Author: Ella Quinlan, Claire Williams ,Karen Huxtable, Cris Izura , Sam Oakley , Elen Davies , Hazel McMurtrue , Rachel Thomas, Michelle Lee
Session: Presentation

Over the last few years we have noticed a decrease in student attendance to Induction week events, with 1 in 3 students not attending personal tutor meetings in the first week/semester and a lack of engagement with the course and lectures in general.  In extreme cases some students report they are still unable to sign in to emails/university services in Semester 2 of Year 1. The Countdown to Swansea was a programme designed to try and foster a sense of community and increase engagement from students prior to the arrival by releasing ‘bite size’ chunks of information about the University and Department over a 15-day period. In the talk we will discuss the Countdown to Swansea Programme, how it worked and the topics covered. Data from a survey of students in Year 1 about the Countdown programme will be presented as well as the website analytics of the topics most visited by our students. Finally, we will discuss what impact the Countdown Programme had on Induction Week attendance in comparison to previous years, and whether it is an effective intervention to introduce across other departments.