UCD Access & Lifelong Learning (ALL) Student Welcome Programme
Academic integration/belonging, Financial needs, Social integration/belongingWorkshop | Info session | On campus | In person | Live
Time lineWhat is the main idea or gist?
What does this initiative/support/project look like?
The ALL Student Welcome is a two-day event and is open to all incoming UCD students who applied through any of the following pathways:
These pathways are part of the UCD access entry routes. These student cohorts are traditionally deemed to be under-represented in higher education. The purpose of this welcome/orientation programme is to give students a head start in settling into UCD Life, while also finding out lots of practical information, having fun, making friends and building that sense of belonging. The importance of the ALL Welcome cannot be underestimated for incoming students. This is their opportunity to meet future classmates and to learn about the personal, social, financial, and academic support available. It is a chance to get used to the UCD campus before everyone else and to learn where to ask for help.
During the two days, students are grouped by their academic programme and get to know their ‘Access Leader’, a current UCD student.
The welcome is a combination of social activities and signposting to important information that students need to know when they are starting college.
It includes the below:
Day 1
Day 2
Introduction and welcome to Day 2
There is also a family information session as part of the ALL Welcome to give family or friends of the incoming access student an overview of the key messaging and to extend the welcome to all.
What are the goals?
To help incoming students to settle in, make friends, build connections and foster a sense of belonging.
On completion of the ALL Welcome incoming access students will:
How are students involved?
Access Leaders, are access students who have a first-hand understanding of UCD’s diverse entry pathways and of the journey students have taken to get to UCD. They are role models and provide initial mentoring for new entrants.
Access Leaders are part of the team that develop the welcome and co-create the content and deliver the welcome programme. Participants are surveyed and their feedback is incorporated into the planning of the next student welcome
What underlying constructs or ideas inspired the design?
Research highlights the importance of a good orientation and induction programme to help with onboarding.
The design draws on Bourdieu’s capitals – developing key themes around financial, social, academic and cultural capital. Expanding on this, through the work of Liz Thomas, Diane Reay and others, the focus has switched to building on social capital and belonging as a first step, while deferring or signposting to the other capitals. A lot of content, which was an integral part of previous Welcome Programmes, is now offered during the first six weeks of onboarding. Incoming students can access the content through the VLE or through free workshops offered in person and as a recording.
What the success criteria and the points of attention?
It helps incoming students settle in, make friends, build connections and foster a sense of belonging. Current students (Access Leaders) are part of the design and delivery of the Welcome Programme.
We hosted an inclusive University for All Welcome at the start of the 2019–20 Academic Year. During the Welcome, which is designed to give students a sense of entitlement and to cultivate their opportunities as students, we asked them to indicate what their main goal was for the year ahead. Their responses illustrated a disconnect between the capital we thought they would want and the aspirations they had for themselves.
The question asked was an open one, and the students wrote anonymously on a green luggage tag. Over 45 per cent of the handwritten Goal Tags referred to some aspect of social capital. 120 (19 per cent) of the respondents wrote specifically about ‘making friends’ or a version of wishing to connect and make new friends. The short and unambiguous ambition to ‘make friends’ was powerful. In that context, offering advice on other aspects of student life or information capital is ill-advised and poorly timed. In that 2019 Welcome, students were offered specific sessions on financial support, on academic writing, and a range of information sessions on various aspects of student life. In that exercise, only seven (1 percent) of the students noted that their main goal was to figure out a financial strategy. All these information sessions were offered by university staff and were detailed and expert in their delivery and content.
Make as much friends as possible. Be confident where I’m at and what I’m doing. [Student Goal, ALL Welcome 2019–20]
Following our analysis of the Goal Tags and feedback from the Welcome event, we adapted our Welcome Programme for the following year. The amended Welcome Programme recognises that students want to meet other students. They want time to learn from each other and connect with each other. We, therefore, co-created the welcome sessions with Access Leaders, who are student leaders, and have amended the programme to reduce the informational content and maximise student interactions. This change has been significant and requires a change in mindset, as staff are predisposed towards sharing information and detail at point of entry, rather than disseminating it through other media or outlets, such as our student leaders.
(How) does the effectiveness get tracked?
strongly agree
(How) is this initiative/support/project evaluated?
Yes
Feedback is sought after each welcome from both staff and students. Recommendations are taken on board from this and implemented where possible.
The ALL team gathers after the Welcome and does a full debrief on the process and documents what worked, what needs amending and what should be done differently. These key observations are then used as the basis for the next planning session for the following year.
How is it communicated and advertised?
This event is one of the rare times that we post an item to the incoming student. It is designed as a celebratory invitation, congratulating the incoming student and explaining the purpose. The student receives a programme outlining the events and purpose of the ALL Welcome. The incoming student also receives a follow up call from an access leader prompting them to respond to the invitation and answering any questions they may have about the event. The personalised e-mail and phone call is designed to initiate that sense of belonging and to give the incoming student a sense of a face and a place when they start their studies
What is the current and ideal timing and duration?
After enrolment but before students start. Before their programme orientation starts.
During regular ‘school’ hours.
This is a Welcome Programme for all students entering UCD via an access entry route and it takes place before students specific Programme Orientation. More then 750 students attended the WELCOME Programme in 2023.
What resources are needed to run this initiative?
Is it easily transferrable to other contexts or groups?
We think it is easily transferable to other contexts or groups.
Lots of universities, colleges and programmes will run their own specific orientation (Welcome) Programmes.
The UCD Access and Lifelong Learning Centre combined their various orientation programmes in 2019 so that all students who have entered UCD through an access route are invited to attend the same orientation. This includes students from a range of underrepresented groups including entrants from
The programme has a big focus on giving students the opportunity to build social connections and make friends as it was noted on feedback that this is very important for students that are just starting. Universal Design principles are implemented when designing and delivering the programme.
Incoming access students are invited to campus before their Programme Orientation so they are familiar with the campus and feel more comfortable when starting. This early engagement with a quieter campus is intended to give access students a ‘head start’ so that they develop a connection with the campus in a positive and productive manner.
The ALL Welcome does not replicate any of the content that will be offered during their Programme Orientation, focusing instead on the