Better Student Leaders with Josh Farr
#122 How to Measure and Increase Student Belonging with UNSW’s Director of Engagement & Student Success, Natalie Nickson
What if student belonging isn’t just a feeling, but something universities can actually measure and improve? Natalie Nickson is the Director of Engagement & Student Success at UNSW and led a three-year belonging project that engaged around 70,000 students to understand what actually makes students feel connected to university. In this episode, we unpack the five drivers of belonging, four very different student personas, choice modelling, affordable food, friendship and why O-Week alone simply isn’t enough. “Everybody’s okay on day one to say, ‘Hands up, I don’t have a friend.’ Six months later, I think there’s a lot of shame around, ‘I still don’t have a friend.’” - Natalie Nickson We explore why feeling safe comes before feeling like you belong, why some students can spend 18 months wanting community without finding their way in, and how student leaders can create environments that make connection easier. We also dive into the gap between attending an event and actually belonging, UNSW’s First Year Festival, the surprising connection between affordable food and belonging, and how choice modelling can help student leaders work out what their members actually value. For student leaders, Natalie leaves us with a simple challenge: find the issue you care about, bring the data, identify people inside your university who care about it too, and reach out. Because when student leaders and university leaders are moving in the same direction, real change can happen. Connect with Natalie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliedainer/ Or, to speak with Josh… Connect on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshdfarr/ Or visit: https://www.campusconsultancy.org/ Did you love this episode? Please consider leaving a 5-star review and hit SUBSCRIBE before you go anywhere!
