WELCOMING INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FUND

Project ReportEdinburgh University Students’ Association31 October, 2012

CONTENTS

Edinburgh BuddiesThe iWIKISchedule 2 format

CONTACT

Johanna HoltanInternational Engagement Coordinator

Email - Johanna.holtan@eusa.ed.ac.uk Website - www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/global Facebook - www.facebook.com/eusaglobal

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EDINBURGH BUDDIESThis section outlines the successes of EUSA’s Edinburgh Buddies project and how support from the Welcoming International Students Fund has allowed us to reach more students and provide a better service to those who are new to the University.

Details on the September 2012 cycle (recruitment and development of the January cycle will begin in November)

NumbersNumber of Edinburgh Buddies volunteers: 149Number of International Buddies: 312Total number of students: 461

Events to date'Welcome Event' attended by around 200 studentsA further 19 buddies were introduced to the system as a result of the evening

'Buddies Karaoke' was attended by around 25 people 4 buddy pairs merged into a larger group as a result of this event and meet once a fortnight (2 Edinburgh buddies, 6 International buddies)

Buddy FeedbackWe conducted a survey of all the September cycle Buddies in Week five of the first semester. We received positive feedback including the testimonies below -

‘To be honest, it's not the first time I'm involved in a buddy scheme (last year I was an exchange student and tried the Buddy scheme in Sweden), but Edinburgh was by far more organised! Congratulations! :)’

‘I love my Edinburgh buddy. She has been an excellent person to go to for advice. She has also been really great about inviting me to different events so I got to meet people when I first started here. I'm really glad I did the Buddy Project if for no other reason than I got to make a good friend because of it.’

‘My buddy is so nice, giving me a lot of experience and chance to talk with somebody who knows about this city a lot.’

‘I'm grateful for getting some chats with a native student. I learned the attitude towards studying at Edinburgh.’

VOLUNTEER SUPPORTWith support from the Welcoming International Student Fund, we were able to spend more energy and resource into supporting our Edinburgh Buddy volunteers.

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Better training sessions for September arrivalsEUSA ran a series of training sessions for Edinburgh Buddies in September. This was important to not only train and support volunteers, but to create a sense of community among students involved in the scheme.

Some of our Edinburgh Buddies during their training

We also produced a volunteer pack for all Edinburgh Buddies. While we did not have our branding complete in time, this pack provided a wealth of information on the role, support available for volunteers and new students, and lots of useful tips for making the most out of the Buddy relationship. We will use resource from the Fund to develop branded materials for the January cycle.

Better materials for volunteers, including those away during the summerThe biggest challenge in volunteer support for the September Edinburgh Buddies is that many are away from campus. We have made resources available online for these students so they still feel part of the Edinburgh Buddies community. This information can be found at www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/buddies. We also have created a Facebook group for all Buddies to make it easier to communicate.

A shot of all the Buddy packs headed to training and the Edinburgh Buddies support page on our website

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REBRANDINGWith support from the Welcoming International Student Fund, we were able to spend more energy and resource into creating a brand for buddies.

Better and more identifiable brandAlongside an external designer, we created a brand for Buddies. Using the images of a native British bird and an international bird, we feel it captures the essence of Buddies in a fun and playful way.

Robert and Sophie, a Global Assistant with our new Buddies banner and a screen shot of the Buddies website.

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORTWith support from the Welcoming International Student Fund, we were able to spend more energy and resource into administration support for Buddies.

More staff support from a meaningful student perspectiveEUSA was able to hire a student-staff member who is dedicated to coordinating Edinburgh Buddies. Starting in August, Robert Flitcroft has been a fantastic addition to the EUSA Global Team and has brought great energy to the project. You can meet Robert here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4AAIRECOUA&feature=plcp

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Robert and Sophie, a Global Assistant, at the Buddies Meet and Greet event during Freshers’ Week

More efficient matching processWith extra resources, we were able to update the database to make it easier for students to create a profile with a photo and engage with the system. From the backend, we have improved the matching criteria and reporting functions to make the matching process easier for the administration.

Front page of Edinburgh Buddies matching database

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Example of an Edinburgh Buddy Profile

ONGOING SUPPORT FOR BUDDIESWith support from the Welcoming International Student Fund, we are able to spend more energy and resource into ongoing events and support for Edinburgh and International Buddies.

More events for Buddies throughout the yearEUSA has been and will continue to offer monthly events to Buddies throughout the semester. To date, we have had an initial meeting and a karaoke night which was well attended.

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Freshers’ Week Meet & Greet event for Buddies

Colour Corners at initial event to make it easier for Buddies to find one another and Robert the Moose (EUSA’s Mascot at Buddies) with the Buddies Board.

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THE iWIKI

With support from the Welcoming International Student Fund, we were able to provide energy and support into the development of the iWIKI for new students.

Changes to project timelineWhile we have had changes in staffing which have provided some challenges to meeting targets, it has allowed us the opportunity to trial the project on Facebook.

Trial period on FacebookIn order to provide a service for students arriving in September and trial the usage of such a service, we created a beta version of the iWiki through Facebook (www.facebook.com/groups/iwiki/). This has allowed us to see how students engage with the site, the kind of questions they ask, and confirm the demand for this kind of service.

Since June, we have acquired over 300 members from across the colleges and have had nearly 80 initial posts, which on average – receive at least three comments from students in response.

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UKCISA Annual Conference 2012 PresentationJohanna Holtan, our International Engagement Coordinator, presented on the iWIKI at the UKCISA Annual Conference in Warwick in June and received interest from other universities and unions. Find the presentation here - www.slideshare.net/joholtan/iwiki-presentation-ukcisa-conference-2012-14866463

Showcased on the University’s WebsiteThe Facebook group was showcased on the University’s website and has been a great resource for students through those channels. www.ed.ac.uk/staff-students/students/new-students/welcome-guides/student-tips

Testimony from Ginette Lowe, EUSA’s Advice Place Coordinator‘As in impartial advice service we are often faced with challenge of having local knowledge about commercial services, banks or landlords which we cannot pass on without compromising our impartiality. It is so frustrating to know about a bad letting agency but to be unable to warn students. We have had feedback from students that this is something they also find frustrating.

Before iWIKI there was nothing we were able to do other than apologise and suggest they ask a friend, this is obviously not ideal as it relies on students having a social circle to turn to, ( something they may not have established as new students). iWIKI is a fantastic resource for us, both for referring students to when they are looking for information and for giving students who have had a bad or good experience a chance to share this.’

Future of the iWIKI

Re-pitching to developersWhile the iWIKI has been popular on Facebook, it’s important we create a tool which is accessible to students in countries where Facebook is not used and to place it within EUSA’s site. This would allow us to measure who is using the page and in what way. In our own developed tool, we will also be able to organise the topics in an organised way to ensure students are able to browse comments in a meaningful fashion.

We will use the knowledge gained from the trial period - which will continue till the new tool is in place – and work with our new IT department to create a more informed brief for developers and pursue the development beginning in November.

Promotional materials and outreachEUSA will explore the opportunity to promote to students through promotional materials. This will be useful for students arriving in January. More schools are linking into the iWiki and with an updated tool, we will be able to let more schools know about its existence and reach more students.

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