Continuum - Widening Participation

Conferences & Meetings

Access to HE Summit
28 November 2011
Bloomsbury Hotel,Great Russell Street, London

Action on Access, the national co-ordination team for widening participation and HE access, together with UUK, HEA, NIACE, FACE and AoC, is organising this first annual one day Access to HE Summit which will explore the links between HE and social mobility - which is at the heart of the coalition Government’s agenda.

The agenda for access to HE has been undergoing enormous changes over recent months and the need to take stock and look forward at the same time to the emerging new agenda of social mobility, fair access and widening participation has perhaps never been greater.

The differing roles of HE providers are many but include: to educate clearly; to empower and develop our citizens; to contribute to local, regional and national economies; and to add to and enrich society’s knowledge and understanding; and to contribute towards improving social mobility without compromising academic integrity. How will all higher education institutions, across mission groups, ensure that everyone who can benefit from the experience of higher education have the opportunity to do so, regardless of their circumstances?

Keynote speakers

The summit keynote contributions will offer a variety of perspectives focusing on policy developments, institutions and learners. Speakers include:

Alan Milburn -Independent Reviewer for the government
Nicola Dandridge -Chief Executive, Universities UK

Question time panel discussion

A “Question Time” style panel discussion provides delegates with an opportunity to ask questions from the floor as well as questions arising from the workshop sessions.

Workshops

The workshops will provide delegates with an extended opportunity to discuss the latest policy developments on a range of themes including:

Induction
Admissions
Retention and success of students
HEI relationship with schools
Emergent collaborative partnerships
Post- Aimhigher
Disability & WP
Working in Partnerships
Fair Access
Access agreements

Who is the summit for?

The summit will bring together key stakeholders: including policy makers, funders, researchers, students,F & HE staff, access practitioners to discuss and explore the new policy landscape for HE access and widening participation. In addition to engaging with keynote speakers in the Question Time session there will be ample opportunities to network with colleagues and share good practice.

Booking

The full programme will be announced shortly.

Booking Form

4th July - 6th July 2012
FACE Annual Conference 2012
"Widening Access to Higher Education in Divided Communities"
University of Ulster, Derry, Londonderry, Northern Ireland



We are pleased to announce that the annual conference in the summer of 2012 will be hosted by the University of Ulster.

The four key themes of the Conference are:

1. ‘Divided Communities’ – SEC, Ethnicity, Gender, Disability
2. International and National Comparisons
3. Regional Approaches to Widening Access
4. Social Mobility – Demonstrating Impact

Keep up to date with this event on the FACE 2012 conference website

Download advance details of this event, including registration form and conference papers submission forms

FACE  is holding a pair of seminars to inform the Access to Higher Education Summit event that will be taking place in the Autumn of 2011. The Summit will provide the first real opportunity for a full debate about the changes and developments that are impacting so extensively on access to and participation in Higher Education.

These two seminars will focus on different aspects of the changing shape of access to HE and the outputs from each seminar will feed directly into the programme for the Summit, bringing together practitioners, policy makers, funders, researchers and many others concerned with the future for Higher Education access.

Seminar 1

"Navigating the System: How Universities can learn from Aimhigher to make outreach count"
Wednesday 16th March, The Foresight Centre, University of Liverpool

Call for workshops

Aimhigher Greater Merseyside isl hosting the first seminar. This event explores how the impact and legacy of Aimhigher can inform the new landscape of widening participation.

"Aimhigher has assisted universities and schools to learn a lot about what works in raising the aspirations of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, but we now need to use this knowledge to make much faster progress on social mobility."
(David Willets 25th November 2010)

We would therefore like to invite workshops contributions that can inform and develop the debate around the issues of widening participation.  We especially want to hear the voices of schools, Further Education colleges, Universities and the wider community about how Aimhigher has supported, developed  and improved  their understanding of the widening participation agenda. 

As we move into a new era, putting the emphasis on Higher Education institutions to deliver interventions that increase social mobility,  it is vitally important to listen, hear and learn from successful and effective practice and build on this.

Workshops should last no longer than 45 minutes. 
15 minute presentation and 30 minutes discussion.
Deadline for submissions is Friday 28th January.

For further information please contact Deirdre Lynskey at d.lynskey@liverpool.ac.uk (Tel) 0151 794 5843.

Seminar 2

"Can Universities still widen access?"
FACE and Aimhigher London WECAN Partnership
Friday 25th March, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish Street, London

This seminar will focus on the implications and issues facing access to HE given the enormous changes set to take place in HE. How will these affect widening access and how should universities respond? There will be a panel discussion included in the afternoon sessions.

Speakers:

Professor Peter Bush, PVC, University of Northampton
Tom Levinson, Head of WP, University of Cambridge
Liz Marr, Director of the Centre for WP, Open University
Annette Hayton, Head of WP, Goldsmiths University
Michael Hill, Director of Academic Development, Kingston University
Martin Webster, Head of WP, Nottingham Trent University

Download the programme for this event

Download a booking form to register for this event

For further information, please contact Paul Cowling at p.cowling1@westminster.ac.uk

FACE Summit

It is proposed to hold a Summit in Autumn 2011. Details tbc.

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FACE 2011 Annual Conference - “Lifelong Learning and Community Development”
Wednesday 29th June – Friday 1st July 2011
Glasgow, Scotland

Hosted by the Centre for Research and Development in Adult and Lifelong Learning (CR&DALL) and University of Glasgow

CALL FOR PAPERS AND REGISTRATION

The Forum for Access and Continuing Education is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for its 2011 annual conference.

Keynote Speakers:

Andy Furlong, University of Glasgow
Professor Wendy Purcell, University of Plymouth
Professor Catherine Hoppers, University of South Africa
Professor Keith Popple, London South Bank University

Themes:

The four key themes of the conference are:

1. Higher education provision and its contribution to community development: contributions may be economic, social, health related, environmental or cultural, or a combination of one or more of these. 'Community' in this context may vary from one small discrete group through to a whole region.

2. The future of outreach work and the Aimhigher legacy: whilst this is a particular concern in England, papers are invited also from other parts of the world where there are similar outreach initiatives - these may take the form of reflective pieces from an external perspective.

3. The role of Qualifications Frameworks and accreditation of prior learning within community settings.

4. Universities and their regional and local role within contracting economies.

For more details, please see the FACE 2011 Conference brochure.

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WIDENING PARTICIPATION FOR POSTGRADUATES: Research, Policy and Practice
27th October 2010, 10.30am - 4.00pm, Docklands Campus

This free one-day conference from UEL is focused around the current widening participation agenda at postgraduate level, which is both under-researched and underdeveloped in terms of policy and practice.

Morning Session: Keynote speakers Liz Thomas (Higher Education Academy) and Chris Hale (Universities UK), will focus on current national policy.

Afternoon session: Presentations from Fiona Cobb (University of East London) and Dr Paul Wakeling (University of York) will explore research and practice in the sector.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to discuss, in depth, issues of widening participation raised in keynote sessions, with colleagues working in a variety of contexts and settings.

For further information or to register for the conference, please visit www.uel.ac.uk/gradschool/wppostgrad.htm

9th International Pascal Conference
In collaboration with the University of Botswana & FACE
University of Botswana, Gaborone
1-3 December 2010



The theme of the conference is Engaged Universities and Learning Cities/Regions

CONFERENCE THEMATIC AREAS

1. The Engaged University and Learning in an African Perspective 2. Lifelong Learning, Citizenship and Economic Empowerment 3. Lifelong Learning and Sustainable Environmental Engagement 4. Lifelong Learning and Culture

The keynote speakers include Professor Olusola Oyewole from the African Union Commission, Professor Catherine Odora Hoppers, Co-director of PASCAL, University of South Africa and Professor Hans Schuetze, University of British Columbia.

The deadline for abstracts is 15 SEPTEMBER 2010 and these should not exceed 500 words.

Submission of abstracts should be by email as a Microsoft Word attachment to pascal@mopipi.ub.bw

Further information about Pascal can be found at http://pascalobservatory.org

A special session of the conference is being given over to the Pascal Universities Regional Engagement project, now working with 19 regions around the world, details of which can be found at the Pascal site under projects.

Queries and other advice including about travel arrangements can made to the Pascal offices at the University of Glasgow by email to pascaladmin@educ.gla.ac.uk

Which way now to widen participation?
Attend the 2010 FACE Annual conference and be part of the debate!!

The FACE annual conference is the premier networking event of the year for everyone concerned or involved in widening participation, HE access and lifelong learning. This years conference title ' Which way now for widening participation? Lifelong Learning, Economy & Society' really says it all. So if you haven't been to a FACE conference before this is one not to be missed and if you have you won't need any more encouragement to attend. This is a vital time for the WP agenda so be part of the debate at the FACE conference at Southampton Solent University, 30th June to 2nd July. Full conference details and booking at http://face2010.solent.ac.uk/

Schools and Employability: The Swedish Experience Seminar
University of East London, Docklands Campus
Tuesday 8th December 2009, 12.00pm - 2.00pm

Much has been written over recent months about the role of schools in relation to employability and as part of this debate, the experience of Sweden and its Free schools has been referred to extensively in the press. Continuum has been working closely with colleagues in Sweden, and has recently made contact with the work of the Baggium schools which run employment based schools throughout Sweden.

The seminar will therefore provide an opportunity to hear directly from both a senior manager and also two current students who are involved in the Free schools policy as part of Baggium schools. Katarina Mollberg is rector of the Nykvarns Praktiska Gymnasium and she will provide an overview of the work of the Free schools in general and the specific approach that Baggium schools have taken, in particular providing as they do a focus on employability. This will be followed by two students inputs and will then break into an open discussion of the issues and questions raised.

A buffet lunch will be provided on a first come first served basis.

Please confirm your attendance by emailing Nicola Stephenson, Centre Research Administrator.

Widening Participation at Postgraduate Level - Research, Policy, People
24th February 2010

Advance Notice: Continuum and the Graduate School are organising a one day conference on widening participation at postgraduate level.

Further details will be posted shortly.

INCLUDE Conference 2009

INCLUDE, the Swedish network for HE providers, and sister organisation to FACE, will hold it's annual conference on 1st and 2nd October 2009, in Norrkoping, Sweden.

For further details and a copy of the conference program, please see: http://www.include.nu/konferens09/

If you are interested in attending, please contact n.stephenson@uel.ac.uk

FACE Executive Meetings 2009/10

21st September 2009
7th December 2009
1st March 2010
7th June 2010

Meetings take place at the University of Westminster, 11.00am - 2.00pm.

Please see the FACE website for more details: www.f-a-c-e.org.uk

FACE Conference 2009: Towards a New Agenda for Lifelong Learning: Access, Diversity and Participation, 1st - 3rd July 2009


The Annual Forum for Access and Continuing Education (FACE) conference will be hosted by the Academic Development Institute and the Institute for Access Studies at Staffordshire University in Stoke-on-Trent .

Conference Themes

This conference will bring together the sometimes disparate and often closely integrated themes of access, diversity and participation in a bid to explore how these elements contribute to or possibly detract from a new agenda for lifelong learning.

Keynote Speakers include

Professor Stephen Gorard-Chair in Education Research University of Birmingham and principle author of Overcoming the Barriers to Higher Education.

Professor Christine King-Vice Chancellor Staffordshire University and leader of the DIUS commissioned report on part-time study

Professor Mike Osborne- Director of the Centre for Research and Development in Adult and Lifelong Learning, University of Glasgow and Co-director of the PASCAL Observatory

Further details of the conference content, timetable and packages available can be found at

http://www.f-a-c-e.org.uk/conference2009.html

Call for Papers - Submission of Abstracts and Workshop Proposals

Papers and workshop presentations are sought on any or all of the conference themes. Papers and workshops should address the over-arching theme of a new agenda for lifelong learning. Given the inter-relation of access, diversity and participation some papers will inevitably cover aspects of more than one of these and often other agendas as well. Papers and workshops that attempt to place the lifelong learning agenda within theoretical and policy contexts are particularly welcome as are practitioner and case study based submissions.

Abstracts and workshop proposals can be submitted using the form at www.staffs.ac.uk/faceconf/submissionform/

Registration can be made online using the form at www.staffs.ac.uk/faceconf/bookingform/  




For further information please contact the conference organisor, Peter Jones Tel: 01782 294941 Email: pete.jones@staffs.ac.uk

Early Bird Bookings All bookings made prior to the 28th February 2009 will receive a free copy of 'Marginality and Difference in Education and Beyond' edited by Michael Reiss, Renee Depalma & Elizabeth Atkinson published by Trentham books.

2009 FACE Conference 1- 3 July 2009

SPECIAL CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FROM EARLY CAREER ACCESS/WP PRACTITIONERS OR RESEARCHERS

FACE is delighted to announce that ESCalate the Education Subject Centre has kindly agreed to sponsor a full fees paid place at this year's annual conference. This includes all conference fees,university accommodation and access to the social programme. Travel expenses are not included.

So if you have been working in the areas of Access or WP  for less than two years you are eligible to apply for this sponsored place at this years annual conference which takes place at Staffordshire University from the 1st-3rd July.

For further information on the conference please go to the FACE website at www.f-a-c-e.org.uk  

Applicants should submit a title and abstract for a conference paper and will be expected if successful to give a full conference presentation and have the opportunity to have this include in the conference publication.

The closing date for applications will be the 13th May and applications should be sent electronically to Pete Jones, conference organiser at  pete.jones@staffs.ac.uk 

Applicants should provide the following information:
Name
Job designation
Address
E-mail address
Details of employment
Proposed conference paper title and abstract

Joint Continuum and Learning & Teaching Lunchtime Discussion Forum, 13th May 2009, 12pm-2pm Docklands Campus, Room KD.2.22

This discussion, entitled Knowledge Transfer and Community Engagement, will include colleagues from Malmo University in Sweden as well as a presentation by Janine Campbell, Administrative Manager of the McCaughey Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

The discussion will be facilitated by Professor John Storan, Director of Continuum and will be of interest to colleagues with a role in teaching and supporting learning and sharing good practice.

A buffet lunch is provided on a first-come first-served basis, served from 12 midday.

Please contact n.stephenson@uel.ac.uk if you are interested in this event.

Listening to Learners: Partnerships in Action, 22 April 2009, Docklands Campus, UEL

The conference will bring together practitioners, academics and policy makers working in a variety of contexts and settings who share an interest in learner voice. The innovative conference programme includes presentations from learners, keynote speakers, workshops and a panel session. In addition to learning about the latest award winning research on learner voice there will also be opportunities for critical discussions on learner voice in the workshop sessions and during the networking breaks.


For further details and online registration please click on the link: http://www.uel.ac.uk/listeningtolearners

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SCQF International Conference: 23-24 March 09

International Conference on National Qualifications Frameworks and Learner Mobility

Where: Radisson SAS Hotel, Glasgow city centre, Scotland

Theme: Breaking Barriers and Crossing Boundaries: the role of National Qualifications Frameworks in promoting learner mobility

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership invites you to attend an international conference which will explore the role of National Qualifications Frameworks in promoting learner mobility across sectors and national boundaries.

The first day of the conference will focus on learner mobility across sectors. It will introduce delegates to the development of the SCQF and highlight some of
the incremental reforms which have been introduced and which can facilitate learner mobility, such as learning outcomes and credit.

Day two of the conference will turn delegates' attention to transnational mobility. It will centre on how the Bologna and European Qualifications Framework developments can contribute to better and wider recognition of skills and qualifications across national boundaries.

Registration for the event is now open and will close on 6 March 2009. Register now.

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Joint Continuum / Graduate School Seminar - 11 July 2008

Widening participation beyond first degrees.

Continuum and the Graduate School organised an invitation only seminar on widening participation and equality of access to study at postgraduate level.

For many graduates further study at postgraduate level offers the opportunity to differentiate themselves in a competitive labour market. In response many institutions see this as an important part of their operation and have increased provision accordingly. However at a time when student debt is increasing socio-demographics becomes an increasingly important determinant of who progresses to study at postgraduate level and consequently the need for widening participation beyond first degrees.

Factors discussed during the seminar included; family situation, intrinsic interest, income, long-term career opportunities, family history of post-graduate study, perception of employability and understanding what post-graduate study is.

Final Seminar Programme (MS-Word)
Speaker Profile (MS-Word)
Speaker Presentation

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2008 FACE Conference 2- 4 July 2008

Challenging Isolation: the role of lifelong learning

The 2008 FACE Conference promises to be filled with topical and stimulating sessions. It also provides an excellent opportunity for networking with delegates from the UK and across the world.

Click here to see the conference programme

This year's conference will be opened by Professor Dianne Willcocks, Vice Chancellor of York St John University and Professor John Storan, Chair of FACE. The conference includes:

- Keynote presentations by influential figures in the field including: Director General for Education & Culture, Odile Quintin; Professor Robert Cormack, Principal of UHI Millenium Institute; Professor Claire Callender, Professor of Higher Education, Birkbeck, University of London

- Roundtables on Aimhigher, Lifelong Learning Networks (LLNs), international issues and rurality

- Workshops covering mental health, rural and coastal communities, the unemployed and under-employed, sexualities, amongst others

- Examples of cross-thematic sessions include challenging isolation of minority ethnic families in rural and coastal areas
Social programme including a Gala Dinner and York Ghost Walk

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Continuum International Seminar - 2 April 2008

Continuum recently hosted an invitation only seminar - Engaging the disengaged and disadvantaged: Experience of working with younger learners from Australia, UK and Sweden.

Organised by Continuum this invitation only seminar included presentations by colleagues from Australia, Sweden and the UK. The aim of the seminar was for practitioners, through focussed presentations, to share their experiences of working in different contexts and settings. Copies of the presentations can be downloaded by clicking on the links below.

Seminar Programme (MS-Word)

Students as researchers (Derek Bland)
Stockholm's University for All - Medvind Project (Faezeh Khalaji & Maria Hulth)
Crossing Barriers - Effective Mentoring Works (Linda Leith)

A copy of Derek Bland's seminar paper can be downloaded by clicking on the link below.

Seminar Paper - Students as researchers (Dr Derek Bland)

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