Student-Staff Partnerships at the University of Manchester Library
Student-Staff Partnerships (SSP) refers to a form of co-creation that involves collaborative work between staff and students to create new learning materials, conduct research, or carry out evaluations of services to inform future change. Student co-creation guarantees that both student and staff needs are taken into account whilst designing programmes of study, ensuring that resources are of high-quality and relevant to a diverse student population.
In this post, we, the members of the Library Student Team, will be discussing the types of SSPs at The University of Manchester Library. We will highlight some of the projects developed by this partnership, and how this type of partnership can aid the personal and professional development of both students and staff.
SSP Projects
As members of the Student Team, one of our roles at the Library is to liaise between the Library staff and students. Using the SSP model, we have collaborated with staff on many different types of project. Here are a few examples:
- Workshop delivery and Resource redesigns: Working with staff, the Student Team co-facilitates study skills workshops as part of the My Learning Essentials (MLE) programme and the My Research Essentials (MRE) programme. In addition, we work with staff to evaluate and co-create resources and workshops within these programmes.
- Widening Participation: For this project, staff and students develop, evaluate, and co-deliver workshops that increase sixth form students’ readiness for Higher Education. We also help to create resources and deliver The John Rylands Library Education Programme, which offers workshops targeted to younger and older school students (Key Stages 2–5).
- Key Campaigns: We help to run some of the Library’s main campaigns, such as the ‘Get Started’ campaign at the start of the academic year and the ‘Exam Extra’ and ‘Assessment Support’ campaigns during assessment season. Through running workshops, promoting the campaign through social media, staffing information stalls and creating learning resources, we help students to navigate Library and support services during crucial points of the academic year.
- DigiLab: DigiLab is a series of events run by the Library to give staff and students the opportunity to learn about and test new technology. The events offer a welcoming environment to explore and interact with new technology while providing valuable feedback to product developers. Student Team members prepare and assist in the delivery of these sessions: setting up equipment, signposting attendees, helping attendees understand the technology displayed and supporting attendees to play with or test them out. In addition, as part of the DigiLab project, we support the running of Code Club drop-in sessions to support students and staff with their coding projects and learning.
- Podcasts: The Student Team contributes to the development of podcasts for use in online resources or credit-bearing modules such as the University College of Interdisciplinary Learning’s module Digital Society. Staff supervise, reviewing our contributions and scripts to ensure that these meet university standards. We also lead the recording and editing of podcasts, welcoming and interviewing staff guest speakers. After podcast recordings are finalised, we provide final transcripts to increase the accessibility of the podcast projects.
- Social Media: Working from a communications plan, the Student Team creates creative and engaging content for the Library Instagram and Twitter accounts. Through the social media project, we are given space to explore our creative side and develop our design and marketing capabilities. Staff also benefit from our student experiences and perspectives that can inform strategies to increase student engagement.
These cover just a few of the Student Team’s main collaborations with the Library Staff, but there are many more! While the projects are varied and diverse, one thing is very clear; this partnership model has been successful in the Library and has proven to be very beneficial for all involved!
Benefits of SSP for the overall student experience
Student-Staff Partnerships improve the quality of the library services offered by the Learning and Development Team. As the Library Student Team comprises both undergraduate and postgraduate students studying a range of subjects, we work collaboratively to bring a broad perspective to the table, ensuring that the Library services meet the needs of a diverse student body. For example, we contribute to workshop ‘refreshes’ — the evaluation and redesign of learning materials and workshops — which ensures that the student voice and needs are taken into account.
‘The Student Team provides a great perspective on how to re-design learning materials — because at the end the day, it will be students like us who will be using them.’ — Simone, BSc Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology.
We also have a Medium blog in which we draw on our student experiences to share advice. The topics on this blog range from advice on open-book assessments to transitioning from Masters to PhD study. This content creation aims to round out the student experience and help readers experience student life at its fullest. Working with Library staff on outreach and social media content provides students with a platform to share their experiences for the benefit of the larger student community and increases student engagement.
For more information about how Student-Staff Partnerships can benefit the student body, check out the HEA’s Framework for Partnership in higher education.
How the SSP benefits the staff involved
Because of our contributions to projects, we consistently receive positive responses from Library staff and partners — in fact, we receive so much appreciation that we have made feedback bunting in the office!
‘The strength of community in our office when the student team is present is tangible, learning is reciprocal, knowledge and skills are developed between us and voices and expertise are respected and trusted. Oh, and I get ridiculously upset when the students graduate and leave us!’ — Sam, Library Development, University of Manchester.
Working together in SSPs enables students and staff to benefit from each other’s insights, experience, and expertise. Working in SSPs provides staff with insights into what it’s like to be a student in the present day, continually broadening their view of higher education. It also encourages both students and staff to question the assumptions that they make about one another and the learning process, resulting in a continual re-evaluation of one’s role in the teaching and learning process.
‘I often know what I want my students to take away from a session, but the best way to figure out how to get them there is usually to develop it with their input! Working collaboratively and developing resources with student partners involved at all stages helps to keep me accountable. Hopefully, it makes sure my content’s more relevant, accessible, and useful. It’s also just a lot more fun!’ — Kit, Learning Development, University of Manchester Library.
How the SSP benefits the students involved
The SSP improves student employability through developing specific project-related skills, and soft skills such as cross-departmental team working, communication, and time management. Through working with more experienced staff members, we develop our skills and professionalism in an environment that has flexibility for the initial learning curve and some room for mistakes.
‘I was involved as an equal in all of the communications within the group of staff that I was working with, and I could choose to take on or contribute to various tasks- I wasn’t just there to provide a student perspective, I was also supported to develop other skills!’ — Amanda, BA French and Spanish.
Through working with staff in SSPs, we also have the opportunity to develop skills and try new things. We fill out a skills matrix on a biannual basis, recording our confidence and experience with skills such as content creation, programming and design, social media, and research, highlighting which skills we would like to develop.
Referring to this matrix helps staff and Student Team project leaders to assign tasks, and helps us by allowing us to work to our strengths, or to work with a more experienced Student Team member who can help us to develop the desired skill! This matrix is a tangible way to show our personal and professional development, illustrating the Library’s commitment to student partners.
‘I was involved in the delivery of various media developmental tasks with multiple departments. I was given the freedom to choose how to go about completing these tasks, the to and fro conversation and feedback with staff really helped me develop my articulation and reflection skills!’ — Raghav, MEng Mechatronic Engineering.
Working on the Student Team is an enjoyable and educational experience. After graduating, some members go on to work in curriculum design and teaching support. In fact, the current staff lead for the Student Team was a Student Team Member!
For more information about getting started with Student-Staff Partnerships and co-creation, check out John Owen’s blog post: ‘Student-Staff Partnerships: A Practical Guide’.
By Loujane, Amanda, Fatimah, Jakub, Nandana, Amala, Simone, and Raghav from the Library Student Team
