Welfare Zoom Call with Queens' College Supporters

The Alumni & Development Office at Queens' hosted a Zoom call discussing student welfare and its challenges since the pandemic, aimed at alumni and friends of the College. The call took place with the President and Revd Tim Harling, the Head of Welfare and Dean of Chapel, with Fellows Dr Andrew Thompson, Senior Tutor, and Dr Jane Garrison, Director of Studies in Psychological & Behavioural Sciences, on the evening of the 13th December.

The call started with Dr El-Erian talking through the practical efforts which go into making life in college better for students, which ranges from life-skills courses, and the Domestic Bursar Andy Bainbridge implementing £3 hot meals in the buttery to offset the cost of living crisis in an economical way. Revd Harling provided an update on student welfare at Queens', addressing challenges for students accessing welfare resources since the pandemic and what Queens' is doing to help. He spoke about the structure of the welfare team, the ways they are learning that they can best respond to student need. This includes a stepped model of welfare provision in order to tailor individual support to students. They discussed topics such as:

• When is enough welfare enough?
• What roles does identity play in young people’s lives?
• What direction is Cambridge University going in with respect to student care?
• Are young people in 2022 more in need compared to past generations?

Revd Harling emphasised the importance of listening to students and promoting positive mental health in a proactive rather than reactive way. He also discussed The Mairi Hurrell Fund, set up in the name of Mrs Mairi Hurrell, who retired from Queens' in 2015 after providing outstanding service as the College Nurse and Welfare Adviser for more than 20 years.

Revd Harling also spoke about how the Covid-19 pandemic has driven change in the university as a whole, including approaches to examinations and interviews.

Dr Thompson then discussed how the pandemic has changed interviews and examinations to an online format, and how the move towards Zoom interviews has had the effect of easing stress and anxiety for many of the 1400 prospective students this year.

These discussions were followed by a productive Q&A session in which attendees could raise their own topics. All of the Fellows on the call took turns discussing their take on these questions - for example, one related to climate anxiety amongst students, answered by Dr Jane Garrison, who is also one of the organisers of the life skills programme being implemented for students to help their transition to life beyond university.

For more information about the welfare provision at Queens', visit our page here.

For more on The Mairi Hurrell Fund for the mental and physical welfare of students, visit our fund page.