Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a Students' Union Sabbatical Officer? Perhaps you fancied your chances running or reckoned, like me, you never stood a chance? Throw into the mix what it might be like to be a female sabbatical officer and you'll start to understand the many challenges and power structure our female student leaders often have to encounter. On this episode, I chat to Beth Eaton (Leeds University Union), Megan Ball (Winchester Students' Union) and Eve Alcock (University of Bath Students' Union) about how they came to enter the student union movement, the imposter syndrome they overcame and the power structures and struggles they had to tackle. A truly inspiring listen when you think how they dug deep to challenge those with significant authority in order to advocate so well for their student body. Simply put, a pleasure to record.

The Free Food, Free Drinks podcast was created by Rebecca O'Hare (University of Leeds) and Robert Young (UKCISA) to provide a platform for those working in student support roles to learn from others in the sector. It aims to provide free knowledge to those new in the field and where possible share best practice too.

Tweet us: https://twitter.com/FreeFoodPod

Emails us: [email protected]

LinkedIN: https://www.linkedin.com/company/free-food-free-drinks/?viewAsMember=true

Outside of the University bubble there is often additional work taking place with local stakeholders to ensure the impact of having a University on their doorstep is positive, fruitful and the best it can be. This is particularly true in large university cities where tensions can become strained in local neighbourhoods as long term residents and transient students learn to live side by side. In this episode, I speak with Cooper Healy from Manchester Student Homes and Amanda Jackson from the University of Leeds who take the time to share their many years of experience and knowledge gained. They also bust a few myths about town and gown relationships and how it isn't always the case that students are out to cause problems in their local communities.

If you'd like to learn more about the work of Manchester Student Homes - please visit https://www.manchesterstudenthomes.com/Accommodation

Free Food, Free Drinks is a podcast aimed at those working in the world of Student Affairs/Student Services, particularly those new to the field or early in their career. Originally created by Robert Young (from UKISA) and Rebecca O'Hare (University of Leeds) - this season sees Rebecca take the lead in producing the podcast.

Follow us on social media:

Twitter: @FreeFoodPod

LinkedIn: Free Food Free Drinks - The Student Affairs/Services Podcast

Got an idea? Fancy being on the pod? Email us via [email protected]

This episode was recorded on 25 May 2022

2021 has nearly come to an end and what a year it has been for those working in the world of Higher Education, Student Services and Student Affairs. The topic of Compassion Fatigue may be something you've never heard of or resonate with deeply and typically it is associated with those who work in healthcare professions. However, emerging research suggests that many working in the world of Higher Ed and in caring roles, will experience or have a tendency to experience Compassion Fatigue.

In this episode, we chat with Sasha Masoomi, Assistant Director of Residence Life at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Sasha presented on the topic of Compassion Fatigue at the ACUHOI annual conference in 2019 and so we invited her to discuss how it can present itself in Student Services/Affairs professionals and the steps that can be taken to identify and mitigate it. In addition, Sasha shares with us how she implements training and discussions on Compassion Fatigue with early career professionals in the hope that it becomes less taboo.

About the podcast:

Robert Young & Rebecca O'Hare founded the Free Food, Free Drinks podcast in January 2020 as a means to share free and relevant content with professionals working in the world of Student Services/Affairs. Currently Robert serves as an Advice and Training officer with UKCISA, while Rebecca serves as the Assistant Director (Residence Life & Accommodation Office) at the University of Leeds. Feel free to connect with both Robert and Rebecca via LinkedIn, or alternatively via Twitter - @Rebecca_ResLife & @RobertYoungHE

This week Robert and Rebecca speak with Colum Cronin, the Senior International Officer at Dublin City University. Colum, who also spends some of his time as co-host of the Adventures in Advising podcast, spoke with us about the position and experiences of higher education in Ireland. It was a fascinating discussion about some of the unique challenges that the higher education sector experiences in Ireland compared to the UK, how the sector has changed over the past decade and what it might expect to see over the coming years as well.

An episode that's interspersed with plenty or Irish-isms and lots of shared passion for student affairs, we hope that you enjoy our latest instalment!

**Colum's podcasts**

Adventures in Advising: https://adventuresinadvising.buzzsprout.com/

Irish NFL Show: https://www.irishnflshow.com/

About Rebecca & Robert

Rebecca O'Hare & Robert Young are two Student Affairs professionals passionate about improving many elements of the student experience. More than that, they want to use this podcast to help other early career professionals hear about the work of others, gain new knowledge and hopefully apply it to their own practice. Follow Rebecca on Twitter via @Rebecca_ResLife and follow Robert on Twitter via @RobertYoungHE. If you have an idea for an episode, don't hesitate to drop us an email at [email protected]

We've all experienced at one time in our life, a not so great boss. Or perhaps you aspire to be a leader or currently manage a large team of your own. Whatever your position or experience, we at the Free Food, Free Drinks pod believe there is a fundamental difference between a manager and a leader. Leaders inspire, motivate and develop individuals and teams to be their very best and so to discuss this topic in detail, we were delighted to chat to the passionate expert that is Mel Loizou. With 20 years experience in Higher Education herself, Mel understands the pressure and difficulties that comes with working in HigherEd and so we think, this particular episode will be useful one for all you aspiring Student Services leaders out there.

**Resources**

There are plenty of resources shared during our chat and link to everything discussed can be found below:

Watch Mel's TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ4TQtPD7oI

Check out her website: https://www.fishclimbtrees.co.uk/

Find and connect with Mel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melloizou/

Connect on Twitter via @Mel_Loizou

Get Mels book: http://www.fishclimbtrees.co.uk/#book-section

Finally Rob mentioned a great careers podcast. Find out more here: http://www.amazingif.com/listen/

About Rebecca & Robert

Rebecca O'Hare & Robert Young are two Student Affairs professionals passionate about improving many elements of the student experience. More than that, they want to use this podcast to help other early career professionals hear about the work of others, gain new knowledge and hopefully apply it to their own practice. Follow Rebecca on Twitter via @Rebecca_ResLife and follow Robert on Twitter via @RobertYoungHE. If you have an idea for an episode, don't hesitate to drop us an email at [email protected]

For episode 17, Robert speaks with Sarah Cooper, a careers consultant at University of Bristol. Sarah specialises in careers support for Bristol's international students whilst also serving on the AGCAS Internationalisation Task Group, which develops and promotes good practise in careers support for international students across UK higher education institutions. She also acts as a committee member at UKCISA, helping to ensure international students and graduates have the best possible experience during their time in the UK.

Sarah and Robert discuss how Sarah's role at Bristol works within the wider Careers context, the soon to be released Graduate route visa, and the impact of covid-19 on the service. We hope that you find this episode insightful!

AGCAS International Students FAQ: https://www.agcas.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Resources/ITG/Working_in_the_UK_-_Answers_to_International_Students'_FAQ_May_2021.pdf

UKCISA International Student Employability Group Guide For Employers: https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/uploads/files/1/Page/ISEG/Recruiting_International_Graduates-FINAL.pdf

Keep up with all things Free Food, Free Drinks by subscribing to the podcast and following us on Twitter via @FreeFoodPod

Got an idea for the show? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Drugstraining.com was formed by Liam Watson in 1999 and is now one of the leading independent substance misuse training agencies in the U.K

Liam has extensive experience in the drugs field and has been responsible for the development and implementation of a range of initiatives with drugs services, local authorities, police drugs squads, criminal justice, universities and commercial businesses. He was Chair of the Welsh Forum of Drug Specialists for five years and a Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Health and Social Care at the University of The West of England in Bristol.

Liam has worked as a Consultant for DrugScope, Addaction, Lifeline, Welsh Government, Barnardos and various Police Forces. He previously sat on the ‘New Psychoactives’ sub group of APOSM and presented on the theme of online drugs marketplaces at the Club Health Conference in Prague.

Discount: Liam is running his next online course 'STUDENTS: drugs, booze and smart pills in early May and has kindly offered a 20% discount to FreeFood, Free Drinks listeners - Simply quote 'FreeFood' to avail of a discount for you and your team.

Keep up with all things Free Food, Free Drinks by subscribing to the podcast and following us on Twitter via @FreeFoodPod

Got an idea for the show? Drop us a line at [email protected]

Our latest episode is being released on University Mental Health Day 2021, an initiative run by Student Minds and UHMAN. The day is designed to inspire conversations and so we thought what better way to mark the day than to bring you this episode with Dr. Dominique Thompson.

Dr. Dominique Thompson is an award winning GP, young people’s mental health expert, TEDx speaker, author and educator, with over 20 years of clinical experience caring for students, including as a police and expedition doctor, and as Director of Service at the University of Bristol Students’ Health Service. She was named Bristol Healthcare Professional of the Year 2017. In 2019 she was nominated as one of the Top 100 West Women of the Year.

We are massively grateful to Dominique for sharing some of her precious time with us - we spend the episode discussing her professional journey, the state of student mental health in 2021, the impact that Covid-19 has had on students, parents and supporters and the challenges they face in supporting modern students and so much more. We really hope you enjoy this episode.

Dr. Dominique Thompson’s website

Books: buzzconsulting.co.uk/books

Ted Talks: What I learned from 78,000 GP consultations with university students

Follow Dr. Dominique Thompson on social media: 

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube

Keep in touch with all things 'Free Food, Free Drinks' by following us on Twitter (@FreeFoodPod) or never miss a podcast episode by subscribing to the pod via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more

Zak Liddell is the Head of Student Experience and Education at UCL and is passionate about including student voices at the start of decision making and throughout any process or conversation where their experience may be impacted or improved upon. He has a wonderful philosophy of education generally, something we touch upon in this episode but he also explains wonderfully how student affairs professionals and academics can work together to generate positive student outcomes. He is a graduate of Anglia Ruskin University and holds an MA in Student Affairs in Higher Education. 

During the podcast Zak references the research of Dr John Canning. More on his work can be found here: https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/persons/john-canning

Keep in touch with all things 'Free Food, Free Drinks' by following us on Twitter (@FreeFoodPod) or never miss a podcast episode by subscribing to the pod via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more. 

Happy new year everyone! Our first episode of 2021 covers Robert's own research that was recently submitted as his thesis for the MA Student Affairs in Higher Education. 

In this episode, Robert discusses forced migrant students and their experience in UK higher education. Robert has worked with forced migrants at many levels of study in UK education, both at FE and HE. Over his time in education Robert has seen how forced migrants often have a very different experience of studying in the UK compared to almost every other 'category' of student and was impassioned during his Masters to research how forced migrant students feel about what the higher education sector has been able to offer them. 

Forced migration and displacement of individuals is a major worldwide crisis, with numbers of displaced individuals across the world rising rapidly every year. It is a challenge that is only going to become more and more prevalent, and Robert discusses how higher education can prove to be a critical sanctuary for individuals in the UK and worldwide. We hope that you enjoy this episode.

Keen to be part of the Free Food, Free Drinks podcast? Know someone who might be? We love to hear from our listeners, so don't hesitate to tweet us @FreeFoodPod or drop us an email at [email protected]

You can also reach out to us on Twitter: Robert Young via @RobertYoungHE and Rebecca via @Rebecca_ResLife