Session Outline

Beyond Orientation: A CECE informed learning community for international student transitions

Hengyi Wang (Univeristy of Sussex Business School)

Despite the positive yet modest growth forecast, competition for international recruitment among UK universities is intensifying (Stacey, 2025), and institutions better positioned to sustain competitive advantage are those with strategic overseas partnerships and comprehensive student support systems (Raimo & Ilieva, 2024). While such collaboration widen participation, direct-entry international students recruited from partnership route often encounter ongoing and non-linear transition challenges that exceed the scope of traditional, one-off induction events. Researches consistently highlights that international students’ transitions span academic, linguistic, social and personal challenges, and thus require ongoing, relational, and culturally-responsive support (Montgomery, 2017; Senyshyn, 2019; Watson & Wang, 2024).

This session presents and critically evaluate a Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE)-informed Learning Community (LC) developed for international direct-entry students at a UK university. The LC operates weekly during term time and is intentionally designed to move beyond information-heavy orientation models toward a developmental, holistic, and barrier-breaking approach to academic advising and personal tutoring. The LC integrates academic skills and personal development, language scaffolding, intercultural communication competence, student co-creation, peer support, and structured access to Professional Services (e.g., Careers, Wellbeing, Student Voice, Alumni, etc). Informal gatherings and online materials extend the community beyond the physical classroom boundaries, supporting continuity of learning, sense of belonging and academic success.

The LC design intentionally operationalises all nine indicators of Museus’s (2014) Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE) model. Five indicators address cultural relevance: cultural familiarity, supported through opportunities for students to connect with staff, alumni and peers who share similar backgrounds; culturally relevant knowledge, enacted through student led support sessions; cultural community service, reflected in student mentoring and contributions to incoming cohorts; meaningful cross-cultural engagement, fostered through reciprocal peer-led language and culture learning between home and international students; and cultural validation, embedded in multilingual appreciation and academic-English scaffolding. The remaining indicators concern responsiveness to diverse students’ needs: collectivist cultural orientations, expressed through community and belonging building; humanised educational environments, developed via consistent tutor presence and relationship-building; proactive philosophies, realised through stage-based engagement and barrier-breaking access, and holistic support, embedded through the student-centred approach that actively equips learners to navigate complex institutional support structures while keeping their academic progress and personal development at the core.

Evidence is drawn from weekly micro-surveys and annual questionnaires, which indicate consistently positive feedback regarding belonging, confidence in navigating support, understanding expectation and achieving academic success. This findings align with emerging evidence that well-designed learning communities can improve international students’ academic satisfaction, social integration, and outcomes (Gokpinar-Shelton & Pike, 2022). The session therefore not only showcases a practice-based model but also contributes to current debates on culturally-responsive advising in a time of structural change in UK HE.

The session will offer an overview of the LC rationale and CECE grounding, a practical guidance of the weekly LC architecture and examples of high-impact practices.

Sense of belonging, student pressures and engagement in Higher Education Post-Pandemic – Is it time for a new approach?

Caroline Jones (Manchester Metropolitan University)

ABSTRACT: This lightening presentation will focus on two pieces of recently published work which focus on higher education students’ sense of belonging and mattering and student pressures post-pandemic. This recent research captures the voices of professional service staff, academic staff and students empirically. Furthermore, this presentation will highlight the psychosocial and academic trust alienation theory as a personal tutor/pastoral support tool, as a potential new approach to higher education student support, aligned to a recently published book chapter.

Article 1: Jones, C., S. Bell, H. (2025) Unravelling Sense of Belonging in Higher Education: Staff and Student Perspectives at an English University. Trends High. Educ. 4(3), pp. 45. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/2813-4346/4/3/45.

A sense of belonging among university students is widely perceived as critical to engagement, retention and outcomes. The aim of this research was to improve understanding of how staff and students conceptualise belonging, how sense of belonging can be enhanced, and factors which work against it in the post-COVID era. Thematic analysis generated three major themes: (1) understandings of belonging; (2) connections, caring and mattering; (3) challenges to belonging and the results of this first publication will be discussed further as part of this lightening presentation.

Article 2: Jones, C. S., and Bell, H. (2025a) ‘They are being squeezed left, right and centre’: English Higher Education students under pressure following COVID-19. Journal of University Teaching and Learning. 21(6). https://doi.org/10.53761/b96chc12.

In addition, there is a crisis of poverty and ill health that is affecting higher education students which is likely to continue for many years. Further research reveals the ‘pressures’ that widening participation, first generation and commuter students in England are experiencing post-covid. Themes of; mental health and wellbeing, cost-of-living, academic pressures, perceived lack of future, and strong relationships were identified (Jones and Bell, 2025a). The recommendations arising from this second research publication will be shared during this lightening presentation.

Chapter: Jones, C. S., and Sweeney, L. (2025) Student Engagement and Sense of Belonging – are we ready for a new approach? In Strudwick, K., and Miller, K, A. (Eds.) 'Building Student Belonging in HE: Perspectives on Driving and Developing Change'. Emerald Publishing.

The Psychosocial and Academic Trust Alienation (PATA) theory identifies aspects of barriers to student engagement, which may affect belonging in higher education. By exploring how the PATA theory can be applied to the complexities of student demographics and post-pandemic engagement challenges, practical HE leadership and teaching and learning strategies will be highlighted to explore how they enhance student engagement and belonging. The effects of marketisation and neoliberalism in HE which can increase challenges for student engagement and belonging will also be explored (Jones and Sweeny, 2025). Highlights from this recently published book chapter will be shared with participants to provoke thought for new approaches to personal tutoring and student support in higher education.

This abstract links to the UKAT conference 2026 theme of:

• Belonging and Mattering – Contributions considering how personal tutoring and academic advising foster a sense of belonging and mattering that enables students to engage more successfully with their education.

• Mental Health and Well-being – Contributions which reflect on how academic advising and personal tutoring can improve student well-being and support students’ mental health concerns.

Supporting Student Futures in Divided Times: Belonging, Safety and Dialogue Across Campus Spaces

PATRICIA PERLMAN-DEE (AMBS)

Teaching and tutoring in times of global conflict present complex challenges for educators who must sustain trust, belonging, and psychological safety while navigating increasingly divided campus environments. This lightning talk explores the paradox educators encounter when students demonstrate respectful, empathetic dialogue in structured classroom settings but express polarised, oppositional, or aggressive views elsewhere on campus or online. Drawing from the lecturer’s first-hand experience, the session examines how conflict-sensitive pedagogy, relational advising, and clear institutional frameworks can help tutors maintain authority, empathy, and credibility when student behaviours differ dramatically across contexts.

The talk opens with a reflective narrative comparing two contrasting scenes: a classroom characterised by curiosity and mutual respect, and the same students later engaging in divisive activism or confrontational behaviour. This contrast sets the stage for discussing the emotional efforts tutors will carry as they support student wellbeing while also managing their own values, vulnerabilities, and professional boundaries during periods of increased tension.

Participants will explore three short, practical scenarios that mirror common challenges faced by tutors during politically or globally sensitive periods. First, they will consider a case where students engage respectfully in classroom debate yet later participate in public demonstrations that feel exclusionary or hostile to others. Second, they will examine the emotional and professional strain placed on tutors who must balance support, consistency, and authority when student behaviours shift between classroom and campus spaces. Finally, participants will review an example of an institutional response to escalating tensions and discuss what concrete actions—such as clear communication channels, or tutor support mechanisms—enable disagreement to be held safely.

Through paired discussions and guided activities, delegates will work with real examples of campus tensions to identify practical steps tutors can take when student beliefs and behaviours clash. They will examine tools such as setting shared discussion agreements, using restorative conversation prompts, and signposting students to relevant wellbeing or advocacy services. The session will demonstrate how clear, consistent communication from tutors can prevent misunderstandings and reduce escalation. Participants will also explore everyday strategies—such as reflective check-ins, structured debriefs after high-emotion discussions, and coordinated responses with student support teams—that help tutors maintain trust and authority while supporting students’ personal and academic development across both classroom and wider campus environments.

Delegates will leave with actionable insights into how personal tutoring and advising can foster resilience, belonging, and inclusive practice during periods of societal division—ensuring learning environments remain safe, trusting, and respectful even when the wider world feels unstable.

Learning Outcomes

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