Can you help the 7th Biennial International Access, Participation and Success Conference?

The Access, Participation and Success conference brings together academics, policy makers, and practitioners at all points in their careers, and very importantly students from across the UK (United Kingdom) and internationally, for a 1.5-day online conference on Wednesday 26 and Thursday 27 April 2023 on Microsoft Teams

The conference will involve a mix of keynote presentations, 1-hour interactive workshops, 30-minute seminars, poster presentations and panel discussions aligned to the following themes:

• Theme 1: Student engagement including co-creation, representation and student voice
• Theme 2: Inclusion including curriculum, assessment, tuition and communication
• Theme 3: Accessibility including student support, digital inclusion and service delivery
• Theme 4: Student outcomes including motivation, equity and employability

The conference is a free event and anyone who wishes to join the conference can register here: Access, Participation and Success 7th Biennial International Conference Tickets, Wed 26 Apr 2023 at 09:30 | Eventbrite

Furhter information about the event can be found here: 7th Biennial International Conference on Access, Participation and Success | Widening Access and Success at the Open University

The aim of the conference is to explore practical solutions to improve access, participation and success for students from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups. This is a great chance for students to be a part of that conversation and this year there is also the opportunity for students to be involved in the event facilitation and practice their reporting skills.

Below are details of three volunteer roles the OU would like to recruit students to:

• Chat compere role requires collaborative working, review of fast-moving chat, and selection of questions and comments to share on microphone.
• Small group host role requires the ability to welcome participants from many different roles from the OU and other universities, introduce a few discussion ideas (provided to you, but you are free to add to these) and to encourage all participants to have an opportunity to speak.
• Conference reporter role requires good note-taking, clear and concise writing and a commitment to provide articles within a week of the conference to be published on the conference website (the reporter will write a short review of one or more sessions attended).

If you are interested in any of these roles, please complete the Helper sign-up form in this link by Monday 20 March. 

You will be contacted shortly after this date and invited to a 30-minute briefing session. 

Roles can be shared, so if you would like to share the role please mark this on your form.

A Certificate of Recognition will be provided to thank you for your contribution, which can be used as evidence in job and further study applications. 

Please email darren.gray@open.ac.uk if you have any queries regarding the roles.

More in-depth role descriptions and what the role will involve on the day can be found below:

Chat compere role

On the day:

1. At the start of the meeting add to the chat function:
   1. to put questions to speakers in the function prefixed by the letter ‘Q’ (questions will be presented by the chat compere).
   2. to put comments to speakers in chat function prefixed by the letter ‘C’.
   3. the session is being recorded and will be shared via the Conference Internet page (if the session is not to be recorded we will let you know).
2. Monitor the chat function and note interesting questions to read out to the presenter when invited by the Host.
3. Highlight in chat that breakout room feedback is to be pasted into the chat function of the main room (if appropriate).
4. Monitor chat function after breakout rooms return (only a few sessions have breakout rooms) and read out some group feedback if requested.
5. At the end of the session thank presenters and delegates in the chat and paste the link in the chat function to return delegates to the main meeting (this will be supplied in advance) or recommend they check the email sent to them by the conference organisers.

Small group host – day 2 (pm)

On the day:

1. Join the main conference online room at 1:25pm (on Microsoft Teams).
2. All delegates will be put into breakout rooms of up to 15 delegates – you will be sent to one of these rooms.
3. Welcome everyone – suggest all delegates introduce themselves. 
4. Invite delegates to put cameras on.
5. Do not record the session.
6. Remind the group that the discussion is based on the Panel session on day 1 (a note will be provided to bullet point the Panel discussion). 
7. Feel free to diverge into any area of interest.
8. Wrap the session up after 90 minutes (or sooner if the energy wanes).
9. Thank everyone for attending.
10. Remind delegates of the conference website (share in chat) and that video recordings from the conference will be shared within 2 weeks. 

Conference reporter role

On the day:

1. Join the main conference online room to listen/watch the keynote presentations and panel session (on Microsoft Teams).
2. Select seminars or workshops (as many or as few as you wish) to attend.
3. Participate in these sessions as fully as you wish.
4. Take a few personal notes from each session to support your writing of an article.
5. Write short reflective articles for one or more sessions (recommended between 50 and 200 words for each article).
6. A single article is fine, or you may wish to write more.
7. Try and focus on new or innovative ideas or experiences (what have you learned).
8. Feel free to reflect on how this made you feel.
9. Feel free to be honest but please do be respectful.
10. If you think that other people would benefit from watching the recording of the session please make the recommendation.
11. Submit your articles to access-participation-success@open.ac.uk by 1 May 2023.
12. Articles will be published on the conference website with a credit to the report (or anonymous if preferred).