Widening Participation
A standing working group on widening participation was set up in early 2020, to oversee WP activity within Admissions and Schools, and to improve dissemination of information among Schools and Units. The formal remit is:
- To act as bridge between Academic Schools, Admissions and other relevant Units
- To monitor, disseminate awareness of, and initiate activity related to Widening Participation, including but not limited to:
- admissions mechanisms such as guaranteed and contextual offers
- Gateway, articulation and other specialised entry pathways
- outreach to potential applicants and those advising them
- communications to prospective applicants through all channels
- post-arrival support for entrants admitted on widening participation routes
- engagement with relevant sector initiatives
The group meets roughly every 6-8 weeks. Recent areas of discussion and development have included:
- dissemination of ongoing activity
- affordability and bursaries
- messaging to offer holders
- building secondary school contacts
- museums outreach
- careers support for WP entrants
- additional support for the next WP cohort, who will have little experience of formal exams
- extension of contextual admissions to PG applicants
The current group membership is:
Helen Boyd, Deputy Academic Registrar
Lorna Dargan, Director of Careers Centre
Marie-Noel Earley, Academic Registrar
Emmy Feamster, Academic Policy Officer, Proctor’s Office
Pamela Forbes, Admissions Officer, School of Medicine
Joanna Fry, Education Liaison Officer, Admissions
Martin Gibbons, Deputy Director of Admissions (Access & WP)
Graham Kirby, Associate Dean Students (Science) [chair]
Laurence Lasselle, Senior Lecturer, School of Management and Member, Governance Group of Scottish Framework for Fair Access
Sam Lister, Director of Global Office
Dan Marshall, President of the Students’ Association
Lara Meischke, Director of Student Services
Finlay Morrison, Admissions Officer, School of Chemistry
Craig Phillips, Assistant Director of Careers Centre (Career Management)
Gerald Prescott, Associate Dean Education (Science)
Tooba Shah, Member for Widening Access & Participation, Students’ Association
Michelle Sinclair, Access Manager, Admissions
Stephen Tyre, Associate Dean Students (Arts & Divinity)
Fiona Whelan, Assistant Director of Student Services (Accessibility & Inclusion)
Michael White, Admissions Officer, School of Modern Languages
We would welcome any suggestions for additional WP-related issues that should be considered, and would be happy to invite anyone with an issue to raise to attend one of the group’s regular meetings. You can contact the group chair at [email protected].