Case study (2005) The University of Leeds Recruitment

Context

The University of Leeds' Access Academy recruits over 500 volunteers every year to take part in a wide range of volunteering projects. The main recruitment drive takes place in the third semester for all returning students and a smaller recruitment drive during freshers' week for first-year students. An extensive recruitment campaign has been developed by the University to inform all students of the benefits of volunteering and opportunities to volunteer.

Programme Detail

Activities have been developed to capture the interest of the entire student body. The broad spectrum of volunteering projects ranges from tutoring and mentoring to refugee support and grants for students to initiate their own volunteering projects. This diversity therefore enables all students to feel there is a volunteering opportunity suitable to their skills and interests. It also enables volunteers to participate in structured placements of a predefined duration or become involved in one-off or ad hoc volunteering activity where time commitments are limited.

Communicating the opportunities takes many forms in an attempt to ensure all students find out about volunteering opportunities. Stalls are hosted at the freshers' fair, international student fairs, health and wellbeing fair, community fair and the black and minority ethnic event to raise awareness among the student population.

Five-minute volunteering presentations are delivered by Access Academy staff before lectures to provide an insight into the volunteering programme. Where requested by academic departments, longer sessions are held for particular groups such as international students. Presentations are also tailored to some staff development programmes, such as the women's Springboard programme in which senior female staff discover opportunities to use their skills to support hard-to-reach women's groups. Through strong connections with the students' union, presentations are given to societies that may collectively volunteer, ranging from the Islamic to the Hip Hop Society.

All events are supported by publicity literature, including brochures, leaflets, posters and flyers. University screensavers in computer clusters also host information about volunteering opportunities. In promoting the Leeds University Community Initiative grants scheme, for example, screensavers hosted information two weeks before the application deadline, posters were placed around the University and given to all student societies, and flyers were handed out to students around campus.

Every year new and innovative promotional ideas are used to capture the interest of students. Baked bean cans carrying the catchphrase 'Be a considerate human bean!' were used this year to encourage community-based volunteering. Previous years have involved making candy floss at events to give to students who sign up to volunteer. The message is also a key part of the recruitment process. From experience and literature research it is evident that volunteering enhances a graduate's CV but examples are useful from past students who have used their volunteering experience in interviews to enhance their employability

The recruitment drive is backed by a drop-in service for all potential volunteers to find out more about the programmes or ask specific questions about the type of volunteering they would be best suited to.

The University has adopted a much more strategic and planned approach to recruitment over the years, and despite fears about the burden on student time and the growing necessity of many students to work to pay for fees, the University has seen a steady growth in volunteer numbers. This is testament to the process, service and adaptability of the programmes. Increasingly presentations carry a dual message of the benefit of volunteering for the local community but also the employability angle for the students themselves, with case studies of students who have secured prestigious graduate career placements based partly on their volunteering.

Hints and Tips

  • Recruit during the third term so that CRB checks can be run over the summer to maximise student volunteering time in the first term.
  • Apply different approaches to different audiences to capture their imagination.
  • Focus on the employability of graduates who volunteer.
  • Create innovative promotional activities to capture students' attention.
  • Speak to academic departments to gain approval to speak in lectures about volunteering