Emma Palmer and the Foundation Year Team
emma.palmer@hull.ac.uk
fy.tutors@hull.ac.uk
To achieve a sense of belonging, we should consider the students’ identities, transition experience and their perceptions of community. For some students, they may have established networks and are confident in who they are as a student. Others may still be finding out who they are and how they process their experience at University. There is no simple solution but working with students to explore these avenues are a starting point, especially during challenging times such as the COVID-19 Pandemic.
With limited face to face interaction due to COVID-19, students were at risk of not being able to network or meet their peers unless it was within scheduled sessions e.g., lectures. As a way of engaging with students at the beginning of the year, an online platform ‘Discord’ was set up for students in the Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education (FACE) to interact and engage with each other outside of these sessions and other activities e.g. online socials.
Students expressed interest in ways of communicating to each other, however not all students have, or wish to have, social media; and having a group chat on Teams could mean there is no separation to academic and social interactions. By setting up a platform such as ‘Discord’ – it allowed students to interact with each other without sharing personal information about themselves and organically develop conversations. Staff can be on there too to intervene should issues arise, though prior discussions with students about house rules can be implemented and agreed on mutually. However, it allowed students to get to know staff and build a positive working relationship with them.
This was an optional choice for Foundation Year students to sign up to Discord, but 85% of FACE Foundation Year students sign up. As well as asking questions, providing informal feedback, and offering peer support, students also shared fun elements too; including music on which we set up a dedicated Spotify playlist (available to listen here)
In recent one to ones with students from Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education, those who engaged with Discord found that this enhanced their experience at university, and felt a sense of belonging:
For the next academic year, Discord will continue; this year’s cohort now have a dedicated ‘channel’ for them (private), whilst new students can be added on; this will allow previous cohorts to help new Foundation Year students settle into University life, offer support and advice based on their experiences and grow a community. It will remain optional and run for Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education and Faculty of Business, Law and Politics, with the plans to implement similar model for Faculty of Health Science and Faculty of Science and Engineering.