Drawing on experiences of a pre-arrival online community launched in August 2024, this session provided insights and recommendations on how digital communities can support belonging, orientation and awareness of student services for new students. Taking an inclusive approach, the Academic and Digital Skills team at the University of Greenwich extended their pre-arrival activities online through the summer to help raise awareness of support available, curate the student community and forge connections. The University of Greenwich has a highly diverse student population, many of whom come from deprived backgrounds, facing challenges and risks to equality of opportunity. With the focus on piloting a pre-arrival course for students with BTEC qualifications and students of BAME ethnicities, the aim of the project was to provide transition activities that could scaffold the development of academic and digital skills prior to starting the academic year. Reinforcing the importance of belonging, the four-day module enabled students to meet peers and staff, and discover useful services in a safe community space. With growing importance placed on increasing access and participation, this project delivers on our commitment to closing the awarding gap. This session presented a selection of the activities used as part of this course, experiences of students pre-arrival, and the importance of considered design to promote online engagement. Presenters shared their findings and reflected on how this pilot might inform future iterations of the course. Attendees received take away tips on how online pre-arrival interventions might apply to their own university settings and provide a space for thoughtful dialogue.
Perera et al. (Tue,) studied this question.