1. STIR: Socialisation to Improve
Retention

2. Overview
• Background
• Activities:
• Meet Your Studies Advisor
• Team Building in Sports Hall
• Night out with David Meade
• Feedback
• Dissemination
• Future Plans

3. Background
• IN-TUNE project: CHEP funded in 2009-10
• Researcher integrated with students in first semester
• One finding: not easy to get to know others on the
same course
• Sense of belonging

4. Meet Your Studies Advisor
• The Studies Advice process
• Issues
• Event – week 1 in Sports Hall
• Questionnaire – 58% response
• “Useful because my Studies Advisor gave me advice and checked up on how I was
doing”.
• “Useful to voice opinions and concerns about the course”.
• “I was able to tell my Studies Advisor how I felt and how I was getting on. She
made me feel reassured to talk to her about problems”.
• “Not useful. Told things I already knew”.
• “Waste of time. I had no problems”.

5. Team Building
• Sessions facilitated by Sports Centre staff
• Participation and timing issues
• Feedback:
• “I believe it helped me to get to know others and become friends”.
• “I got to know who was in my course and got talking to some of them”.
• “It was a bit of craic and made me relaxed with people I didn’t know”.
• “It was a great way to meet other people doing the same course and have fun”
• Meeting others:
• “I met my friends during a group practical and have stayed friends since”
• “Through tutorial groups and group work in class”.

6. Evening Out

7. Evening Out

8. Evening Out Feedback
• Disappointing attendance
• Timing
• Comments:
• “It was a great night out. It was something new which we wouldn’t have had the
opportunity to do otherwise”.
• “I did enjoy the evening; I found it very entertaining and a real good laugh. I got to
laugh and joke with new people”.
• “It was epic. I reckon people were raging they didn’t go. He is so hilarious. Every
person there definitely enjoyed it, without a doubt”.

9. Future Plans
• Continue and extend Meet Your Studies
Advisor
• Team Building only in week 1 (if possible)
• Evening out in semester 1 rather than
semester 2
• Review modules to include more group work
in class (not necessarily assessed)

10. Dissemination
• HEA Workshop: 10th March 2011, London,
Southbank University
• HEA 12th annual ICS conference, Belfast,
August 23-25 2011

11. Contact Details
• Heather Sayers
hm.sayers@ulster.ac.uk
• Mairin Nicell
ma.nicell@ulster.ac.uk