Hey, I’m Toni
My role involves working to understand the experience of Keele’s postgraduate students, particularly in terms of the barriers to wellbeing, and the challenges associated with the transition into, through and out of postgraduate study. All of this with a view to removing the barriers to mental health and wellbeing and improving the support and services that are available to Keele’s Postgraduates.
Key Achievements
PGT/PGR During the Pandemic Signposting Resources
With the national lockdown that came into effect in March 2020, a swathe of absolutely fantastic resources popped up. I wanted to create a way of sharing these with Keele’s Postgraduates and remind them of Keele University’s internal support services.
The PGT and PHD During the Pandemic resources has been created to signpost you to some fantastic support resources that exist and has a wellbeing focus, covering topics such as self-compassion, wellbeing while working from home and pandemic ‘productivity’. It also provides some practical advice on staying connected with peers and managing supervisory relationships.Gratitude Journaling
Postgraduate Student Minds Group
Gratitude Journaling featured as part of a larger Journaling and Goal setting workshop that worked in partnership with Anne (Active Wellbeing Officer) and the Keele Postgraduate Association to co-create. The portion of the workshop I presented focused on introducing attendees to the concept of gratitude (what it is and what it is not) and some different ways to practice it.
Launched in July 2020, the Postgraduate Student Minds Group was developed in partnership with North Staffs Mind. Led by Rob from North Staffs Mind, the group meets on MS Teams for an hour and a half twice a month. It aims to promote positive emotional wellbeing and offer social and peer support in a safe and confidential environment. The group is an informal space with no set agenda – Postgraduates are encouraged to come along and talk about whatever might be on their mind, whether it be something past, present, future, personal academic or otherwise.
The PGR Journey Workshop
The PGR Journey Workshop aimed to support the transition into Postgraduate Research by giving new starters an introduction to the PGR Journey with advice and tips from current PGRs. The workshop lasted an hour and a half and involved current PGRs from across the three faculties speaking about their own PGR Journey. This included talking about the challenges they had faced and how they navigated them as well as what they had enjoyed most, tips, and advice for attendees. The feedback from attendees was incredibly positive with many comments focusing on the value of being able to learn from current PGRs.
What’s Next
Creation of resources and support to Help Support PGRs
I initially designed this as an initiative for PGRs to share experiences, advice and tips that could be used in the creation of support and resources for new PGRs. It quickly became apparent that much of the support, advice and experiences shared by PGRs would be beneficial and relevant to PGRs at a variety of stages in their journey.As a result, I worked with my Start to Success colleague Kerry (Progression and Success) to duplicate this work at Staffordshire University. With 4 different ways to get involved, including interviews, surveys and video clip creation, this initiative has been contributed to by PGRs across both Universities 50 times.We are currently processing the data, and I look forward to sharing something soon!