Some of my best friends….….The role of university support services in defining and developing the third space
The notion of “the Library” at Middlesex (and I assume at many other universities) has been transformed in the last 15 years. When I joined, the library felt quite separate from the concerns of the University - isolated from the strategic direction of the organisation and seen by most academics through the lens of their own studies some 20 years previously. Today things are very different: the library building may not have changed much physically, but spiritually it is very much at the heart of the student experience, housing not only the library collections, but expert advice services and the one-stop student enquiry service. My service (Library & Student Support) has grown and developed to incorporate wider aspects of the academic (academic writing, student helpers etc.) and wellbeing student experience (counselling, disability support, financial advice etc.) and they are now seen as intrinsically bound up with delivering the University’s strategic aspirations, set out in the new strategy Knowledge into Action. The transformative approach of foregrounding the student experience as the responsibility of all staff, irrespective of their position in the structure, aims to break down silos and encourage working outside of hierarchies in communities of practice.
I wasn’t aware of the notion of a “third space” before reading this book (The Impact of the Integrated Practitioner: Studies in Third Space Professionalism) but having done so it felt like my unarticulated thoughts around collaborative working within universities had found a voice; and the underlying, implicit dynamics had suddenly become explicit.
Library & Student Support’s (LSS’s) ethos is collaborative - teams work together to enhance the student experience. I think this translates into how they relate to other services and faculties and many staff exhibit elements associated with third space practitioners. There is frequent close working with faculty academic staff; for example, the liaison librarians collaborating on reading list materials, teaching embedded sessions in programmes as well as contributing to EDI and decolonisation projects; or wellbeing staff leading and participating in initiatives that bring in service and academic staff as well as students, to enhance student wellbeing and mental health. One of the paradoxes of pandemic working is that while it has removed the benefits of working in the same physical location as colleagues it has also increased cross-boundary working since everyone in the organisation is equally distant. I hope that we can retain this flexibility as campus working returns.
Definitions of what makes someone a member of a service or an academic feel too rigid and can become obstacles: we have staff within LSS on academic contacts (so it isn’t about where the roles are situated), and many service staff teach, carry out research and have taken the opportunity to study for a PhD or professional doctorate (so these criteria are no longer helpful). This of course begs the question; “What new definitions should replace these?”
The book is particularly interesting in exploring the “invisibility” of third space practitioners and it made me reflect that despite the good work already in place, there are limitations. There is a sense that most commonly the cross-boundary working is down to individual relationships developing rather than wider expectations being set. This leads to inevitable frustrations where someone leaves and things are re-set with the arguments needing to be made all over again. It feels timely and necessary to explore and advocate for a culture of third space working so we can realise the benefits which are not applied systematically at present.
There are indications that senior managers are open to these ideas: the new University strategy prioritises co-leadership with students, while the Student Union’s strategy positions students as citizens; both making explicit the student as an active participant in their experience, and bringing them into the third space as well. We have also tried to refocus the student experience as something which all staff have a stake in-not just those working directly with students. Broad projects have been initiated to enhance the student digital experience, the timetable and student financial support utilising expertise across the University. These meet all the criteria of third space projects, and need boundary crossing practice to be embedded if they are to have real effect. It will be interesting to see how these develop in future.
There is perhaps a further question for senior managers to consider. Third space practitioners are clearly doing important work which benefits strategic priorities, despite operating outside usual structures. Is there more that can and should be done to facilitate their work, bring them into the open and to change the culture? I would argue that faced with the current external challenges it is essential that perceptions about this flexible and agile way of working change from being seen as the exception - which a few motivated individuals embrace - to the norm: and accepted as how we all need to work.
