Simon Varwell
@hisasimon.bsky.social
Director of Student Engagement & Representation (“dosser”) at @thinkuhi.bsky.social’s Students' Association. Arnstein's Ladder stan account. PFHEA. Masters in Student Engagement. Ex-sparqs. He/him. Inverness, Scotland. Personal: @simonvarwell.bsky.social
...including optimistic declarations from unis saying (as Jim observes) "everything will be fine for September, with a few on-campus adjustments". Anyway, my article is here. It's very of its era but I'm proud of my conversion of Arnstein to a wheel. journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/st...
October 24, 2025 at 12:14 PM
...including optimistic declarations from unis saying (as Jim observes) "everything will be fine for September, with a few on-campus adjustments". Anyway, my article is here. It's very of its era but I'm proud of my conversion of Arnstein to a wheel. journals.studentengagement.org.uk/index.php/st...
We are recruiting for a new Chief Exec! It's been great working with Rachel our incumbent the past two years and she'll be sadly missed. But it's a great opportunity for someone to take @thinkuhi.bsky.social's students' association to our next phase. Please share! hr.breathehr.com/recruitment/...
October 20, 2025 at 2:31 PM
We are recruiting for a new Chief Exec! It's been great working with Rachel our incumbent the past two years and she'll be sadly missed. But it's a great opportunity for someone to take @thinkuhi.bsky.social's students' association to our next phase. Please share! hr.breathehr.com/recruitment/...
I have finished the week (and am about to start some leave) in Ghent, Belgium (a country the size of Belgium) where I’ve been privileged to participate once again in the Flemish HE sector’s project on student participation and share experiences from HISA/UHI. Much to learn from Flemish practice.
October 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
I have finished the week (and am about to start some leave) in Ghent, Belgium (a country the size of Belgium) where I’ve been privileged to participate once again in the Flemish HE sector’s project on student participation and share experiences from HISA/UHI. Much to learn from Flemish practice.
We are underway with (day 1 of our) @uhiinverness.bsky.social main campus Welcome Fayre! Lots of clubs, societies, services and community groups, and a real buzz all round. It’s busy on the HISA stall too.
September 9, 2025 at 10:08 AM
We are underway with (day 1 of our) @uhiinverness.bsky.social main campus Welcome Fayre! Lots of clubs, societies, services and community groups, and a real buzz all round. It’s busy on the HISA stall too.
Intrigued by @uofglasgow.bsky.social’s new strapline. #RAISE25
September 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Intrigued by @uofglasgow.bsky.social’s new strapline. #RAISE25
The final part of #RAISE25 is a panel of sector voices including my HISA colleague Aimee, plus @jimdickinson.bsky.social. Good to hear their thoughts on the big and sometimes very scary issues facing student engagement in our sector.
September 5, 2025 at 1:32 PM
The final part of #RAISE25 is a panel of sector voices including my HISA colleague Aimee, plus @jimdickinson.bsky.social. Good to hear their thoughts on the big and sometimes very scary issues facing student engagement in our sector.
So lovely to catch up with so many people at #RAISE25, some whom I’ve not seen for years. Good to have a mini-reunion with old @sparqs-scotland.bsky.social colleagues Megan and Stef too!
September 4, 2025 at 1:46 PM
So lovely to catch up with so many people at #RAISE25, some whom I’ve not seen for years. Good to have a mini-reunion with old @sparqs-scotland.bsky.social colleagues Megan and Stef too!
I’m at #RAISE25 at @uofglasgow.bsky.social today. Very impressive venue - someone described it as like the United Nations, but hopefully without the vetoes. Lovely to meet so many old sector friends - and some new ones. Thrilled also that there are three HISA contributions to the agenda!
September 4, 2025 at 8:49 AM
I’m at #RAISE25 at @uofglasgow.bsky.social today. Very impressive venue - someone described it as like the United Nations, but hopefully without the vetoes. Lovely to meet so many old sector friends - and some new ones. Thrilled also that there are three HISA contributions to the agenda!
A lovely day in Perth helping at our Welcome fayre - great work from our local team there as students found out about our clubs, socs and other opportunities, community groups and college services. Good to talk to lots of staff and students too.
September 3, 2025 at 4:01 PM
A lovely day in Perth helping at our Welcome fayre - great work from our local team there as students found out about our clubs, socs and other opportunities, community groups and college services. Good to talk to lots of staff and students too.
A sunny morning for a train journey. I’m off to @uhiperth.bsky.social first for our Welcome Fayre, then to Glasgow in advance of tomorrow’s @raisenetwork.bsky.social conference. Lots of work to do on the train. So who all on here is coming to #RAISE25?
September 3, 2025 at 7:06 AM
A sunny morning for a train journey. I’m off to @uhiperth.bsky.social first for our Welcome Fayre, then to Glasgow in advance of tomorrow’s @raisenetwork.bsky.social conference. Lots of work to do on the train. So who all on here is coming to #RAISE25?
A fabulous Welcome Fayre at UHI House today primarily for our health science students. Lots of clubs and societies joined, community groups met, great chats with loads of students, and I managed not to quite eat all of the Islamic Society’s baklava.
September 2, 2025 at 6:24 PM
A fabulous Welcome Fayre at UHI House today primarily for our health science students. Lots of clubs and societies joined, community groups met, great chats with loads of students, and I managed not to quite eat all of the Islamic Society’s baklava.
This is very good from the @wonkhe.bsky.social team especially because this extract chimes with my sadness that universities keep beating students over the head with their "belonging" stick. Belonging happens after a very long list of institutional behaviours. wonkhe.com/blogs/for-st...
September 2, 2025 at 3:36 PM
This is very good from the @wonkhe.bsky.social team especially because this extract chimes with my sadness that universities keep beating students over the head with their "belonging" stick. Belonging happens after a very long list of institutional behaviours. wonkhe.com/blogs/for-st...
I was at Highland Theological College’s Dingwall campus yesterday for student inductions. Lovely to talk to so many students and staff about everything from AI in learning to academic societies, chat to the (shared CATE award winning!) library team, and leave some HISA goodies in the common room!
August 28, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I was at Highland Theological College’s Dingwall campus yesterday for student inductions. Lovely to talk to so many students and staff about everything from AI in learning to academic societies, chat to the (shared CATE award winning!) library team, and leave some HISA goodies in the common room!
A busy Sunday afternoon helping out at the Inverness halls move-in weekend. Lovely to meet lots of new students and apprentices and tell them all about the great things they can get involved in.
August 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
A busy Sunday afternoon helping out at the Inverness halls move-in weekend. Lovely to meet lots of new students and apprentices and tell them all about the great things they can get involved in.
I’m intrigued at the story behind this sign…
August 22, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I’m intrigued at the story behind this sign…
Good to be working at our @uhiinverness.bsky.social office for a few days - an exciting time of year with lots of prep for welcome weeks, class induction talks and more.
August 22, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Good to be working at our @uhiinverness.bsky.social office for a few days - an exciting time of year with lots of prep for welcome weeks, class induction talks and more.
A great day at @uhimoray.bsky.social today - meeting our local HISA team and college staff. Lots of ideas to mull over for the coming academic year of supporting students and building their voice(s).
August 15, 2025 at 4:17 PM
A great day at @uhimoray.bsky.social today - meeting our local HISA team and college staff. Lots of ideas to mull over for the coming academic year of supporting students and building their voice(s).
Heading home after a really inspiring and encouraging three days of Exec training. Proud of the fab team that brought it all together, and of the new officers who have brought so much wisdom and diverse experience and built a great team already.
July 30, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Heading home after a really inspiring and encouraging three days of Exec training. Proud of the fab team that brought it all together, and of the new officers who have brought so much wisdom and diverse experience and built a great team already.
Lots of great training sessions with our new Exec today, including exploring four hats they might (literally!) wear. Good to meet lots of @thinkuhi.bsky.social and @uhiperth.bsky.social staff who’ve come to chat to officers too.
July 29, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Lots of great training sessions with our new Exec today, including exploring four hats they might (literally!) wear. Good to meet lots of @thinkuhi.bsky.social and @uhiperth.bsky.social staff who’ve come to chat to officers too.
A useful and very apt article. Coincidentally this afternoon I delivered a workshop this afternoon using the Question Formulation Technique, aiming to equip our officers to find the right questions to ask of staff, students and each other. This is a question I’m hugely interested in.
July 28, 2025 at 3:00 PM
A useful and very apt article. Coincidentally this afternoon I delivered a workshop this afternoon using the Question Formulation Technique, aiming to equip our officers to find the right questions to ask of staff, students and each other. This is a question I’m hugely interested in.
I - and many colleagues - are at @uhiperth.bsky.social this week for our annual Exec training. Looking forward to catching up with colleagues, new officers and various others, and developing some good ideas for the coming year with our new team.
July 28, 2025 at 10:37 AM
I - and many colleagues - are at @uhiperth.bsky.social this week for our annual Exec training. Looking forward to catching up with colleagues, new officers and various others, and developing some good ideas for the coming year with our new team.
a photo you'd use as an album cover
July 9, 2025 at 7:14 PM
a photo you'd use as an album cover
Lovely to have meetings with our new senior student officers this week. And it’s not just HISA staff: here’s our VP Education Holly meeting @thinkuhi.bsky.social’s Head of Academic Standards and Enhancement, Anna-Wendy.
July 1, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Lovely to have meetings with our new senior student officers this week. And it’s not just HISA staff: here’s our VP Education Holly meeting @thinkuhi.bsky.social’s Head of Academic Standards and Enhancement, Anna-Wendy.