Coordinating actions and providing support following a student death: a half-day, online training event

All universities need to have clear procedures in place for responding to the death of a student, to make sure support is offered, in a timely and effective way, to those who need it.  It is also important that everyone knows who is doing what, to prevent any duplication of action or any avoidable distress that could inadvertently arise through a lack of coordination. 

This half-day online event explores the key aspects of a university’s response to a student death – from how we can best support students during the first few hours following a death through to how we provide longer-term support for everyone who needs it, including the student’s family and other students affected.  

The training is interactive and practical, with a focus on key skills that we can take away to use in our respective roles.  The event is also an important chance to ask questions and explore some of the trickier aspects of student death cases, as well as exploring how we can look after ourselves and support one another, as staff members, in this work.

Who is this session for?

This session is relevant to colleagues who might find themselves having a role to play in responding to a student death.  This includes:

• Colleagues responsible for coordinating a university’s response to a student death – including directors of student services, university secretaries, or registrars
• Professional services managers and practitioners – including colleagues from welfare teams, wellbeing teams, mental health teams, international student support teams or other specialist support services
• Colleagues in faculties and academics – including faculty registrars, heads of school, senior tutors, and programme or module leaders
• University chaplains
• Communications or PR/media managers
• Colleagues working in a university enquiry service, a faculty or service front desk team, or a university helpdesk
• Accommodation staff
• Security managers/team leaders
• Students' union managers/advisers

While this training is aimed at higher education, colleagues in further education or other similar settings will also find the content very relevant.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this event, participants will:

• Explore the context in which this work is carried out within universities – including the impact of media interest and social media, and recent national guidance for universities on managing student deaths.
• Become familiar with the key features of an effective student death policy/procedure.
• Explore key aspects of providing support to the family of a student who has died.
• Understand practical skills and strategies for coordinating and providing support to students – including responding effectively in the first few hours following a student death on campus, delivering bad news to students, drafting sensitive communications to student cohorts, and having effective one-to-one conversations with students. 

Fees

Single delegate - £65 + VAT (£78 incl. VAT)

Early bird discount (15%) available for bookings made by 26th January 2024 - £55.25 + VAT (£66.30 incl. VAT)

You can either pay by debit/credit card or request an invoice. To pay via invoice, click on “Pay by invoice or bank transfer” when you get to the debit/credit card details page; we will then get in touch with you to arrange an invoice.

For any colleague unable to secure funding from their HEI/employer to attend this session and unable to afford the standard cost themselves personally, we hold a couple of places at each session which we can offer at a significantly reduced cost. To find out more about how to request one of these places, subject to availability, visit www.plinthhouse.com/self-funded-reduced-tickets

(Looking for training for your whole team or cohort? Does the date of this course not work for you? Find out more about our Ready-to-run version of this course.)