Thursday 28 June, 9.30 - 10.45am
B and C are 1 hour 15. Sessions BC are 3 hour sessions. They run at the same time. So you have to choose between a 3 hour session or 2x 1 hour 15 sessions on Thursday morning.
B1: 245ZV(k) the first hurdle. Helping overseas applicants prepare for credibility interviews using digital communications
Category: Immigration
Credibility Refusals. We all dread them. Stressing about refusal rates, seeing good applicants having their dreams destroyed. We agonise over what went wrong.
This session looks at how Middlesex University Immigration Advisors use a range of digital communications tools to tackle the issue, working with agents and university staff globally to develop their capacity to prepare applicants as well as working with applicants directly.
Starting from individual Skype interviews with paper records, the team has developed a range of interactions including Facebook live sessions, podcasts, webinars and group Skype calls. The immigration advisors are now developing a digital system for managing hundreds of interviews, including a digital interview form linked to the university's management information system.
The session looks at the technologies used, the data recorded and the impact, as well as the dilemmas faced in balancing preparation and "coaching".
Presenter: Gethin Roberts, Interim Manager International Student Advice Team, Middlesex University; Manuela Vittori, International Student Advisor, Middlesex University
Gethin has worked for the Middlesex University International Student Advice Team for three years having previously worked in a similar role at UWTSD. When not giving immigration advice, he owns a pub in West Wales and is involved in the activist group Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants. His greatest claim to fame is that he was portrayed by the actor Andrew Scott in the BAFTA winning film "Pride".
Manuela has also worked for Middlesex University for three years having previously worked at Bangor University and in a variety of roles supporting asylum seekers. She volunteers with the Red Cross where her role has included working with those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. Manuela is very, very Italian.
B2: Rethinking welcome: integrating international and home student communities from day one
Category: Student experience
This is a joint session by LSE and the University of Warwick about integrated orientation programmes. It is aimed at any advisers or staff working with international students.
LSE:
69% of LSE’s students are international but the team deliberately do not run a separate international orientation programme.
LSE:
The session will explore how LSE approaches specific issues such as homesickness and culture shock without having a specific international programme.
The session will discuss about what orientation at LSE is for; what "LSE Welcome" entails and the data used to make decisions. LSE found that good recruitment and training of temporary staff and getting other areas of the institution on board are key for the successful implementation of this model.
Different factors will affect an institution's decision on whether to have an international orientation programme.
Participants will be encouraged to join in the debate about whether separate orientation programmes are necessary and for whom.
University of Warwick:
2018 sees the University of Warwick’s inaugural Welcome Week for all new international and UK students, a departure from the traditional orientation programme for international students.
Hear about their plans to meet international students’ needs as they transition into university; to exploit the opportunities that an all-student Welcome offers in terms of greater student integration and friendship-making beyond national groups, whilst at the same time, helping all new students settle into life as a student at Warwick.
The session will include:
• project management approach: how we have consulted with and are coordinating hundreds of staff across all academic and professional service departments
• the plan: events and activities to integrate home and international student communities
• learning points for the rest of the student lifecycle
Presenters: Christopher Hunt, Communications and Operations Manager, London School of Economics & Political Science; Lydia Halls, Communications and Orientation Officer, London School of Economics & Political Science; Claire O'Leary, Assistant Director, International Student Office, University of Warwick; Chris Luck, Head of Welcome and Student Internationalisation Manager, University of Warwick
Chris is currently Communications and Operations Manager in the Student Services Centre at LSE. His role involves oversight of the front-facing student enquires service, orientation activities, support for students not living on campus, graduation and general office operations. Previously Chris has held roles managing exams, processing results, undertaking registration and in halls of residence.
Lydia is the Communications and Orientation Officer in LSE’s Student Services Centre. Her role involves organising aspects of the School’s central orientation activities, co-ordinating mentoring support for students not living in LSE accommodation, and producing various student communications. She also provides on-site pastoral support at one of LSE’s Halls of Residence, having previously worked in Residential Life.
Claire O'Leary leads the Student Experience team at the University of Warwick. It comprises Immigration; Tier 4 compliance; Student Internationalisation; all-student Welcome and International Student Support. Claire leads on Tier 4 immigration compliance strategy and policy for Warwick and is co-chair of the Immigration Compliance Network, which Claire co-founded. Claire has served as a trustee on the board of UKCISA. She co-delivers UKCISA's course on running orientation programmes for international students. Claire has recently completed her Master’s degree in Intercultural Communication at the University of Warwick.
Chris Luck is leading on the design, development and delivery of Warwick’s inaugural Welcome Week for all new students. He also manages the university’s Internationalisation team. Chris is a firm believer that by better coordinating the activities of academic and professional service departments, universities are better equipped to deliver a coherent, inclusive and enriching offer to their students.
B3: ICN presents an exploration of real life challenges in ensuring sponsorship compliance
Category: Immigration compliance
Led by the Immigration Compliance Network, this session is a no holds barred look at compliance corners, nooks and crannies that can make themselves known and a discussion on how they were dealt with.
Whilst we in compliance spend our time working extremely hard to ensure the institution meets the full askance of the some 3,000 pages of legislation and associated guidance, we are subject to the wider institution working around us and keeping compliance and university compliance policy in their purview. When you are a lone voice this is certainly not an easy task. In some cases the compliance staff are the last to know and we are in the unenviable position of having to decide to action reports or policy that have far reaching implications.
During this session we will be discussing real life case studies of tricky compliance conundrums featuring reporting, ATAS, work placements, sites and partnerships and working; and workshopping an ‘in case of emergency’ plan based on lessons learned – in the spirit of the Immigration Compliance Network, this session is a safe space, and Chatham House rules apply.
Presenters: Sophie Ferguson, Head of International Student Support, Bath Spa University; Richard Melia, Head of Home Office Compliance, University of Salford; Naheeda Kauser, Visa Support Manager, University of Bradford
Established in 2014, the Immigration Compliance Network (ICN) is a network created by and for compliance professionals working in FE and HE. Across the regions and nationally, ICN hold regular meetings and workshops to share good practice, tips, advice and institutional experiences as well as external presentations from specialists.
ICN are delighted to offer a session at the conference tailored to the spirit and purpose of the network.
Sophie is currently the Head of International Compliance at Bath Spa University and has been working in sponsorship compliance since 2010, across both private and public sector higher education. She has worked at London Metropolitan University, Anglia Ruskin and has so far experienced three separate regions of PCST along with multiple visits and audits with UKVI. Sophie sits on the National Committee of the Immigration Compliance Network as co-events and training coordinator and strongly believes in peer power when it comes to the troubling compliance issues.
Richard has worked as the Head of Home Compliance at the University of Salford since July 2016, being responsible for a team of nine compliance and visa support officers, as well as designing and managing the university’s policies and processes relating to Tier 4 students and right to study. Prior to this he was the Senior Immigration Adviser at the University of Central Lancashire (between March 2009 and June 2016), where he designed and implemented many of the systems used by UCLan to monitor and engage with Tier 4 students, following a stint as a Welfare and Immigration Adviser at the University of Huddersfield between October 2006 and February 2009. Richard has served as Chair of the Association of International Student Advisers (AISA) and is currently an executive member of the Immigration Compliance Network (ICN), undertaking the role of Treasurer.
Naheeda is the Visa Support Manager at the University of Bradford and
manages the Visa Support team of seven staff responsible for all
aspects of the international student experience – welcome, orientation,
visa advice, welfare and pastoral support throughout the student journey
and Tier 4 compliance. She has over 10 years’ experience in student
support and Tier 4 compliance. Prior to joining University of Bradford
she worked in the voluntary sector managing staff who gave advice on
welfare benefits, debt, housing and employment law. She also has
several years’ experience of advocacy and representation (up to OISC
level 3) in all areas of immigration and nationality law under a legal
aid franchise. The latter involved regular audits by the Legal Aid
Board of the quality of advice as well as policies, procedures in
relation to client care, key dates, training and CPD, supervision,
independent file reviews, referrals and conflict of interest.
Naheeda has been on the AISA Executive Committee for six years as the
training and regional lead and is currently serving as the co-training
and events co-ordinator of the ICN Executive Committee.
B4: Home Office update (repeat of A1)
Category: Immigration
UK Visas and Immigration will present the latest developments affecting the education sector. This will include changes to in-country application services and how the Home Office is working with the newly established Office for Students. There will be plenty of time for discussion with UKVI staff and delegates will be encouraged to share their experiences of working with UKVI; in particular, UKVI are keen to gain feedback about operating a Tier 4 sponsor licence to build into future service improvements.
Presenters:
Steve Fisher, Acting Head of Sponsorship, Home Office;
Carly Gil, Tier 4 Operations, Home Office;
Paul Jeffrey, Head of Student Policy, Home Office
B5: Get audit ready! CANCELLED
Category: Immigration compliance
This session will explore how an institution should prepare for a UKVI audit, both in the weeks leading up to the audit and also how to be audit-ready throughout the year.
It will cover key areas of compliance and topics such as interviewee selection and preparation, file audit and presentation, audit set-up and communication with UKVI, post-audit follow-up, institutional governance structures, audit readiness.
Ashleigh's experience of advising institutions in her role at Penningtons Manches and having recently guided her university through a very successful audit will allow for professional and current insight into Tier 4 HEAT audits.
This session will be useful for delegates that work within immigration compliance and those responsible for compliance oversight. The session will take the form of a presentation with time allocated for discussion.
Presenters: Ashleigh Garcia, Specialist International Student Advisor, Queen's University Belfast; Elaine Graham, Immigration Compliance Advisor, Queen's University Belfast
Ashleigh is Head of International Student Support at Queen's University Belfast and is responsible for the management of Tier 4 immigration advice and compliance at the university.
Ashleigh has worked in immigration law for over eight years, having previously practised as an immigration solicitor both in Northern Ireland and England and Wales. She has worked in a number of high profile law firms, including Penningtons Manches LLP where she was a member of the Tier 4 Audit Team. Her work involved auditing and advising higher education institutions on preparation for UKVI HEAT audits.
Elaine works as an Immigration Compliance Advisor at Queen's University Belfast. She has over five years experience providing immigration advice to international students and detailed compliance guidance to departments within the University.
Elaine has recently been appointed as the Immigration Compliance Advisor within Queen's University and is responsible for monitoring compliance across both Tier 2 and Tier 4.
B6: I’m an international student advisor get me out of here! An exploration of unconscious psychological games advisors and students often play
Category: Staff support
Advisors use their empathy, experience, expertise, good faith, creativity, humanity and many other things to support students. This interactive, participatory session emerges out of the acknowledgement of this, and out of a wish to support the long-term wellbeing of advice practitioners in what is often physically and emotionally challenging work.
The workshop aims to provide a space for reflection about the experience of advice work and is an invitation to participants to explore how we can get pulled into games with our students in ‘out of awareness’ dynamics.
Do you notice yourself rescuing others, or being pushed beyond your comfortable boundaries? Do you get the sense of ‘why does this keep happening to me?’
We will think about how games get triggered, how to recognise and deal with them so that we can develop successful strategies for self-care and healthy self-awareness.
Presenter: Jennifer Raper, International Student Adviser, University of Sussex
Jennifer is an International Student Adviser at the University of Sussex. Her role is to assist students to navigate the UK’s visa and immigration system, as well as to support their cultural and wellbeing transition into university life. She has previously worked at King’s College London and Lancaster University and has extensive experience of both the challenges of the international student experience and the complexities of student advice work.
She has a Bachelor’s degree in French and a Master's in European Languages and Cultures. Inspired by her many years of pastoral work with international students, she is currently working to complete a Master’s and clinical training to obtain professional accreditation as a Psychotherapist (Transactional Analysis), alongside her work at Sussex. She is also working in private practice as a psychotherapist, in Brighton.
B7: The perfect Tier 4 student file (repeat of A6)
Category: Immigration compliance
Preparing student files for presentation is key to a successful HEAT inspection. But what does the perfect file look like?
The aim of this session is to help identify how best to prepare, keep updated and present Tier 4 student files. Practical advice and assistance will be offered on what the file requirements are and how best to present them to be successful at inspection.
This involves consideration of how best to evidence:
- Paper or electronic files;
- appendix D documents;
- credibility assessments;
- right to study documents;
- study cap and academic progression; and
- attendance data.
You will also have an opportunity in groups to work through example student files, picking out what you think is wrong, right and best practice. You will also have an chance to pull together the perfect student file and receive helpful and constructive feedback on your efforts.
Presenters: Esyllt Martin, Paralegal, Eversheds Sutherland LLP; Maire Gibbs-Jones, Registry Manager, Policy and Compliance, University of Leicester
Maire Gibbs-Jones is currently the Registry Manager of Policy and Compliance at the University of Leicester. She has many years’ worth of experience and knowledge of Tier 4 compliance at all levels. She regularly takes part in project boards and presentations with the goal of improving the experience of international students in UK universities. Maire has practical experience of the logistics; time constraints and the level of scrutiny required to prepare Tier 4 student files for inspection.
