Student Participation & Engagement Officer – Modern Languages

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Student Participation & Engagement Officer – Modern Languages

Cardiff University’s School of Modern Languages is looking to recruit a Student and Participation Administrator to provide specialist guidance and support to student across the university wide Languages for All programme and to play a central role in the communication and promotion of the programme to both university applicants, current students, and key contacts in academic schools across the university.

The successful candidate will also deliver comprehensive, professional, and effective support and guidance to students and staff in the School of Modern Languages on student engagement and experience activities related to both the Languages for All and full time undergraduate programmes.  

As an integral member of the school team that develops student experience & engagement enhancement plans, the post holder will have responsibility for the co-ordination, organisation, and delivery of designated activities and events and for providing analysis of information and data to inform the team’s decision-making processes.

In support of work-life balance, the role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you can also choose to spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home, as business needs allow.

As the biggest university in Wales – and a major employer, with more than 7,000 staff – we are an ambitious and innovative university located in a beautiful and thriving capital city. We can offer you the chance to work in a vibrant organisation, with great benefits and opportunities for progression.

This is a full time post (35 hours per week), open ended and available immediately.

Salary: £24,715 per annum, rising to £28,929 with six annual increments (Grade 4)

Date advert posted: Thursday, 25 May 2023

Closing date: Thursday, 8 June 2023

Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world.  In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Job Description

Key Duties and Responsibilities

University Wide Languages for All Programme – Language Participation Activities

• Provide personalised advice, guidance, and the most appropriate course of action to students across the University who are interested in enrolling on Languages for All classes. This will include advising on the different language learning options within the Languages for All provision that are available and appropriate to them and co-ordinating a drop-in service that provides students with a short review and assessment of their language-related needs.
• Using your judgement and creativity, to contribute to the resolution of more complex issues, either independently or as part of the Languages for All team.
• Play a central role in the communication and promotion of the Languages for All programme to both university applicants, current students, and key contacts in academic schools across the university. This will involve taking part in applicant open days, fresher events and other promotional events and opportunities (e.g., co-ordinating taster sessions) as required.  This may include occasional evening or Saturday working.
• Research and write information to support the production of publicity material, as well as maintenance of the Languages for All information on the university’s Student Intranet and social media platforms.

Promoting and Developing the University Language Student Community

• Organise and support informal and formal networking activities and events between all interested undergraduate and postgraduate students across the university, including the Languages for All students, incoming Erasmus students, and other international students. Collaborate with the University Language Societies on these activities as appropriate. Establish productive relationships with key individual within and outside the university to support your delivery of these activities.

Student Feedback and Enhancing the Student Experience

• To proactively take part in the planning and implementation of the school’s student experience and engagement activities, and to responsible for the delivery of specific student and engagement activities, in particular the organisation of events specific to the School of Modern Languages, such as welcome back events, enrolment and induction events, cultural events throughout the year and producing student newsletters.
• Establish and maintain good relationships with the student representatives for the school’s education programmes, and attend, contribute to, and support the school student voice meetings (these are attended by academic and professional services staff and student representatives).
• Work with colleagues across the school and university to develop and deliver a range of communication activities and events aimed at gathering feedback data and information from students, helping to raise awareness of surveys and maximising participation. Where information is not available from central management information systems or surveys, assist with the development of systems to capture this data.
• With a focus on student experience and engagement data, analyse and investigate specific issues, establishing trends, creating forecasts and other management information. Present the analysis in a variety of formats and engage in the team decision making processes and development of local action plans.
• Provide relevant administrative support in the development and delivery of school and university action plans.

General Duties in Support of the Above

• Abide by all University policies and undergo appropriate personal and professional development.
• Uphold the Professional Services Values & Behaviours or local equivalent.
• Perform other duties which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.

Person Specification

Our Person Specification is split into 2 sections: essential and desirable.  Please demonstrate clearly how you meet all of the essential criteria and give examples of how, when and where you have used your experience, knowledge, specific skills and abilities to match those required for this particular job role.

Please ensure that you communicate this fully by creating a supporting statement document, listing all of the criteria as separate headings, and detailing against each one how you meet that criteria.  This will need to be completed before you begin making your application online as you will be required to upload it.  

When attaching the supporting statement to your application profile, please ensure that you put your name and the vacancy reference number, e.g. 16096BR Supporting Statement for D Williams

The desirable section contains a list of skills, qualifications and experience that it would be beneficial for the jobholder to have.

All short-listing decisions will be based initially on essential criteria, with desirable being used to further select or deselect candidates as appropriate.  

We will look to  interview those candidates who evidence that they meet all of the identified essential criteria.

Essential Criteria

Specialist knowledge and experience of working in a student facing environment within the higher education sector, including the requirement to provide specialist advice and guidance.

Ability to communicate specialist and complex information effectively and professionally to a range of service users/customers who have varying levels of understanding. 

Ability to communicate in writing clearly, concisely, and effectively to provide detailed advice and guidance on appropriate study options available through the university wide Languages for All programme.

Experience of presenting and promoting activities to potential service users/customers, including using visual software and organising events.

Evidence of a good standard of numeracy and IT literacy.

Experience of working in an administrative role or environment and ability to set up standard office systems and procedures, making improvements to these as appropriate.

Ability to advise and influence key stakeholders in your area of work.

Ability to explore customers’ needs and adapt the service you provide accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered.

Ability to use your initiative and creativity to solve problems, respond to queries and make recommendations, identifying and proposing practical solutions.

Ability to work unsupervised to deadlines, planning, setting, and monitoring your priorities and those of the team.

Desirable Criteria

Experience of participating in, or working in, a university-wide language programme or similar.

Experience of advising on language learning and resources.

Knowledge and understanding of language learning and/or teaching.

Knowledge of a second language.

Job Category

Admin / Clerical