Student-led Learning Communities Fund

There are 3 funding routes that departments and schools can apply to: Department Community Co-ordinators (DCC), Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) and Additional Funding. 

Yes, departments and schools can apply for more than one route.

Departments will be allocated funding for one UG DCC role for up to 12 weeks (for 7 hours a week), contingent on having a plan for areas of focus, timeline and evaluation. 

Schools (in recognition of their greater number of programmes and students) will be allocated funding for two UG DCCs for up to 12 weeks, who will work across the whole school, playing an important role in bringing students together.

Departments/Schools will be invited to complete an expression of interest form to indicate they would like to take up this funding.

The deadline for applications for the DCC funding route is 23 June 2023.

Funding will be available to support ‘traditional’ PAL models (linked directly to a specific module) in the same way as previous years (across 12 departments). 

Funding will cover the recruitment of up to 3 PAL leaders per department: trained second or third year students who will facilitate weekly sessions targeting specific module content and/or key skills.  

Departments will be invited to complete an expression of interest form to apply for this funding.

The deadline for applications to the PAL funding route is 23 June 2023.

Departments can also apply for additional funding in the following areas:

1. Additional DCCs or employment of DCCs beyond 12 weeks
2. Projects focused specifically on international and/or postgraduate (taught) students - e.g. international or PGT DCCs
3. New projects which enhance the building of student-led learning communities. Projects must involve both staff and paid student roles in the work of the project.
4. Alternative models of PAL, which embody the core principles but do not necessarily align with a set module or module content  e.g. a project focused on academic skills or building inclusive learning communities)

This element of the Fund will be competitive and proposals will be assessed on their quality, sustainability and alignment with the following criteria:

• Projects should have the potential to make a measurable impact on students’ sense of community, belonging and learning.
• Departments and schools, where possible, should consult with academic representation roles (e.g. course or department rep, or action group member) on the development of their proposal.
• Projects should address one or more of the following:
  • Create spaces for students to develop significant relationships with peers and/or staff, which have the potential to positively influence students’ learning and sense of belonging - e.g. within their modules, programmes or in the department as a whole.
  • Gaps in continuation by facilitating the development of student-led learning communities.
  • Supporting students’ academic and social transition into and through university, through deep care and relentless welcome.

Departments/Schools should indicate on the expression of interest form that they are interested in applying for additional funding: the deadline for submission of this form is 23 June 2023.
Departments/ Schools will be invited to a scoping meeting to discuss the proposal, with the final deadline for applications for the additional funding route: 31 July 2023.

The move from a centrally funded approach to department/school-led means that departments/schools will take on different responsibilities. Practically, this means departments/schools will:

• Provide a named contact for the student partner to work with
• Work with the student partner to set shared objectives
• Recruit the student partner and manage set up on dashboard
• Ensure that academic representation roles have been consulted

The Inclusive Learning Team will continue to support departments/schools in a facilitatory capacity, taking responsibility for:

• Supporting specific training for student and staff partners 
• Allocation of the funding (via the generation of work orders for departments and schools to spend against)
• Providing guidance and resources to support the implementation of peer-assisted learning (PAL) models in departments and schools
• Providing an evaluation framework
• Collating, sharing and celebrating practice from across departments and schools