Building Engaged Communities: Institutional Solutions for Student Participation Across Europe
UNICOMM Online Symposium
December 3rd, 2024
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM (CET)
Microsoft Teams
Join us on December 3rd, 2024, for an inspiring online event aimed at exploring innovative approaches to enhancing student participation in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) across Europe. This symposium will bring together researchers, practitioners, and students to share insights, discuss successful initiatives, and work towards fostering vibrant, engaged communities within HEIs.
Why should you attend?
Student engagement is a cornerstone of university culture, a key indicator of quality in higher education, and a driver for institutional development and growth. However, higher education institutions face ongoing challenges in fostering, maintaining, and expanding this engagement. This symposium provides a valuable opportunity to address these challenges and share solutions.
- Learn and exchange ideas: Explore research findings, real-world case studies, and innovative initiatives focused on student engagement within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
- Influence change: Contribute to discussions on sustainable, student-centric participation models.
- Build connections: Meet like-minded scholars, practitioners, and students across Europe.
Participation is free of charge, but registration is required.
Keynote
Student Agency in Building Engaged Communities: Theoretical Considerations and Institutional Solutions
Dr Manja Klemenčič | University of Ljubljana and Harvard University
This keynote addresses the shift in scholarship and practice from focusing on student satisfaction to student engagement and more recently to student agency as students' capacity to act as explanatory mechanisms for student outcomes in higher education. The keynote presents the theory of student agency focusing specifically on a set of valuable capabilities, such as self-awareness, self-regulation, self-efficacy and self-directed learning. While students can enact agency towards self-formation, be that achieving graduation or building skills for a specific career, they also enact agency, individually or collectively or through proxies towards changes in their universities and higher education systems. Student impact models explain the variety of high impact roles for students with high potential for social impact. The keynote presentation includes several prompts to discuss with the audience institutional solutions for strengthening student agency for self-formation and for driving institutional change.
Presentations and Workshops
Students Participation in the Governance of European University Alliances
Karol Leja | Tampere University | Finland
Student Communities in Teacher Education as Sources of Professional Socialisation
Dániel Bodnár | University of Debrecen | Hungary
The Community of Inquiry Framework in Virtual Teacher Training: Student Perceptions and Didactic Strategies to Enhance Engagement
Nora Cechovsky | University of Education Upper Austria | Austria
Collaboration at Student Volunteer Ireland: Engagement and Recognition for Student Volunteers
WORKSHOP
Lorraine Tansey (University of Limerick) & Olasumbo Ajisafe (University College Dublin) | Ireland
Student-Led Initiatives for Mental Health in Europe: Nightline Europe
Kate Hart & Marine Tison | Nightline France | France
Building Engaged Communities Requires Foundations of Trust
Claire Hamshire & Kevwe Olomu | University of Salford Manchester | UK
Panel Discussion
"Building Bridges: How Institutions Can Support and Elevate Student Engagement"
The final roundtable brings together a diverse panel of experts, including ombuds, students, educators and researchers, and to explore how institutions can effectively support and foster student engagement. Through personal experiences and practical examples, the discussion will highlight innovative practices, address common challenges, and propose strategies for creating inclusive and empowering environments.
The session will feature:
- Agnieszka Grabowska, State Academy of Applied Sciences Chełm & Mentor at the Scientific Volunteer Circle of the Peadogogy Department, Poland
- Jorge A. Ribeiro Pereira, European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education, Portugal
- Maurizio Häfele, EuniWell European University for Well-Being, Germany
- Vivien Surman, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary
Join us for this collaborative dialogue to gain actionable ideas and fresh perspectives on strengthening student engagement across Europe and beyond.
For questions or further information, please contact: stefanie.sterrer@fh-ooe.at
