Student success at college is not just achieving high grades The National Forum for Teaching and Learning defines student success as the process by which students fulfil their potential and flourish at college and in society. This is a broader activity than simply achieving high grades. Psychosocial competencies are core to the definition of student success: these are the ‘soft skills’ or ‘non-cognitive skills’ that enable students to cope well with learning challenges, engage deeply in learning, and develop their identities as learners and as active citizens. Transitions are a key issue within this priority area, with transitions such as the move from school to college presenting both challenges and opportunities for students.
Initiative
Guiding Strategies and Practices for Student Success at Maynooth University
About this initiative
The aim of this initiative is to provide a strategic framework and practical action plan to further embed a shared vision and culture of student success at Maynooth University. The initiative involves three integrated streams of work, which will inform each other.
• Student Engagement: We will develop a student engagement initiative, that will pro-actively address student engagement during COVID-19. We will identify and connect with students who have disengaged from academic programmes. In dialogue with these students, we will identify the challenges they are facing, co-ordinate supports and scaffold a holistic re-engagement plan for the student to help them re-engage.
• Student Success Strategy: This work package will establish a University Student Success Strategy Working group, who will facilitate an institution-wide consultation process to develop a Student Success strategy and action plan specific to Maynooth University. The strategy and action plan will focus on the student lifecycle and help embed a holistic and whole-of-institution approach to student success.
• Data for Student Success: This work package will involve a scoping exercise to identify how data can be used to build learning analytics tools. This will help us better understand student engagement and inform decision-making on the appropriate supports and resources to help students achieve success. To underpin this work, a learning analytics policy will be collaboratively developed with staff and student stakeholders.
The initiative will begin in February 2021 and run until the end of April 2022. The outcomes and recommendations from the initiative will be published in May 2022.
Lead organisations
Affiliated organisations
Linked open educational resources
Initiative details
Funding programmes SATLE
Themes Student Success
Award year
2020Funding amount (€)
160000Contributors
Related initiatives
Using Acceptance & Commitment Therapy to Reduce Academic Procrastination
Although academic procrastination is a common feature of university life (affecting 50-95% of students), research suggests it is highly problematic (Scent & Boes, 2014). Academic procrastination is associated with diminished well-being, poor quality of life, high stress, poor university performance, and university dropout (Glick & Orsillo, 2015).
Creative Writing Support
The Learning Enhancement Project set out to supplement existing writing services offered by the UCD Writing Centre, by offering support to students in creative writing. Creative Writing is one of the most successful and fastest growing subjects in the College of Arts and Humanities. With a large elective programme, the new BA in English with Creative Writing, and provision at MA, MFA and PhD levels, there is a real demand for support for creative writing students.