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Original Approved:	School Committee, 18 October 2006 (Student Support Policy) Teaching Committee, 14 July 2008
Original Author:	P Coxhead
Link to Previous Version:	Version 1.1
Relevant University documentation:	Code of Practice for Student Development and Support in Principal Academic Units
Relevant School documentation:	Student Support Policy

Version Number	Notes on Changes	Author(s)	Date
1.1	Academic Advisors for MSc students	L Ewers	29 Jul 2009
1.2	Timing of first year advisorials	L Ewers	21 Jan 2011

Contents

• 1. Preamble
• 2. Undergraduates
• 3. MSc students
• 4. The role of Academic Advisors
• 5. Availability to Students
• 6. Summary

1. Preamble

In order to reflect the University's concerns for student support, in a framework promoting transfer of responsibility to students for management of their own life and study, and in the context of increasing student numbers, the School has implemented a system to support its students which is both responsive and flexible, and which seeks to identify students in special need of support and then to provide that support.

The description in this section of the Staff Handbook is addressed to academic staff who are called on to act as Academic Advisors. The School's formal policy is set out in a separate document (Student Support Policy), which is definitive should there be any discrepancies between the two documents.

The Staff/Student Consultative Committee is an important component of this system. It has student representatives from each degree programme or group of degree programmes. This ensures that specific problems can be addressed and resolved as they arise.

2. Undergraduates

1. The School's student support scheme separates academic advice from pastoral support. There will be no 'personal tutor'; each student will be assigned to an Academic Advisor who has prime responsibility for academic advice. The Student Development & Support Team, and within it the Welfare Team, have prime responsibility for all pastoral matters, which are those personal circumstances which do or may impinge on a student's academic performance. Pastoral matters may also be brought up in discussion with Academic Advisors -- but the latter should always ensure that students know they should also contact the Welfare Team.
2. Students will have an advisor assigned to them. They will be able to change their advisor -- this will be managed by the Student Development & Support Team. In the final year, students are expected to make weekly contact with their final year project supervisor, who often becomes a more appropriate person from whom to seek academic advice.
3. Undergraduate students will be allocated to advisors as equitably as feasible.
4. Advisors will display on their office door hours when they are available to see their allocated students, as well as any other student on module/supervisory matters.
5. Students will be able to arrange an appointment to see their advisor, and may be required to do so. Each student will be obliged to complete a self-evaluation form -- electronically, via the web -- in each semester and submit this to the Student Development & Support Team. This form can trigger a progress review meeting in several ways:
   • student request
   • student's self-evaluation suggests problems requiring attention
   • student's self-evaluation does not match reports/evidence received from other sources
   • student fails to complete form.
6. Students identified as in need of special attention for whatever reason may be required to attend regular/weekly meetings with their advisor and/or the Student Development & Support Team (as appropriate). In particular, students who submit frequent medical absence notes (self-certification or otherwise), or those who in Year 1 fail to attend the required weekly seminars with their advisors may be required to see the Student Development & Support Team. Attendance is not otherwise monitored.
7. New students will have an induction week, and they will also have TIMETABLED sessions with their Academic Advisor.
8. Students will be given a first year handbook. This will be a printout of the web-based Student Handbook, which will be maintained for both staff and students by the welfare team in consultation with others. The Student Handbook contains many details of services and facilities on campus and elsewhere. These include, for example, the provision of careers advice which is not provided specifically within the School.
9. Support overlaps to some extent with 3.4 Monitoring Student Progression and Achievement. After examination boards, students will have meetings, either with Academic Advisors or with other delegated members of staff, to receive details and discuss options/difficulties.

3. MSc students

The procedure to be followed is a time-compressed version of the scheme for undergraduates. This is backed-up by self-evaluation forms in each semester.

Additionally, as acknowledged in the document just referred to, Advisors can ask their Advisees to see them. This is expected to happen during the first few weeks of the autumn term, to suit the needs of students, but certainly to effect an introduction to the advisory scheme.

It is expected that because of the very varied backgrounds and experience of MSc students they will need and expect different things of their Advisors than undergraduates. Advisors should, therefore, adjust their response to suit their Advisees.

4. The role of Academic Advisors

Some University guidance on the role of Personal Tutors is contained in the Code of Practice for Student Development and Support in Principal Academic Units. As noted above, the School has chosen to divide the traditional personally tutoring role between Academic Advisors and the Student Development & Support Team. Nevertheless all Academic Advisors are expected to be aware of the Code of Practice.

If you are an Academic Advisor, what does this entail?

• First Year undergraduates have an initial timetabled meeting with their advisor in the induction week (Week 1), and thereafter a regular timetabled hour each week in terms 1 and 2. If you cannot manage this hour, and/or there are too many advisees, you should arrange times to suit you and them. This weekly session, which is mandatory for students, and thus for you, is for you to find out how they are doing, discuss problems of an academic nature, etc. You need to keep records of attendance and let the Student Development & Support Team and the General Office know of any absences.
• Your Second Year advisees, if you have any, will expect to see you on demand. Final Year project supervisors are advisors to their supervisees. You may also need to see regularly students identified as in need of particular attention. See also the next section.
• You should be very careful about discussing 'personal' or 'pastoral' problems without reference to the Welfare Team. In particular, even though you may be very helpful, sympathetic, etc., the problems are that staff can give inconsistent and sometimes wrong advice (and they should sometimes not give advice at all since it can have legal ramifications) and the Welfare Team don't get to hear about it. The role of the advisor is to give academic advice on difficulties with the university, with study, with other lecturers, etc.
• You MUST keep a record of each and every visit outside the timetabled hour. If any student does have a problem then you should get them to fill in the form in the Student Handbook -- there is also a section for the advisor to fill in. The records must find their way to the General Office, who will pass on information to the Welfare Team. Don't leave the information in your office -- it's no use there.

The student support scheme in the School is designed to encourage self-reliance. Students must be probed if they seem clueless about what modules they are registered for, what exams they are scheduled to take, etc. They must not be allowed to drift along in a cloud of intellectual vagueness or assume we will tell them everything.

5. Availability to Students

It is School policy that you put a notice on your door with details of your availability, and that this should include both the scheduled meetings with First Year advisees and at least one 'office hour' when you are available in your office to see any student. If you offer only one office hour, it is good practice to start at half past the hour so that it spans two lecture slots, thus increasing compatibility with students' timetables. Additional arrangements should be made for project supervisees; either extra timetabled slots or individual appointments.

The information on your door should be repeated in a file called timetable.html in your public_html directory; it will then automatically be linked into the School web site.

Your office hour should as far as possible be chosen to provide a reasonable opportunity for students to be able to come. If you have to cancel or change your office hour, you should ensure that this is made clear via the notice on your door and your online timetable.

Advisorials and office hours should normally be re-scheduled rather than cancelled.

6. Summary

The duties of Academic Advisors are:

1. To give academic advice to students (including such issues such as study techniques, progression, spending a year in industry, and other special circumstances).
2. To ensure that pastoral matters are always referred on to the Welfare Team, via the form to be found in the Student Handbook. (Academic Advisors are not 'banned' from giving pastoral support, but it is not their prime function and they should do so with great caution.)
3. To be available for at least one office hour a week at time(s) displayed on their office doors (and normally repeated in an on-line timetable). First Year advisees have a separate timetabled hour to the general office hour.
4. To have regular meetings with students identified as in need of special attention.
5. To keep brief records of all meetings for the purpose of substantiating claims in mitigation, and/or for other personal matters (e.g. as the basis for writing references for jobs). Form(s) to aid in this process are distributed to Advisors.
6. If required, to participate in feedback and progression meetings with their students after examination results are available.

The duties of the Welfare Team are:

1. To provide publicized access hours -- one hour per day -- for students to seek help on a 'drop-in' basis.
2. To provide an opportunity for the discussion of a pastoral problem, and to ensure that a student knows where they should go for professional help.
3. To provide immediate/emergency pastoral help if the student requests it, even whilst warning the student of lack of professional training.
4. To advise students on appropriate procedures where pastoral concerns impinge on academic study (for example, role of medical information in connection with examination mitigations deliberations).

The Senior Tutor has primary responsibility for disciplinary matters:

1. Disciplinary matters can arise as a consequence of a pastoral matter or elsewhere. All but very trivial cases should be referred to the Senior Tutor or another member of the Student Development & Support Team; serious cases should always be referred to the Senior Tutor.
2. The Senior Tutor is responsible for interacting with the student(s) specifically involved in a disciplinary matter, and/or with the student community generally.