It was a privilege to be a virtual sponsor of the national AMOSSHE Conference, held at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead in July.
The highlight for me was listening to three students describe, in their own words, how student services had supported them. They all came from very different backgrounds. Two were international students, while another was the first in her family to attend university.
What struck me was that their priorities were not the areas I spend much of my working life discussing with universities. Instead, they talked about funding, employability and mentoring. One student explained how financial support from her university meant she did not have to work excessive hours in a second job, while the others spoke about the difference that careers advice and mentoring had made.
It was a useful reminder that while universities rightly invest significant effort in areas such as consent, bystander intervention, anti-racism and E6, students themselves often judge their experience through much more practical questions: Can I afford to stay? Will I get a good job? Will someone help me find my way?
My thanks to AMOSSHE for putting authentic student voices at the heart of the conference. I also greatly enjoyed the opening keynote from Andy Wragg, Head of Student Services at the University of Edinburgh. It was an honest assessment of the financial pressures facing higher education, but I particularly liked the way he closed his presentation with poetry. It was an unexpected and thoughtful way to end.
Many of the sessions I attended focused on E6 and how universities can demonstrate genuine cultural change rather than simple compliance. One discussion explored how student surveys might be used to measure changes in attitudes and behaviours, rather than simply recording training completion.
Finally, I was struck by the sheer logistical challenge universities face in supporting thousands of students from such diverse backgrounds. It reinforced some of the thinking behind Student Compass, which will begin piloting with a large UK university in September. I'm looking forward to seeing what we learn from the pilot and whether conversational support can become another practical tool alongside the excellent work already being done by student support teams.
