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Retention activities

More information
A group of psychology students

According to research by the retention team, staff at Teesside are seen as very supportive.

Research

‘Retaining Non Traditional Students in Higher Education’ began as a European Social Fund research project (2003-05) which researched why students leave and why they stay in higher education. We collected quantitative and qualitative data from over 800 students. Through the project we gathered a broad range of literature and resources which can be accessed by staff. The report is available from Diane Nutt, email diane.nutt@tees.ac.uk.

After completing this project we were funded by the European Social Fund to do a second implementation project. This allowed us to introduce a wider range of retention strategies in the university and disseminate good practice beyond Teesside.

As well as these major research projects funded by the European Social Fund, we do other projects exploring the student experience. We are currently working on several small-scale research projects with non-traditional student groups, for example we are investigating the student experiences of disabled, BME, international and part-time students.

Conferences

The team organises conferences on retention and the first year experience, for example:

  • The Retention Conference - Staying Power: Supporting Student Retention and Success, Middlesbrough 2004
  • The 1st European First Year Experience Conference, Middlesbrough 2006
  • Co-hosting the 2nd European First Year Experience Conference’ Gothenburg, Sweden 2007
  • Diane Nutt is Chair of the European First Year Experience Conference Organising Committee and continues to be involved in the ongoing organisation of the conference series. The 3rd European First Year Experience Conference is being hosted by the University of Wolverhampton.
  • University of Teesside co-hosts the International First Year Experience Conference. The 21st International First Year Experience Conference is being held in Dublin.

More information on the US National Resource Center website

Consultancy and advice

European First Year Experience Network

We established the European First Year Experience Network (EFYEN) in 2006. This is a Joint Information Systems Committee discussion group which encourages exchange of good practice examples and development ideas about supporting the first year experience across European higher education institutions. For more information, or to join the group contact the retention team or go to the JISC site

Internal consultancy

The team provides consultancy and resource support to Schools, programme teams and individual staff. We provide advice, consultancy, and resource support to partner colleges involved in higher education provision. We also provide guidance materials for staff, for example: ‘Guide to Retention in the Curriculum’ and ‘Guide to Progress Files’

External consultancy

By arrangement, we also offer consultancy advice beyond the university and its affiliates. Please feel free to contact Diane Nutt for more information.