Tag Archives: mentoring

Supporting transition and success: On Track and BBK Chat

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Ali Sheldrick, an Access Officer in the Access and Engagement team shares some of the initiatives that students can access to ensure a smooth transition into higher education.

A person sitting in a chair talking to another person on a laptop screen

University life has always taken some getting used to. And this is especially true in an age of rapid and unpredictable changes to the delivery of higher education brought on by the onset of COVID-19.

With the continued success of students from under-represented backgrounds a key aim for the Access and Engagement (A&E) Department, we have been busy expanding our support for offer holders and new students over the past two years.

In addition to our support around specific scholarships and bursaries, this transition work has focussed on two programmes – BBK Chat, our student mentoring scheme, and On Track, our new transition support programme.

BBK Chat

“My first session was excellent because my Mentor explained how to do well at University regarding time management, where I can find help on my studies skills, essays and exam deadlines.” – BBK Chat Mentee feedback

BBK Chat is a peer mentoring scheme that offers first-year students from under-represented backgrounds an opportunity to meet with an experienced Birkbeck student. These informal, regular chats take place three times a year (autumn, winter, and spring) and give new students the chance to ask questions and speak with someone who can provide support and guidance from a student’s perspective.

Last year, meetings shifted from taking place over a tea or coffee in and around Birkbeck’s campuses to online only meetings. The 80 students who are meeting this year were given the choice of meeting online or in-person and paired up accordingly. This took place alongside a renewed emphasis on pairing according to common subject area, lived experience, and background wherever possible.

With this, we’re now able to sustain BBK Chat’s unique offer of tailored one-to-one guidance from people who have recent lived experience of successfully navigating their first year at Birkbeck.

On Track

“It was more than my expectations. I have learnt so much about others’ experience….” – On Track attendee feedback

On Track is a subject-specific programme that supports students from non-traditional entry routes (non-A-level) through the pre-entry and transition stages of their studies at Birkbeck.

First piloted in 2020 with two cohorts of Biomedicine and Law offer holders, it was expanded to include Arts Foundation Year and Business and Management subject areas for the 2021-22 intake: going from a total of 21 to 35 participants.

On Track provides academic guidance on what students can expect from their course, resources to support preparation and ongoing success with their studies, and a chance for them to get to know fellow students and staff before their first term at Birkbeck.

All offer holders who applied without A-Levels were invited to participate in the programme which was based around three subject-specific workshops, taking place over Summer and into the start of term. These were delivered by an A&E Access Officer, course teaching staff, and current students; whilst participants also benefitted from access to an On Track Moodle page and the option of one-to-one catch-up meetings in the first term.

Plans are being made to improve and expand On Track to reach more new students in 2022!

“…it really answered the questions, that were running through my mind regarding October…” – On Track attendee feedback

The Access and Engagement Department will be running a programme of outreach activity with both current and prospective students across the academic year, with Is University for Me? events planned for January and May 2022 and taster courses in Law (February) and Psychology in Education (May), plus much more!

For more information about our work and how to get involved, colleagues can email the  team or explore our webpage.

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Mentoring on the Compass Project

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Luke Williams is a part-time lecturer in Creative Writing, member of the Compass Project Steering Committee and mentor. In this blog, he speaks to Natasha Soobramanien about his involvement in the project.

A laptop with a sign that says 'we rise by helping others'

I’ve been involved in the Compass Project since it began in 2016. Right from the start we realised that if we wanted to offer scholarships to people from forced migrant backgrounds, we also needed to make sure those students received the support they might need to thrive at Birkbeck. Each student on the Compass Project has a mentor, an academic at Birkbeck who elects to support them through their studies.

Compass Project students face particular challenges in relation to British institutions: government policy is designed to create a hostile institutional environment for migrants, and educational institutions are no exception to this. But the university is also a place to gain and share knowledge, and to form friendships with others. Our job as mentors is to give Compass Project students practical and moral support so that they remain able to focus on the positive and rewarding aspects of student life, and the opportunities Birkbeck offers.

The mentoring role is a little like a personal tutor, but involves a lot more contact and communication, and flexibility. On average I speak to my mentee around three to four times a month. It could be a simple check-in, or a response to a request, like support with an essay, or help liaising with other departments or services. I’ve helped out with finding a laptop and looking for a place to live. In the current pandemic, this kind of contact is particularly necessary for students who might already feel quite isolated. I’d say this role has been the most challenging and rewarding aspect of my involvement in the Compass Project.

Before the Compass Project, I’d volunteered for several years at Akwaaba, a Hackney-based social centre for migrants, so I had some awareness of the stressful logistical, bureaucratic and emotional complexities faced by migrants. Getting involved with the Compass Project allowed me to find a way to align the advocacy, creative work, and activism I was involved in at Akwaaba, with my day job at Birkbeck.

Through my role as a mentor I have met some amazing people. I’ve enjoyed our conversations, and learned a lot. Everyone at Birkbeck knows that universities are in a precarious position right now, and that our roles as academics are increasingly co-opted by the marketisation of education. Getting involved in the Compass Project feels like a gesture of resistance against this deliberate erosion of what is truly valuable in the university, which is to say study – and the freedom to do this with others.

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Wesley’s journey on the Freshfields Law Scholarship

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Birkbeck Law student Wesley Manta has recently been awarded a prestigious Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship, marking the second time that a Birkbeck student has been chosen for the mentoring and scholarship programme. In this blog, Wesley discusses his journey so far on the scheme.

I was recently awarded the Freshfields’ Stephen Lawrence Scholarship, along with 13 others across the country. The scholarship seeks to address the disproportionate under-representation of black and black-mixed race men from less privileged backgrounds in large commercial law firms, and more recently in other City careers. The scholarship award is a mixture of mentoring and interning opportunities with law firms and other commercial City firms. The scholarship programme lasts for 15 months and is aimed at complementing our busy university schedules. Though we have just begun the programme, it is clear that the programme will provide a lot of value to our professional growth.

My journey started with the insight meeting. The insight meeting was an opportunity for potential candidates to understand more about the scholarship, what Freshfields were looking for in their scholars and what the scholarship programme would entail. It was a great day, with guests from Freshfields, Bank of England and AON. Though this meeting was not compulsory, it is definitely recommended, especially as we had the opportunity to speak to former and current scholars about helpful tips for the application form.

The next step of the journey was to submit a formal application. Part of the application included producing a video with the theme “My Story”. I was grateful enough to have some friends who had some video-editing skills to help with my video. Birkbeck helped fill out the application, including giving a recommendation. The support I received from Birkbeck was exemplary throughout this process.

The final stage was attending the two-day assessment centre. The assessment centre was an exhausting array of challenging exercises, created to test several aspects of the candidates. There was a theme throughout the assessment centre which really added to idea of the exercises being tasks that clients may ask us to do in a professional setting. The exercises were hard to complete but getting to meet and network with dozens of black men in the same position as I was a wonderful part of the two days.

My cohort, the 2019 scholars, have already begin meeting and learning. In our first group meeting, meetings that are scheduled to take place roughly once a month, we were treated to several lectures by senior people from Freshfields and some of their clients. We learnt the basics of maintaining a professional looking LinkedIn page, how to protect our reputation and some tips and tricks for landing a great first impression.

I am eternally grateful to Baroness Lawrence and Freshfields for providing me with this opportunity. Breaking into the commercial world is not easy, as there are so many rules and ways of working which we are never taught in university. Through this scholarship, I hope to be able to gain the practical knowledge required to succeed in the City.

Further information:

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Get Talking – our mentoring scheme for prospective and past students

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Starting university is an exciting time, but we know it can be daunting too. Lots of students have questions about the years ahead, whether they’re joining university straight from school or going back to education after a break. Speaking to someone who’s been through it all before can be reassuring, which is why we run Get Talking.

Get Talking is a mentoring scheme where former Birkbeck students are matched with those thinking about starting their studies for a coffee and a chat. It’s an opportunity for prospective students to ask questions or share any concerns they have about studying in the evening, and for mentors to share their experiences of studying at the College, and anything they wish they’d known before starting their courses.

If you’re interested in taking part in Get Talking, either as a mentor or a mentee, please get in touch.

Why I wanted to take part in Birkbeck’s Get Talking mentoring scheme
Eleanor Tough, current BSc Psychology student

I initially signed up for the Get Talking scheme because I felt quite overwhelmed at the notion of beginning my degree at Birkbeck and felt it would be beneficial to speak with someone who had experience at the university.

I sent an email to the Get Talking team and was put in contact with a graduate who had completed the same course that I was enrolled onto. After exchanging emails, my mentor and I met up face-to-face. During this meeting, we chatted about how I was feeling, why I had chosen my degree and the potential career prospects I hope to explore when I graduate.

My mentor described her own experiences and was able to fully answer questions that I had, about the experience she had at Birkbeck and how achieving her master’s degree had impacted on her own career.

I also received very valuable advice on how to structure my studying around working full-time and how to make the best use of the support services at the university. This helped me to engage with the full range of services provided at Birkbeck and has absolutely influenced the way in which I manage my own time, current career and personal life.

My highlights at Birkbeck are the course itself, the diverse range of people I have met through studying, the impressive facilities of the university and the support and positive environment that Birkbeck provides.

Why I volunteer as a mentor for Birkbeck’s Get Talking mentoring scheme
Richard Harrison, MA Arts Policy and Management graduate

I have volunteered for the Get Talking scheme over the last few years because I enjoy being able to support people who are thinking about embarking on a course of study at Birkbeck, particularly those who are new to higher education. University study is a challenge but also one of the most fantastic things a person can do, and I feel privileged to support people as they consider starting on this journey.

It is a real privilege to be able to support someone in making such a significant decision, and if that decision can be a little bit better informed by alumni like me sharing our experiences, that is hopefully useful to Birkbeck’s prospective students.

In meetings we tend to cover the practical aspects of university study, including how alright it is to feel quite overwhelmed in the first term! (This settles down after the Christmas break.)  I am sometimes asked about my experience as a student.  We are provided with excellent training by the Alumni Office, and are given resources to direct mentees to particular areas of the College for further advice, so when needed, I will share those resources so that my mentees can feel fully informed about the journey ahead of them.

Birkbeck is an incredible institution. It is full of passionate experts who impart their knowledge and share their love of their subjects readily.  I remember feeling thrilled to be studying again, and intellectually stimulated and challenged.  That is, in part, why I volunteer for programmes like Get Talking, so that others can access and feel most prepared for this life-changing experience.

 

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