Library and Skills Centre Teachmeet 2025

Teachmeet Welcome Presentation: EEDI in Library services

Jennifer Fearon (Associate Director of Library Teaching, Learning and Research Support)

Sheffield Hallam University

Jennifer Fearon is Associate Director of Library Teaching, Learning and Research Support at Sheffield Hallam University, an Education Consultant, and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), who has been working in the education, training and development sector for over thirty years. She has a Masters degree in Education and Lifelong Learning from The University of Nottingham. She is a BRIEF Solution focused Coach, a Certified practitioner in Neuro-linguistic programming. She has an ILM 5 in Leadership and Management and a CIPD in people management. She has recently completed a Diploma in Positive Psychology.

She has extensive experience of Leadership and Management, Coaching and Mentoring, the Further and Higher Education Sector, the Library and Information Service sector, Information literacy, Academic skills development, Student Support services, Race Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity.

Her experience of working in marginalized communities, with disadvantaged individuals and her journey through the education system as a Black woman from the global majority has shaped her approach to teaching and learning and her leadership, coaching and mentoring capabilities. The desire for equity and a level playing field underpins her drive to create a culture where everyone can prosper. Her high respect for students, as learners and people has allowed her to use this foundation to recognize possible barriers to learning and to seek ways to overcome these barriers.

APP-solutely prepared: pilot interventions to enhance mature student success at Sheffield, in line with 2026-29 APP objectives

Tracy Mayes (Academic Skills Adviser)

University of Sheffield

At Sheffield, students aged 21 or over at entry are less likely to attain a good honours degree than those under 21. One objective in Sheffield's APP 2026-29 is to improve attainment and completion rates for underrepresented groups, with a focus on disabled and mature students. The 301 Academic Skills team has been tasked with creating an academic skills support intervention for mature students, including summer pre-arrival academic skills workshops and the creation of an online skills resource. This summer affords an opportunity to pilot our plans, and this session will outline the strategy, what we've done so far, and how we are ensuring that student voice is kept front and centre.

Tracy Mayes is an Academic Skills Adviser at Sheffield's 301 Academic Skills. She is involved in developing 301's provision of study skills support for students across the University, including workshops, 1:1 tutorials and online resources. She coordinates the University's flagship undergraduate research scheme; Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), which each year sees students developing their research and transferable skills, often cementing their academic aspirations.

Returning to Learning: Successes, Challenges and Next Steps

Helen Briscoe (Academic Skills Adviser)

Edge Hill University

In the 2023/2024 academic year more than a third (36.5%) of HE students in the UK were over 25 and 23.5% were over 30 (HESA, 2025). With the over-50 age group also being one of the fastest growing demographics of adult learners, there is a real need to recognise this large and growing community of mature learners and to focus on enabling them to have the best experience of learning in higher education. This session will focus on the Returning to Learning initiative developed at Edge Hill University to support mature and non-traditional learners. It will introduce the context and rationale behind the session, highlight successes, acknowledge challenges, and consider what the next steps for this community might be.

Helen Briscoe is an Academic Skills Advisor at Edge Hill University, where she delivers academic skills support through embedded teaching sessions, workshops, webinars, and one-to-ones. Helen has a passion for supporting mature and non-traditional students as they return to study and has recently published a case study on her experiences of developing ‘Returning to Learning’ – a session designed to nurture an informal community of positive support.

'I truly felt supported by you': Enhancing Student Success and Fostering Belonging through Personal Tutor Referrals

Adam Lines (Academic Skills Adviser) & Leanne Campbell (Head of Learning Enhancement)

University of Birmingham

In the 2023/24 academic year, the Academic Skills Centre (ASC) at the University of Birmingham's Main Library piloted a targeted referral system. Personal Academic Tutors can refer undergraduate students below Good Honours level to the ASC for enhanced academic skills support. This initiative, part of the University's APP work to close degree awarding gaps for under-represented students, provides referred students with personalised 1-1 appointments. Students and ASC Advisors collaborate on individualised action plans with SMART goals to support academic success. In the first year of the referral scheme, 45% of referred final-year students achieved Good Honours.
More importantly, the scheme enhanced students' sense of belonging, a critical factor increasingly understood to be as crucial as academic performance for student success (Rueda and Swift, 2024). Our holistic approach not only addresses academic performance but also prioritises student wellbeing. This talk will highlight our approach of fostering a supportive and inclusive appointment environment that promotes both academic growth and sense of belonging.

Rueda, E. and Swift, C. L. (2024) Academic belonging in higher education: fostering student connection, competence, and confidence. Abingdon: Routledge.

Adam Lines is an Academic Skills Advisor within the Academic Skills Centre (ASC) in Library Services at the University of Birmingham. He works with students to develop their academic study skills and has a particular expertise in information literacy. He has a background working in special collections and widening participation and currently oversees the ASC’s offer to Birmingham Scholars through a programme of peer learning, workshops and online resources.

Leanne B.M. Campbell is Head of Learning Enhancement (Student Success) within the Academic Skills Centre in Library Services at the University of Birmingham. She has a background in Widening Participation research and evaluation, and also worked in HE Strategic Planning for over a decade before moving to Student Services to establish and coordinate the University’s Birmingham Scholar programme. She manages an expert team of academic skills advisors within the University Main Library and is responsible for student success support for under-represented groups, focusing on target groups identified in Birmingham’s Access and Participation Plan.

Co-creating a Library First Generation programme with students

Philipa Higson (Library Learning Adviser) & Nicola Gregory (Learning & Skills Manager)

Manchester Metropolitan University

Many First Generation students face barriers to higher education including financial constraints, lack of guidance or the absence of a support network, which can impact student experience and graduate outcomes.
Manchester Metropolitan University's First Generation programme is aimed at widening participation in HE amongst those who are the first in their family to go to university. The programme provides students with support throughout the calendar year, extending to prospective students and those who enrol at Man Met.
This presentation will discuss how the Library and Cultural Services' Academic Engagement and Teaching Services Team have become a part of the University's First Generation programme and co-created content with our Library Student Partners to ensure our support incorporates the student voice.
We will cover key considerations, how we created engaging and accessible content, the outcomes of our work so far, feedback received from students and staff and our reflections on the work carried out to gain a stronger foothold in the First Generation Programme.

Philippa Higson is a Library Learning Adviser within Library and Cultural Services (hereafter L&CS) at Manchester Metropolitan University. She designs and delivers the InfoSkills (the L&CS open programme) workshops that cover library and information skills and is involved in the development of online tutorials. Philippa has lead and been a part of project groups and is currently leading the L&CS First Generation project group. Philippa a member of the Academic Libraries North conference planning committee.

Nicola Gregory is Learning & Skills Manager within Library and Cultural Services' (LCS) at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her role sits within the Academic Engagement and Teaching Services Team, where she manages an eLearning Developer and three Library Learning Advisers, as well as working closely with the Academic Liaison Librarians and Academic Liaison Managers. Nicola coordinates the LCS open skills programme, InfoSkills, coordinates referencing support, leads on teaching development across LCS and leads on the development of AI student support for LCS. Nicola is also Co-chair for the ALN Conference Planning Committee.

Using co-production to develop a culture of neuro – inclusion for autistic students within academic libraries.

Kate Salinsky (Academic Skills Adviser) & Emma Finney (Learning & Teaching Support Librarian)

Sheffield Hallam University

Across the UK, there is a clear upward trend in students disclosing neurodivergence, particularly autism, reflecting broader increases in diagnosis and awareness. Higher education providers are also seeing more students declare disabilities — many of which are hidden. At Sheffield Hallam University, student diversity continues to grow, with a rising proportion of entrants from underrepresented and underserved groups. These patterns highlight the importance of embedding inclusive and neuro-affirmative practices across the university environment.

Between March 2023 and January 2025, Kate undertook a national role delivering autism training to mental health staff across England as part of the National Autism Trainer Programme. A core feature of this programme was its co-production model, with training co-designed and co-delivered alongside autistic people to centre lived experience and promote neuro-affirmative practice.

On returning to my role at Sheffield Hallam University, she was invited to share learning from this experience. Rather than present about autistic experience, she chose to develop a new training session — Creating a Culture of Inclusion — in partnership with autistic students and staff. The project is still underway, with an online version of the training yet to be delivered. This session co-delivered by Kate and Emma will share the thinking behind the project and explore co-production as a methodology for inclusion, along with key insights and learning from the process so far.

Kate Salinsky is an Academic Skills Adviser at the Skills Centre at Sheffield Hallam University. She works to deliver 1-1 study skills sessions and group webinars for SHU students at all levels of study and has a particular interest and specialism in working with neurodivergent and disabled students. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has a Post Graduate Certificate in Specialist Dyslexia Teaching and an MA in Autism. Between 2023 and 2025, Kate was on a career break delivering on the NHS England commissioned National Autism Trainer Programme for mental health staff across England.

Emma Finney is a Learning &Teaching Support Librarian at Sheffield Hallam University. She is a keen advocate for universal design and encouraging all to consider how neuroinclusive their space, processes and libraries are. She has presented talks and workshops about Academic libraries and supporting neurodivergent students at Lilac 2024 and in 2023 at the Disability Champions Forum (a grassroots community of practice in affiliation with ALISS). She has presented twice within the Neurodivergent Library and Information Staff Network on academic libraries on supporting neurodivergent students and reasonable adjustments in the workplace.

She is also keen on reading lists and created the Curated Reading list project to encourage students to use the library resources to help unwind and take a break from academic studies by tapping into genre fiction, wellbeing resources and exploring celebration days, weeks or months. She presented about this at a WHELF Reading List event in 2024 on Academic libraries – more than textbooks! Curated reading lists at Sheffield Hallam Libraries.