problem‐solving across sectors and campuses. The group met 3 times in 2009 in

May, July and November with a membership including OSA, School representatives, ILS,

SUUG/UMSA and Educational Development

Collaboration between Schools, Offices and SUUG/UMSA has continued to grow. The Campus

Induction group in Greenwich is an example of a model of good practice which grew out of the

Enhanced Induction project development and which continues to be a base for collaborative

planning and delivery of induction by OSA, Schools, ILS and SUUG on the Greenwich campus.

Some Schools had designated Induction Coordinators in place but as a result of the Policy

Framework, others have appointed new co‐ordinators. Induction programmes in Schools vary

considerably in their organisation and planning and, whereas some Schools have an established

induction planning group (as per the Policy), some induction programmes are planned and delivered

on a programme rather than a School basis. The role of the Induction Coordinator thus varies in

content and workload, and the absence of a tariff or specific resourcing are a cause of concern to

many coordinators.

Educational Development has convened an Induction Network group which brings together all

Induction Coordinators and others with key responsibility for induction, including OSA, ILS, SUUG,

UMSA, UGflex and Marketing. The group has met twice so far this session and reports to the Central

Steering group. Its role is to support discussion of induction principles and the development of

practice in relation to the Policy and to existing and emerging practice in the sector; sharing and

developing new ideas; building collaborative relationships; identifying problems and key areas where

change or further work is needed. A number of the recommendations in this report have emerged

from discussions within this group.

1




2. Activities Evaluation

The University Induction Survey (appendix A) was revised in consultation with the Induction Network

Group and

advertised

via

personal

email

to

all

new

students,

on

the

portal

and,

through

Facebook

by

SUUG/UMSA. Student response was lower than in 2008‐9 which may be related to the fact that

some Schools and/or Programmes are now conducting their own evaluation at an earlier stage.

Educational Development and the Induction Network Group will be looking at improving

coordination of evaluation for autumn 2010.

A text analysis of the free text fields in the Induction Survey (appendix B) repeats and reinforces

feedback from previous surveys, particularly in relation to new students’ desire to spend time with

tutors and other students. There is more positive response to transition activities and staff contact

but students are clearly indicating that they want more of both. Some negative responses relate to

this issue, and many express the need for more information. A number of the recommendations at

the end

of

this

paper

address

issues

of

information

(see

appendix

C for

use

of

the

New

Arrivals

webpage). It is notable that registration procedures did not attract significant negative comment as

they have in previous years – this is consonant with feedback from staff about the success of online

registration.

There was some brief preliminary discussion of the survey results at the Induction Network Group

and responses broken down by School/Office/SUUG/UMSA were sent to key staff responsible. It is

not clear at this point how each School makes use of its survey results.

A student focus group on induction will meet in February on the Greenwich campus. In addition to

providing a forum for students to share general views, student responses will be sought on specific

areas of

current

planning

such

as

transitional

materials.

Extending transition

Despite the variation in induction and transition activities offered across the University one common

factor is the trend towards extending these into the autumn term to reduce overload in the first

week, and to recognise and support transition as an ongoing process. In some Schools or

Programmes there is a designated ‘Review’ or ‘Skills’ week mid‐term where opportunities for

consolidation and catch‐up are provided, and some programmes build transition activities into

assessed coursework.

A Fresher’s Refresher week was piloted on the Greenwich campus in October by Educational

Development working

with

the

Campus

Head

of

OSA,

SUUG,

continuing

students

and

some

School

staff. Workshops were poorly attended but provided a useful ‘shop‐window’ for student services

with minimal resourcing costs. There was positive student response to a fresher’s check‐up

conducted by continuing students, which also provided a snap‐shot of new students’ transitional

progress (see appendix D).

These emerging developments reflect trends in the sector towards understanding transition as an

on‐going process lasting throughout the first term or even year.

SUUG/UMSA There was a greatly improved range of activities for students on all campuses, and

hopefully this will be continued and lead to the development of healthy, active Student Societies.

The SU

reps

come

to

meetings

regularly

and

contribute

with

ideas

for

future

developments.

2



Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development Educational Development Workshops

Workshops on Induction for Academic tutors took place in July and in September, on all 3 campuses

and provided a valuable opportunity for longstanding and new tutors to discuss and share

experience and ideas. In April 2009 a conference jointly organised by Educational Development and

OSA entitled “Planning for a Better Induction” (see: http://web‐dev‐

csc.gre.ac.uk/conference/conf52/index.php) was

held

on

the

Greenwich

campus.

This

provided

opportunities to reflect on outcomes from the Enhanced Induction project, an introduction to the

proposed policy framework, and involved external and internal speakers. A key part of the

conference was an introduction to current developments in pre‐arrival engagement and transition

provision from a leading figure in the sector who returned in June to run a 2 day workshop with

academic and academic support staff. This workshop focussed particularly on the role of pre‐entry/

entry discipline‐based activities that provided a smooth transition into the Higher Education

academic world and community

3. Pre‐arrival Development

of

school

websites

There is a growing awareness in Schools of the need for School web‐based transition materials and

information, and some Schools have web material already in use or in development. Educational

Development is working with Marketing and with the Business School on a pilot reusable School‐

based model.

Medway Orientation website

An integrated orientation website has been developed at Medway as a campus‐based point of

access to University and local information and evaluation of the project will be available during

2010.

Joining Instructions

Revised Joining Instructions sent by post no longer include details of first arrival which will now

appear only online (see information above regarding Medway Orientation website). The Joining

Instructions currently in use have been revised in consultation with the Induction Network Group to

include a paragraph about the start of term, emphasising the importance of attendance at

induction/transition activities.

Development of VIP

The VIP facility in the Customer Relations Management (CRM) system has been piloted as part of the

International Students orientation at Medway, and VIP on‐line chat for students pre‐arrival has been

piloted with the Science School. It is hoped that these pilots, if successful, will be extended in 2010.

4. Transitional Material Publications i. Educational Development’s ‘Guidelines on Induction for Tutors’ was revised and circulated

online for September induction. The guidelines will be further revised in consultation with

the Induction Network Group.

ii. a ‘Useful Information for New Students’ booklet was produced by Marketing (with the

Business School) and will be amended and revised by Marketing and Educational

Development for use in September 2010.

iii. a ‘Rough guide to the First Year’ which developed out of the Fresher’s Refreshers week at

Greenwich, comprises top tips for induction from new and continuing students, a fresher’s

checklist and

a new

glossary

of

terms

for

students.

Available

online

in

2009

‐2010,

this

will

be

revised and printed as a leaflet for autumn 2010.

3




iv. The Law Department commissioned a University of Greenwich Planner on sale at the

University bookshop. Law, Educational Development and the student Focus Group will be

evaluating the future potential of this.

5. Recommendations There are a number of recommendations stemming from this year’s work that we would like Council

to endorse to enable us to take forward these initiatives

1. There is widespread agreement across the University that the term ‘induction’ is not clear or

helpful for students and that it creates an impression that it is not mandatory. It even appears to

discourage some students from attending. We recommend further discussion about the most

appropriate terminology. Communications with new undergraduate students could more

usefully be conducted in terms of “the beginning of term” without use of the word induction, as

in the

currently

revised

Joining

Instructions.

We

further

recommend

that

discussions

within

the

University and between staff could be framed around “transition” rather than induction,

transition to include the assumption that students’ point of entry is the beginning of term and is

week 1 rather than being seen as ‘week 0’ and optional; also to indicate, in terms of planning,

that this is an ongoing process which starts before arrival and lasts throughout the first term at

least

2. Educational Development to work with staff across the University to develop and improve pre‐

arrival communications and information including:

i. consultation across the university to examine and evaluate communications with

students between final acceptance and arrival, working towards a more systematic and

integrated approach

between

Admissions,

Schools,

Marketing,

OSA

and

SUUG/UMSA

ii. further development of School and/or campus‐based induction websites.

iii. evaluation and extension of the potential of VIP and CRM to enhance ‘beginning of term’

transition

3. Continued development of the range of transitional activities on offer including:

i. Schools’ development of transitional pedagogical designs to combine academic

orientation and socialisation, and increasing opportunities for students to engage with

their tutors

ii. OSA , including accommodation , and working with SUUG/UMSA, to develop integrated

orientation campus‐based activities.

iii. January starters

to

be

included

in

these

developments

iv. Central Induction Steering Group to oversee development of guidelines on transition

activities considered essential to establish a common core of minimum student

entitlement, e.g. time with personal tutor; role of personal/academic tutors, skills audit,

as recommended in Employment Strategy. Consideration to be given to how these

developments might be applied to returning students with an increased awareness of

their continuing transitional needs

4. Schools to report to Central Induction Steering group at the appropriate time, with subsequent

reporting to DVCs responsible for different Schools on:

i. the resourcing allocated to induction coordinators to carry out agreed responsibilities

ii. induction/ transitional

plans

and

processes

including

evaluation

4



Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development 5. Development of a university online survey tool to enable continuation of a single on‐line survey

to incorporate school specific questions and facilitate Schools’ ability to interrogate results at

programme level; to include evaluation of January inductions.

5


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Appendix A - University of Greenw ich Induction Survey 2009

1. To thank you for your time, you are invited to enter into a three prize draw for Marks & Spencer or Amazon

vouchers worth £25 each. Prize winners will be notified by email soon after the survey closes on 9th

November 2009. If you wish to be entered, please enter your email address into the box below, so we can

contact you to make an arrangement for your prize to be collected.

Response

Count

675

answered question 675

skipped question 89

2. Your school is:

Response

Percent

Response

Count

Architecture & Construction 4.9% 37

The Business School 26.2% 199

Computing & Mathematical

Sciences13.8% 105

Education and Training 13.0% 99

Engineering 9.7% 74

Greenwich Maritime Institute 1.6% 12

Health & Social Care 11.9% 90

Humanities & Social Sciences 8.4% 64

Medway School of Pharmacy 2.0% 15

Natural Resources Institute 0.9% 7

Science 7.5% 57


skipped question 5

6



3. Your campus is:

Response

Percent

Response

Count

Greenwich Maritime 52.3% 394

Avery Hill 27.9% 210

Medway 20.3% 153

Folkestone 0.1% 1

Partner College 0.4% 3

If you are studying at a Partner College, please tell us which one. 8


skipped question 10

4. Are you planning to attend any 'Freshers Refresher' activites at the Greenwich Campus between Oct 26th -

30th?

Response

Percent

Response

Count

Yes 18.0% 135

No 49.7% 372

Maybe 32.3% 242


skipped question 15

5. Please state the programme you are studying, i.e. BA Accounting and Financial Systems. If you are unsure,write "unsure".

Response

Count

696


skipped question 68

7



6. What level of study are you?

Response

Percent

Response

Count

First year undergraduate 38.6% 290

Second year undergraduate (directentry)

5.9% 44

Third year undergraduate (direct

entry)10.1% 76

Postgraduate 36.8% 277

Short course 1.9% 14

Foundation course 2.9% 22

Continuing student 2.0% 15

Other 1.9% 14

Other (please specify) 31


skipped question 12

7. How would you classify yourself?

Response

Percent

Response

Count

UK student (Full-Time) 44.3% 335

UK Student (Part-Time) 11.1% 84

EU student (Full-Time) 8.9% 67

EU student (Part-Time) 0.8% 6

International student (Full-Time) 33.2% 251

International student (Part-Time) 1.7% 13


skipped question 8

8



8. How would you describe yourself?

Response

Percent

Response

Count

Male 46.8% 353

Female 52.7% 398

Black or ethnic minority (BME) 8.5% 64

White 29.9% 226

I would prefer to describe myself as: 74


skipped question 9

9. How old are you?

Response

Percent

Response

Count

Under 21 23.6% 179

21-30 50.5% 383

31-40 13.8% 105

41-50 8.8% 67

51-65 3.3% 25

over 65 0.0% 0


skipped question 5

9



10. Where do you live during term-time?

Response

Percent

Response

Count

locally, at home 42.9% 316

locally, in halls of residence 14.4% 106

locally, in rented accommodation 35.3% 260

other 7.3% 54

Other (please specify) 73


skipped question 28

11. I received the information I needed about the Induction/Freshers week before arrival.

Response

Percent

Response

Count

Agree strongly 23.6% 178

Agree 40.3% 304

Neither agree nor disagree 11.4% 86

Disagree 14.3% 108

Disagree Strongly 10.3% 78

How did you f ind out about induction, i .e letter, website, email, facebook, etc 443


skipped question 10

10



12. Please say how many of the planned Induction/Freshers events you attended?

Response

Percent

Response

Count

All of them 16.2% 122

Some of them 53.4% 403

None of them 30.4% 229

Please say why you didn't attend events, if appropriate 229


skipped question 10

11



13. Please rate the following (but only if you experienced it!

By the end of Induction/ Freshers week:

Strongly

agreeAgree

Neither

agree

nor

disagree

Strongly

disagreeDisagree N/A

Rating

Average

Res

Co

I felt valued19.0%

(129)

42.5%

(289)

22.2%

(151)

3.4%

(23)5.1% (35)

7.8%

(53)2.28

I could use the library35.3%

(245)

43.7%

(303)

7.2%

(50)

3.7%

(26)5.5% (38)

4.6%

(32)1.96

I knew online learning resources

were available

34.8%

(241)

45.8%

(317)

8.8%

(61)

2.6%

(18)4.3% (30)

3.6%

(25)1.92

I had met my tutor(s)

37.8%

(264)

40.3%

(281)

7.9%

(55)

4.6%

(32) 4.9% (34)

4.6%

(32) 1.94

I could find my way around the

campus

33.8%

(234)

44.0%

(305)

10.5%

(73)

3.5%

(24)4.3% (30)

3.9%

(27)1.97

I could find my way around the

local area

22.6%

(155)

38.6%

(265)

20.6%

(141)

5.7%

(39)6.9% (47)

5.7%

(39)2.32

I knew what help was available in

the Student Centre

26.9%

(185)

37.3%

(256)

16.0%

(110)

6.3%

(43)9.0% (62)

4.5%

(31)2.30

I had had the opportunity to meet

other students and staff at a social

event

21.3%

(147)

37.0%

(255)

16.7%

(115)

7.4%

(51)8.1% (56)

9.4%

(65)2.38

I had met students from other

years

14.8%

(101)

30.5%

(208)

15.4%

(105)

14.5%

(99)

15.3%

(104)

9.4%

(64)2.83

I learned something related to my

subject

27.2%

(186)

44.9%

(307)

12.1%

(83)

4.8%

(33)5.0% (34)

6.0%

(41)2.10

I had registered sucessfully47.2%

(326)

32.9%

(227)

4.6%

(32)

6.7%

(46) 5.1% (35)

3.5%

(24) 1.85

I had built positive relationships

with teaching staff

21.0%

(144)

38.7%

(265)

27.6%

(189)

3.4%

(23)4.8% (33)

4.5%

(31)2.29


with other students

31.8%

(219)

45.3%

(312)

13.2%

(91)

2.8%

(19)2.2% (15)

4.8%

(33)1.93


with support staff, eg school

office, student centre, library

17.6%

(120)

33.1%

(226)

29.2%

(199)

5.4%

(37)7.5% (51)

7.2%

(49)2.48

Please comment on other positive or negative experiences.

answered question

12



skipped question

14. This question relates to the Students' Union Activities and services, provided at Greenwich and Avery Hill

(SUUG). If you use Medway Campus for these services, please go to question 15.

Please rate the following (but only if you've received/attended/purchased/visited!):

Very

goodGood Average Poor

Very

poorN/A

Rating

Average

Response

Count

Freshers Guide17.4%

(90)

34.4%

(178)

15.7%

(81)

2.1%

(11)

3.1%

(16)

27.3%

(141)2.16 517

Freshers Fair (Avery Hill Campus)6.7%

(30)

14.7%

(66)

9.6%

(43)

3.3%

(15)

2.7%

(12)

63.1%

(284)2.48 450

Freshers Fair (Greenwich Campus)12.0%

(60)

21.6%

(108)

13.0%

(65)

3.4%

(17)

3.8%

(19)

46.3%

(232)2.36 501

Sports Day3.7%

(18)

11.2%

(54)

11.0%

(53)

2.5%

(12)

2.3%

(11)

69.2%

(333)2.62 481

Neon Party6.3%

(30)

12.5%

(60)

9.8%

(47)

2.5%

(12)

2.7%

(13)

66.3%

(318)2.49 480

Freshers Ball9.4%

(46)

14.4%

(70)

8.4%

(41)

2.5%

(12)

2.3%

(11)

63.0%

(307)2.29 487

Freshers Wristband

5.9%

(29)

11.7%

(57)

10.0%

(49)

6.1%

(30)

5.5%

(27)

60.7%

(296) 2.84 488

Students' Union reception (Cooper

Building, Greenwich)

11.5%

(58)

23.6%

(119)

12.9%

(65)

2.8%

(14)

3.0%

(15)

46.3%

(234)2.30 505

Students Union reception

(Southwood site, Avery Hill)

8.5%

(40)

18.8%

(88)

8.1%

(38)

1.1%

(5)

2.3%

(11)

61.2%

(287)2.23 469

Students' Union shop (Cooper

Building, Greenwich)

11.6%

(58)

24.2%

(121)

12.6%

(63)

2.8%

(14)

2.4%

(12)

46.4%

(232)2.26 500

Village Shop (Southwood site,

Avery Hill)

9.4%

(44)

20.0%

(94)

14.3%

(67)

1.3%

(6)

1.9%

(9)

53.1%

(249)2.28 469

Bar Latitude (Cooper Building,

Greenwich)

13.1%

(65)

19.2%

(95)

12.7%

(63)

3.8%

(19)

3.4%

(17)

47.8%

(237)2.34 496

Le Cafe (Library building,

Greenwich)

12.4%

(62)

22.6%

(113)

13.6%

(68)

3.2%

(16)

2.6%

(13)

45.5%

(227)2.28 499

Engine Room Cafe (Mansion site,

Avery Hill)

5.9%

(28)

18.3%

(86)

11.7%

(55)

2.5%

(12)

1.9%

(9)

59.7%

(281)

2.41 471

Sparrows Farm (Southwood site,

Avery Hill)

7.3%

(34)

14.7%

(68)

10.4%

(48)

2.4%

(11)

2.8%

(13)

62.4%

(289)2.43 463

13



Please comment on other positive or negative experiences. 94


skipped question 196

15. This question relates to the Students Union Activities and services, provided by the Universities of Medway

Student Association (UMSA)on the Medway Campus.

Please rate the following (but only if you've received/attended/purchased/visited!):

Very

goodGood Average Poor

Very

poorN/A

Rating

Average

Response

Count

Freshers Ball9.3%

(32)

17.7%

(61)

4.7%

(16)

1.2%

(4)

1.7%

(6)

65.4%

(225)2.08 344

Freshers' Handbook18.5%

(65)

18.2%

(64)

7.1%

(25)

0.9%

(3)

2.0%

(7)

53.3%

(187)1.92 351

Societies Fayre9.9%

(34)

13.7%

(47)

9.9%

(34)

2.0%

(7)

1.7%

(6)

62.7%

(215)2.25 343

Sports Fayre7.7%

(26)

11.2%

(38)

9.2%

(31)

2.7%

(9)

1.8%

(6)

67.5%

(228)2.37 338

Advice Centre (Pilkington Building)15.4%

(53)

16.0%

(55)

6.7%

(23)

1.2%

(4)

1.2%

(4)

59.6%

(205)1.93 344

Pilkington Reception 14.7%(52)

20.3%(72)

5.4%(19)

0.8%(3)

1.1%(4)

57.6%(204)

1.90 354

Essentials Shop13.4%

(47)

18.2%

(64)

11.4%

(40)

2.8%

(10)

1.4%

(5)

52.8%

(186)2.17 352

Super Coopers Freshers' Ball8.0%

(27)

12.7%

(43)

8.0%

(27)

1.2%

(4)

1.5%

(5)

68.7%

(233)2.22 339

Freshers' wristband6.8%

(23)

11.5%

(39)

7.4%

(25)

2.4%

(8)

3.2%

(11)

68.8%

(234)2.48 340

Coopers12.7%

(44)

15.3%

(53)

6.9%

(24)

2.0%

(7)

1.7%

(6)

61.4%

(213)2.09 347

Purple10.1%

(34)

13.3%

(45)

5.9%

(20)

3.0%

(10)

1.5%

(5)

66.3%

(224)2.18 338

Please comment on other positive or negative experiences. 52



14



16. What were your expectations of Induction/Freshers Week?

Response

Count

491



17. My expectations of Induction/Freshers Week were met

Response

Percent

Response

Count

Agree strongly 16.2% 111

Agree 37.7% 258

Neither agree nor disagree 30.8% 211

Disagree 8.3% 57

Disagree Strongly 6.9% 47


skipped question 80

18. Should anything have been left out or included in the Induction/Freshers week?

Response

Count

362



15



19. At this stage, would you recommend the University of Greenwich to your friends?

Response

Percent

Response

Count

Yes 89.9% 653

No 10.1% 73

Please comment on your answer 398


skipped question 38

20. Do you have any other comments or suggestions for improvement? These may relate to any aspects of

Induction/Freshers Week.

Response

Count

310



21. Thank-you for completing this questionnaire. Your comments will help us think about ways to improve the

induction process. If you would be happy to take part in future focus group meetings with other students on

this or other aspects of your learning experience, please add your email address below.

Dr Sally Alsford, Induction Coordinator, Educational Development, University of Greenwich.

Response

Percent

Response

Count

first name 99.3% 585

preferred email 98.6% 581

telephone 78.8% 464



16



Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development Appendix B ‐ Text Analysis of Student Induction Survey Questionnaire

Introduction

This analysis

is

concerned

with

the

free

text

fields

of

the

Student

Induction

Survey

questionnaire.

The main purpose is to find recurrent patterns in the free text fields and to extract opinions and

attitudes expressed by the students.

There are nine such free text fields in the survey. One of them simply asks the students to state

which programme they are studying and is not very useful for the analysis. The remaining eight fields

have been included in the analysis, although some contain very few replies and, thus, yield few clear

patterns.

The method used has been to extract high frequency words from the texts and further examine

collocations with those words in order to establish common patterns that may express commonly

held opinions.

Each of these fields will be analysed, separately, and commented on, along with some comments

about the overall impression. There were in total 750 responses, when duplicates had been

removed.

Analysis

Question: 'What were your expectations of Induction/Fresher’s Week?'

A total of 479 responses yielded 6842 word tokens. One of the most common words was 'meet' (77

times) and when collocates were analysed it seemed to express that students were happy to meet

other students and also staff and tutors. If 'meet' was used in a negative context it was when

students complained about not getting to meet tutors and other students as much as they had

hoped.

The word 'expected' was fairly frequent (55 times) and was used to express a degree of

dissatisfaction. They expected or hoped for more of a variety of things, such as information and time

with the tutors. The word was also used to express a surprise that the induction exceeded their

expectations. Some examples from the replies may illustrate this. Some comments were negative,

such as 'expected it to be more informative and less boring' or 'I expected to meet more students

and have a better relationship with teachers. Also expected a really good freshers fayre. Couldn't

17



Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development believe that there wasn’t (?) even 1 bank attending'. But there are also a number of comments

which seem to indicate that they expected less and were pleasantly surprised, 'expected it to be as

rubbish as the previous two years...i was pleasantly surprised' and 'I believe that it was not what I

expected. I expected to not fit and be lonely but actually we were all "in the same boat" and so I

made friends very quickly and had a great laugh! I want to do it all again next year!'

Words like 'not' (49 times) and 'good' (42 times) may be expected to express the students’ attitudes.

'Not' was often used expressing that there was not enough information, or that they were not

attending. Otherwise it was quite often used to state that it was not what they had expected, and

we have seen above that this meant both exceeding expectations and not living up to them. 'Good'

was almost only used in very short replies, such as, 'good' or 'very good'. Notably, there were no

simple 'not good' replies.

The word 'friends' was used 24 times and was often used to express a hope to meet new friends.

There are less clear patterns when it comes to expressing the outcome. At least this seems to

indicate the importance of induction for the students, as a means of making them fit in and find

friends.

Tutors (20 times) and staff (18 times) seem to be sought after. If comments were positive it was

because they got to meet them and if negative indicates that they felt that there was too little

contact.

The overall impression of the replies in this field is that the students see induction as an opportunity

to meet new friends and be acquainted with staff and tutors and that to some extent their

expectations were met or exceeded but there is a small amount of dissatisfaction expressed, mainly

about too little contact with staff and tutors and too little information.

Question: 'Should anything have been left out or included in the Induction/Fresher’s week?'

352 replies yielded a total of 3260 word tokens.

Generally there is a demand for more 'information', 'activities', 'fun' and more 'time'. There seems to

be a demand for more of the induction activities, opportunity to socialise and, of course, information

along with more time with the tutors.

18



Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development The word 'no' was used 88 times making it one of the most frequent words but it was most often

used as a simple 'no', presumably indicating that there was nothing to complain about. A third of the

replies were short statements, such as, 'no', 'n/a' or 'nope'.

'Not' was

used

32

times

and

most

often

indicated

that

they

were

not

attending

or

did

not

partake

fully. There were some complains about not enough information.

Words, such as 'events', 'time' and 'information' are interesting and were used 21, 20 and 19 times

respectively. They all collocate with 'more' and seem to indicate that the students want more time,

more social events and more information. There were some, and quite diverse, specific requests

about information about such things as 'library', 'e‐ journal' or 'induction sessions'.

'Activities' was used 13 times and seem to be used when students asked for more social activities.

The impression of the replies in this field is that the students are happy with what there is but want

more of the good things, such as information and social events.

Question: 'Please comment on other positive or negative experiences.'

(after answering questions about Super Coopers Fresher's Ball, Fresher’s wristband, Coopers, and

Purple).

This field yielded only a small number of replies, in total there were only 50 students who answered

this question. There were only 643 word tokens. This means that there were very few, if no

recurrent patterns. There were some comments stating that the library was good and a couple who

were happy with the Student Union. Otherwise no clear patterns were visible in this field.

Question: 'Do you have any other comments or suggestions for improvement? These may relate to

any aspects

of

Induction/Fresher’s

Week

This question yielded 299 responses and 4197 word tokens.

Around a third of those responses were either 'no', 'n/a' or 'none' or something similar.

There are very few clear patterns to be found here. Words like 'events’ (20 times) and 'information'

(19 times) both collocate with 'more' which may be interpreted as requests for more information

and more events.

19



Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development When the students comment about things they want to improve, the responses are quite diverse

and differ a lot. For example, 'filter coffee' in the Coopers Bar, the café should have different dishes,

or 'much larger fresher’s fair'.

Q uestion: 'Please say how many of the planned Induction/Freshers event’s you attended?

Please say why you didn't attend events, if appropriate'226 responses yielded 1871 word tokens.

The word 'not' was used 45 times and collocated with 'aware', 'attend', 'have', 'know' and

'interested'. There seems to be not enough information (given or received) or they didn't have time,

a few were simply not interested.

The expression 'didn't' was used 24 times and collocates with 'have' as in 'didn't have much time'

and 'know' as in 'didn't know about them'.

'Because' may point to explanations to why students didn't attend. It was used 22 times and

collocate with 'tiredness', 'being busy', 'no information', 'other commitments' or 'late admission'.

The overall impression is that students not attending prioritised other things, were busy or not

interested, when they didn't claim a lack of information as the main reason.

Question: 'Please comment on other positive or negative experiences.'

(after answering the question 'Please rate the following (but only if you experienced it!) By the

end of Induction/ Fresher’s week: 'I felt valued', 'I could use the library', ...)

There were only 168 replies to this question, still there were 5544 word tokens. This would suggest

longer replies

in

general.

There were 76 'not' found in this field and this word collocates with 'informed' and 'information',

again, pointing to a lack of information. 'Not' also collocates with 'helpful' and 'organised', which

may point to a negative experience. Both those words do, however, collocate, more strongly, with

'very' (without 'no') and 'well' and are thus used more commonly in a positive context.

'About' was used 26 times and collocates with 'information' and 'informed' and then, most often, in

a negative context, such as 'too little information about' or 'no information about'.

20



Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development The word 'staff' (26 times) is used in both positive and negative contexts, teaching staff are generally

good, but sometimes 'staff' are said to be not so helpful, sometimes staff are good but the university

is disorganised. Some staff are 'fantastic' while others are 'grumpy'. A variety of responses here.

Surprisingly few

clear

patterns

emerge,

given

the

relative

size

of

the

text

in

this

field

but

maybe

the

responses are too diverse to yield common patterns. Only when 'information' was used (14 times), a

consistent pattern is visible, it was mostly 'wrong', 'too little' or 'none at all'.

Question: 'Please comment on other positive or negative experiences'

(after answering questions about Students' Union Activities)

Only 89 responses in this field and a total of 1695 word tokens.

This text yields very few, if any, patterns. 'Expensive' collocates with 'food', and 'Sparrows' seemed

to be either hard to find or dangerous.

Question: 'At this stage, would you recommend the University of Greenwich to your friends?'

There were

387

responses

and

a total

of

7151

word

tokens

in

this

field.

The word 'good' was used 99 times and in one fifth of those examples it was modified with 'very'.

What was good tended to be 'experience', 'place', 'lectures', 'school' and 'teaching' although the

most common collocate was 'university'.

A word like 'very' (81 times) is interesting, since it may yield not only positive comments but also

more critical voices. In this text 'very' seemed to collocate with friendly', 'good', 'helpful',

'supportive' and

a couple

of

'nice'

and

'positive',

the

majority

of

these

being

positive.

There

were,

however, some negative collocates, such as, 'disappointed', 'hard', 'expensive', 'inefficient' and

'negative', although they tended to be fewer in number.

The word 'not' was quite frequent (65 times) but no clear patterns were visible. The strongest

collocate was 'sure'. The overall impression is that the things people are dissatisfied with are quite

diverse, such as night‐life, they don't feel at home, or the lectures are not interesting. There is no

clear negative pattern.

21



Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development 'Staff' and 'tutors' (44 and 24 times) are generally considered 'friendly', 'helpful' and 'nice' and even

'lovely'.

The word 'helpful' was used 26 times and only one reply was negative. 'Experience' was used 23

times and

was

mostly

used

in

a positive

context.

Generally those who have commented on this question are positive and specify the experience as a

good one, tutors and staff, for example, being good. There are however, the odd scathing

comments, such as, 'I had the worst experience of my life there' or '...I would not subject a friend to

this horrific experience'.

General Comments

and

Conclusions

The amount of data is relatively small and very clear patterns are hard to find. Some recurrent

opinions and attitudes are, however, possible to discern. The students who have provided

comments seem to be quite content with induction and see it as an opportunity to make friends,

meet staff, try to fit in and feel welcome. The majority of replies seem to indicate that this works for

most of the commentators. When negative opinions are expressed, most comments are about too

little of that which is good, such as social events and contact with tutors and other staff. Meeting the

staff is

mostly

a positive

experience

although

some

find

them

unhelpful

and

grumpy.

Here,

again,

there is a desire for more contact, especially with the tutors. Generally there is a pattern of

inadequate, or too little, information. Some students didn't attend certain events because they

didn't know about them. The general impression is that students appreciate the induction and want

more of it, in order to feel welcome at the university.

22




Appendix C – Web hits for New Arrivals web site 01/09/09 – 31/10/09

The site

comprised

431

pages

which

were

viewed

collectively

a total

of

186,701

times

40,471 visits were made to the new arrivals home page ‐ www.gre.ac.uk/new ‐ during this period.

From this initial landing page:

16,770 went on to visit the Inductions pages at www.gre.ac.uk/new/inductions

10,732 went on to visit the Joining Instructions web pages at www.gre.ac.uk/join

5,213 went on to visit the registration pages at www.gre.ac.uk/new/join/reg

4,699 went on to read the Useful Information pages at www.gre.ac.uk/new/useful

Peak viewing over the period was:

21st September – 9,778 visits

2nd

September – 7,435 visits

14th

September – 7,136 visits

( Annette Devine December 2009, source Google Analytics)

23



Induction and Transition – Report to Academic Council January 2010 ‐ Educational Development Appendix D ‐ Freshers Refreshers Week Report: Oct 26‐30

th, 2009

1. Drop‐in Sessions & workshops

Nil attendance

for

13/23

sessions.

Sessions which were attended:

Studying – top tips 3

Erasmus 1 (& contact with another)

Electronic resources 2

Portal intro 1

Money 5

SMART (Fri) 4

Immigration 1

English language 3 (notably all from CMS, where

there was tutorial encouragement to attend)

Ghostly tour – 5 student volunteers, 25 students

2. Student volunteers & freshers’ check lists

o 10 continuing students participated (5 each from CMS and HSS) and their

contribution was one of the most successful elements of the week.

o 291 new students were “checklisted” and volunteers reported a lot of positive

reaction to

the

Refreshers

week

3. Web stats.

940 views of the Freshers Refreshers page, 155 did the interactive quiz.

4. Rough Guide to the First Year Publication (contents)

‐ Student glossary

‐ Checklist and further info.

‐ Students’ “top tips”

Available as a pdf on the University New Arrivals page at:

http://www.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/398621/Rough‐Guide

‐to

‐the

‐First

‐

Year.pdf

The checklist is also available as an online quiz at:

http://www.gre.ac.uk/students/news/greenwich/freshers‐checklist

Sally Alsford, Educational Development

iNDUCTION REPORT TO COUNCIL

Documents

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