Institutional policy context

As outlined in chapter one, at Wrottesley the HEACF initiative was received with enthusiasm and because of the existing lead on

accredited student volunteering and the expertise already held by a handful of committed academic staff, the relatively unusual step was taken to develop more widely what was already happening in one academic school. It is considered unusual because, as mentioned in chapter one, the majority of institutions charged either their Careers Department, or more commonly their Students Union, to deliver the provision (Darwen & Rannard, 2011). Relationships already established by academic tutors at Wrottesley with a range of not-for-profit

organisations across the region were no doubt going to be of benefit to the development of a wider volunteering programme. A paper by one committed academic member of staff identified a broad set of

contextualised issues for senior management to consider when

responding to the HEACF initiative (Cameron, 2001). The twin aims of increasing volunteering and student employability are recognised, and these cohere with the political interests in civil society,

communitarianism, and the ‘third way’ (Giddens, 1998). What is distinctive about HEACF, Cameron (2001:2) argues, is the ‘realisation that voluntary sector organisations are very fertile learning

environments’ – something that was already being used across the Social Science disciplines in one school of the institution to offer the multiple benefits of academic learning, social action and practical

experience through ViC. Cameron (2001:2) goes on to acknowledge the value of this learning and the academic link to the curriculum:

experience to date suggests that embedding voluntary service in the curriculum in this way and relating it to mainstream academic concepts and theories make it attractive to committed students and safeguards it from being just another work experience exercise, or a soft option.

Cameron (2001:2) recognises however, that the government is: asking HEIs to undertake this task…with a

substantial and mixed ideological agenda encompassing citizenship alongside vocational training, as well as meeting the shortfall in volunteering.

Thus the connection between volunteering and vocationalism and hence employability is indicated, and is further evidence of neoliberal policies in action (Olssen & Peters, 2005; Radice, 2013). This conflation at government policy level has important consequences for the way in

which student volunteering activity has been developed at many HEIs, and continues to skew the image, purpose and functioning of

volunteering.

The evidence thus far exposes ever increasing pressure from a wealth of policy drivers in relation to graduate ‘employability’ and the

connection with the economy, coming down from government to HEIs, as explored in chapter one. This means that Wrottesley needs to

demonstrate the effectiveness of its institutional measures. In so doing, the policy as espoused by the institution is exposed by a narrow

understanding of what is recognised as success (the job-shop model), notably by high employment scores in the DHLE survey. (Harvey, 2001; Knight & Yorke, 2003b).

The enactment of policy takes place at different levels; national policies are espoused by the state, enacted by a profession and experienced by a community (Harris & Burn, 2011:247)

Wrottesley is responding to state policies, in turn determining

institutional requirements that academic staff, the Students Union and indeed students take action on. The data examined in this chapter will expose the ways in which the policies as espoused play out in terms of the enactment and experience of these (Harris & Burn, 2011; Evans, 2003).

At Wrottesley, the recognition of the value of academic support for accredited student volunteering meant that ViC could expand provision,

and opportunities for brokering extra-curricular volunteering would be created too. A university wide unit was established in 2002 to develop and grow existing School based provision into institution wide activity. This unit was tasked with the following:

a) Establish brokerage services to support students undertaking extra-curricular volunteering activity

b) Establish institution wide policies and processes for the accreditation of volunteering modules across the university c) determine day-to-day practices of linking student and staff

volunteers to organisations

d) risk assessment, ethical and practical issues of collaborating with community and voluntary organisations

e) monitoring all activity and developments

f) expanding student provision across a number of interested schools across the institution. (Green,2003)

The table below charts the expansion of ViC provision during the years of data collection for this research, plus a snapshot of recent levels of activity:

TABLE 4: Student numbers on accredited volunteering modules:

2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2015-16

177 187 167 269 691

Source: Volunteering Unit, University of Wrottesley 2016

Note : these figures refer to ViC only, and do not include unaccredited volunteering.

As can be seen in Table 4 above, accredited volunteering at Wrottesley grew significantly throughout this time and continues to be a popular route through undergraduate study. This growth was due to the

academic school, to accredited modules across the institution in subjects such as sport, law, education, and science.

Wrottesley was one of the first to build up a significant programme of accredited student volunteering as an important part of the

undergraduate curriculum. Members of staff – both academic and administrative – were appointed to lead on, develop and co-ordinate this activity, and provide the expertise to support the learning

experience of students.

This interest in student volunteering, and growth of activity has been mirrored in HEIs across England, although not all of the growth

elsewhere was with accredited provision. (Matthews et al, 2005; Brewis et al, 2010; Holdsworth & Quinn, 2010). In the Brewis et al (2010) study, 63 per cent of students are recorded as formally volunteering whilst at university, and this represents a significant contribution to the community in which students live and study.

Having already established ViC before the arrival of the HEACF

initiative, the institution was in a prime position to develop and expand this quickly. The policies of the New Labour governments (1997-2010) meant that the voluntary sector was increasingly seen as being a key player in civil society and welfare systems. The subsequent funding increases for the voluntary sector, and the services offered, meant even more scope for student volunteers to participate in an ever wider range of activities (Hall et al, 2004; Hawkins, 2008).

During the time of data collection for this study (2010-11) the Coalition government was in power and deficit reduction policies were firmly in place. As already mentioned in section 1.4 of chapter one, funding cuts to both public and voluntary sector organisations were swift and severe (NCVO, 2012). This had subsequent implications for the ways in which collaboration with not-for-profit organisations were organised, including how, and where, students were able to volunteer. For example, Sure Start Centres initiated by New Labour (Eisenstadt, 2011) had been popular organisations for students within the accredited programme at Wrottesley, particularly with those studying Sociology, Social Policy, and Social Care. The institution had good relationships with many of the centres across the region, and they welcomed support from our student volunteers. Within two years of the Coalition Government coming to power, however, these opportunities had dwindled (Sloam, 2012; Butler, 2013), and to date, no Wrottesley student has been able to volunteer at a Sure Start Centre. So this trickle-down effect is

impacting upon student activity too. Another major provider of student volunteering opportunities has traditionally been Citizens Advice

Bureaux (CABs). Popular amongst students studying Sociology, Social Policy, Criminology, Criminal Justice and Law, many students

volunteered at various bureaux around the West Midlands. Severe financial cutbacks, particularly so in the Birmingham area (Gentleman, 2011; CAB, 2012) meant that these opportunities too, were diminished and so Wrottesley students lost out on meaningful engagement with an

organisation that was facing huge demand for its services at a time when many were struggling with debt, job losses, and homelessness. As the figures in chapter three indicate however, this has not

diminished the thirst of students to undertake ViC.

The following section explores the context in which interviewees demonstrate their understanding and interpretation of these policy drivers and the work being done in the institution to respond to these, particularly in connection to ViC.