STUDENT EXPERIENCE AND WELLBEING
Mitesh Vagadia Head of Student Support and Wellbeing University College, London
An International Perspective on Wellbeing Programming from University College London Mitesh Vagadia has an important and varied job. Working as Head of Student Support and Wellbeing at the largest university in the United Kingdom sees him collaborating with all areas of the University including residential halls with over 6000 residents, as well as working with external providers and government divisions to enact key wellbeing initiatives and drive positive cultural change. We spoke to Mitesh to gain some insights into his work: Tell us about your role at University College London (UCL) I have been at UCL for nine years now, and am currently working in two roles, or wearing two hats. In my student support and wellbeing work, I lead the development of wellbeing and health campaigns and projects including things like our consent education campaign. Our focus is really putting student support and wellbeing at the forefront and helping students understand the services available within the University and externally, and ensuring that students are confident to come forward to get help.
The wellbeing and safety of our students are of the greatest importance, and we continually strive to do better in creating an inclusive environment for all members of the UCL community.
We also do a lot of work around helping students to build their life skills including resilience, wellbeing, personal growth to support them in being successful during their time at university and after graduating. In my role as a warden for our residential halls, my focus is offering another level of support in our residences, including out-ofhours wellbeing and mental health support and emergency crisis support to residential students. In addition to our security support in residential halls, the Student Resident Advisors (SRAs) offer out-of-hours support to our students. I manage a team of 60 SRAs across the halls, and a big part of their role is offering peer support to the students as well as pro-actively bringing students together through events to help them get to know each other to ease them settling into life in London.
What are the demographics and numbers like in your University and student residences? As the biggest university in the country, we have around 46,000 students. Of those, around 50% are international students, which includes EU students. Around 30% of students in halls are postgraduates and a large number of our residential halls are home to our undergraduate students.
What are some of the ways your team have approached education and reduction of sexual harm at the University? The wellbeing and safety of our students are of the greatest importance, and we continually strive to do better in creating an inclusive environment for all members of the UCL community. This means acknowledging when harm happens, and both doing more to respond effectively and to prevent harmful behaviours. …continued next page
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