Partnership in practice

The Solent Student Partner Programme at Southampton Solent University in the UK is an institutional partnership initiative. It contributes to the University’s educational excellence by:

• Supporting students to work in partnership with academic and professional service staff across the institution to enhance our provision
• Co-creating and shaping the practices at Southampton Solent University by valuing the diverse voices and perspectives of our students
• Enabling students to gain valuable experience that develops their confidence and skills to support their future employability

A team of 15 Student Partners are recruited into paid roles to support a range of projects across Academic Departments and Professional Services at the University each academic year. Students receive a programme induction in the University’s central Education Office before being deployed to work in partnership with staff in different projects across the institution according to interest. Academic and Professional support colleagues contact the Education Office to propose a partnership project. Projects are progressed on a first-come, first-served basis. They are varied in focus but typically involve the Student Partners working with staff to co-create aspects of our educational research, policy, and practice.

Project examples

Below are some examples of the ways that our students have worked with staff to contribute to our educational excellence:

• Teaching Observations: Observing and providing feedback to staff who are new to teaching in higher education.
• Digital Inclusivity: Supporting Module Leaders to enhance the inclusivity, accessibility, and usability of their online learning environments.
• Solent Future Learning: Supporting course teams to redesign the delivery of their programmes.
• Solent Impactful Interventions Programme: Supporting course teams to develop and implement an enhancement action plan.
• The Use of AI in Learning and Teaching: Co-developing guidance on the use of Artificial Intelligence for staff and students.
• Learning and Teaching Steering Group: Contributing to learning and teaching steering group meetings.
• Research Workshops: Co-researching AI Bias and Ethical Storytelling in Digital Illustration.
• Mental Health Charter: Co-creating a university framework to support the mental health and wellbeing of staff and students.

Below is feedback from staff members who worked with the Student Partners:

India Lawton, Lecturer in Art and Design says:
“Working with Student Partners has been a genuinely valuable experience. Their input during our departmental planning day brought fresh, honest perspectives that helped shape meaningful goals for the year ahead. I also had the pleasure of involving them in a research project workshop, where their insight and professionalism added real depth, both in shaping the session and supporting its delivery at the University learning, teaching, and research conference. The initiative has allowed me to work collaboratively with students as true partners, and their contributions have been both thoughtful and impactful.”

Kevin Braybrook, Course Leader – Football Studies says:
“As part of our commitment to develop the courses under the sport and health department, it is imperative we collaborate with colleagues and students to identify opportunities for development, recommendations to be shared and new approaches adopted for the relevance of all. As a result of this intent, the Solent Impact Interventions Programme has been a hugely valuable process to be part of and learn from as it has enabled us to work with students and appreciate courses through their lens.”

Edd Bolton, Learning Technologist says:
“The Student Partners that I have worked with, played a key role in understanding how students at the university utilise AI in supporting their studies. Self-motivated they engaged with the task of defining scope of research and played a pivotal role in the data collections. Without their support this research could not have been conducted.”

Catherine Turton, Instructional Designer says:
“By involving student partners in making decisions about the aims and direction of our project, we have discovered a collaborative, creative methodology that has helped us establish connection within the group, unearth shared experiences between staff and students, and discover avenues for further research.”

Ongoing evaluation of the Solent Student Partner Programme demonstrates the reach, impact and value of our partnership working. Dr Carina Buckley, Instructional Design Manager, says:

“The Student Partners are a window into the soul of the university, and it always feels like a privilege to have such a view. Not only do they bring with them fresh ideas, diverse perspectives and informed opinions, their interdisciplinary mobility seeds innovation and creativity between colleagues and across departments so that the benefit of their work spreads much further than the individuals involved”.

Our Student Partner Programme has helped us move beyond a piecemeal approach to partnership towards one that is now embedded in the culture of our university. The success and sustainability of our Programme is underpinned by the Southampton Solent University values of Respect, Teamwork, Ownership, Integrity, Inclusivity, and Engagement.