Welcome week is not your belonging strategy

This week, Dr Stuart Grey discusses belonging, partnership and timing: why welcome week is not enough to be a university's belonging strategy. The episode covers research on first-year introduction week, student voice as partnership, Portsmouth's assessment regulation changes and Westminster's mid-module check-ins. In This Episode - Why welcome week mainly strengthens peer belonging, not staff belonging. - Why belonging needs to be designed and checked across the semester, not only in week zero. - How dropout intention and wellbeing connect to belonging evidence. - Why student voice should be treated as partnership, not extraction. - How student feedback can reshape assessment regulations. - What earlier module feedback can look like in practice. Student Voice Practice The episode includes a Student Voice update on previews of the new NSS 2026 reports and the gap between central analysis and department-level action. Research Spotlight Welcome week attendance boosts peer belonging, but not staff belonging: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/welcome-week-attendance-boosts-peer-belonging/ Student Voice as Partnership, Not Extraction: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/student-voice-as-partnership-not-extraction/ Sector Watch Portsmouth's assessment regulation changes show how student feedback can reshape assessment rules: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/portsmouth-assessment-regulation-changes-student-feedback/ University of Westminster's Mid-Module Check-ins show what earlier module feedback can look like: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/westminster-mid-module-check-ins-earlier-module-feedback/ From the Archive Student perspectives on HRM course content: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/student-perspectives-on-hrm-course-content/ Obstacles to students voice in curriculum design: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/obstacles-to-students-voice-in-curriculum-design/ King's Wellbeing Survey, and why joined-up student feedback matters: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/kings-wellbeing-survey-joined-up-student-feedback-system/ Practical Takeaway Check whether your belonging evidence distinguishes peer belonging from staff belonging. If it does not, you may be measuring one part of the experience and acting on another. Full episode page: https://www.studentvoice.ai/podcast/episodes/011-welcome-week-is-not-your-belonging-strategy/ Subscribe to Student Voice Weekly: https://www.studentvoice.ai/blog/newsletter/