Before I worked at HEPI, I worked at the University of Bath, developing organisational policy – so I have a particular interest in how national policy and regulation translates into action, on the ground, in higher education providers.
I’m speaking this morning about developing robust safeguarding policies to enhance the student experience. I’m not quite sure that enhance is the right word here. But the focus is going to be on ensuring, that when students are involved in a difficult safeguarding process, that the experience they receive is professional, timely and compassionate.
I’m going to talk about several different safeguarding policies today. These include Student, Staff and Sexual Misconduct policies, Fitness to Study and Fitness to Practise, Emergency Contact protocols and Student Complaints policies.
Student misconduct sets out how students should and should not behave. This can be quite wide-ranging, from not setting off fire alarms on purpose, to not committing acts of violence. Student conduct rules can also be a bit obscure. At the University of Bath, for example, there is a rule that students are not allowed into the lake without permission from the Security team.
