Student Support and Development
A. Introduction
B. Induction
C. School Tutoring Statements
D. Personal Tutors and Senior Tutors
E. The Personal Tutor Role and Personal Tutee Meetings
F. Personal Development Goals
G. Personal Support and Development for Postgraduate Students
H. Personal and Academic Records (PARs)
I. Central Support Services
J. Student Responsibilities
K. Monitoring of Student Support and Development
A. Introduction: The Scope of Student Support and Development
Student Support and Development (SSD) refers to the range of University provision intended to help students maintain and improve their wellbeing, personal and academic development, understanding of University practices, employability, and sense of community.
All members of University staff have an important role to play in maximising the experience of every student. The University’s Student Support and Development Policy as detailed in this section of the Quality Manual outlines the particular responsibilities in this area placed on schools, personal tutors, Senior Tutors and central support services. However, it is important to appreciate that effective levels of student support and development require high levels of integration and information exchange across the wide variety of support and development services made available by the University as a whole.
It is important that all parties recognise how student development is about more than helping those students with particular academic or personal difficulties. Whilst such students clearly need our assistance, the best support and development provision will engage with every student to help them to maximise their potential whilst studying at the University of Nottingham.
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B. Induction
Schools must ensure that all of their students obtain a clear and timely communication of their induction arrangements.
Schools must arrange introductory meetings for all new full-time students within their first two days at the University, and for part-time students as reasonably practical.
Within the induction process, schools must ensure that all of their students are provided with:
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An opportunity to declare any disability.
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Required health and safety information.
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Guidance on their course and module choices.
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Guidance on progression and degree award regulations, academic offence matters, and appeals and complaints procedures.
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A student handbook and other materials as may be appropriate incorporating the above information.
During induction, undergraduate and taught postgraduate students should be provided with information on who their personal tutor is and how to contact them.
During induction, all undergraduate and taught postgraduate students should be provided with information on personal tutoring in their School/Unit, including information on the role of their personal tutor, the scheduling of meetings, and who to contact should their personal tutor not be available.
Schools are reminded that induction is not solely a Week One activity.
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C. School Tutoring Statements
Each school is required to produce a written statement of its arrangements for achieving outcomes of tutoring for all its taught students (undergraduate and postgraduate). The tutoring statement may be an account of how each of the individual outcomes is achieved or may comprise a general description of how tutoring works within a school (perhaps taken directly from the student handbook) with a commentary or mapping exercise on how these arrangements secure the tutoring outcomes.
A prime purpose of these statements is to identify practices in schools that have a positive impact on students’ academic experience and that lend themselves to wider adoption within the institution.
Tutoring statements should be made available to all students, either through inclusion in students handbooks or by other suitable means such as the online Learning Community Fora.
Outcomes of tutoring:
1. The student should feel acknowledged, recognised and accepted within their school/department as an individual with distinct academic needs and preferences.
2. The student should feel part of the school/department community, experiencing frequent contact with academic staff on an individual or small group basis and building relations with particular members of staff over an extended period.
3. The personal development of the student should be promoted; leading to improved communication skills and greater confidence in presentation and dealing with the unfamiliar.
4. Students should receive prompt, helpful and detailed feedback on their assessments, in a manner that enhances learning and improves future assessment performance.
5. Students struggling with aspects of individual modules, or more generally with their programme of studies, should have clearly signposted and ready access to a reasonable level of academic advice and support designed to remedy their difficulties.
6. Students should receive the level of support in developing their study skills necessary to perform satisfactorily on their programme of studies.
7. Students with personal circumstances adversely affecting their studies should feel able to make these known to the school/department without difficulty and to be directed to the appropriate support service.
8. Students should receive the necessary careers information, advice and guidance to equip them to make informed choices about their future, to understand the options open to them, and to take advantage of available opportunities.
9. Students should be made aware of the importance of developing and articulating their employability skills, including possible participation in the Nottingham Advantage Award.
10. Students should receive appropriate advice and support when considering changing their programme of study or contemplating leaving the University.
11. Students should be prepared for periods of study away from their home campus and appropriately supported during those periods.
12. The procedures for submitting extenuating circumstances regarding assessments should be straightforward and well publicised.
13. Students with disabilities should be clear as to the support they will receive and where it is available, and the support should be in line with University policies.
14. The procedures for submitting academic appeals and complaints should be well publicised and staff should be aware of their responsibilities within these procedures.
15. Students being subjected to the academic offences procedure should receive clear information and advice.
16. Students should receive relevant health and safety guidance, especially in laboratory or workshop-based subjects.
17. Students should be directed in a timely and appropriate manner to University support services for assistance with all of the above matters as necessary.
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D. Personal Tutors and Senior Tutors
Personal Tutors
1. Every undergraduate student should be allocated a personal tutor by their School. For Joint Honours students, a personal tutor need only be appointed in one of the relevant Schools. However, a personal tutor in the other School may be appointed at that school's discretion depending on the duties of personal tutors in that school as defined in their written definition of their personal tutor role (see Section D below). Where a personal tutor is appointed for a Joint Honours student in only one School, suitable support and coordination mechanisms must be put in place and communicated to staff and students via handbooks or other mechanisms as appropriate.
2. Personal tutors must be either academic members of staff or (as occasionally occurs) members of the Administrative, Professional and Managerial job family at Level 4 or above, except in the circumstances stated in 3 and 4 below.
3. Practitioner Health Lecturers in the School of Nursing, senior and personal tutors in the Division of Midwifery and NHS mentors in the Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences may act as personal tutors.
4. Postgraduate research (PGR) students may act as personal tutors where both of the following conditions apply:
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The School employs the PGR student as a teacher in the context of operating a School-wide policy of allocating personal tutors to students they teach.
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The School makes arrangements for the training and support of PGR students both as teachers and as personal tutors, and allocates paid time for personal tutoring.
5. Schools should ensure that appropriate allowance is made for the staff time necessary for effective personal tutoring as defined in The Personal Tutor Role & Personal Tutor Meetings.
6. Schools should ensure that students are informed who they can seek assistance from if for some reason their own personal tutor is not available.
Senior Tutors
1. Each School should appoint an appropriately experienced academic member of staff to act as a Senior Tutor and should keep the University Senior Tutor informed of the person given this role within the School. If they so wish, schools may decide to appoint multiple Senior Tutors with responsibility for different groups of students (eg undergraduates and postgraduates) or different units or divisions within their School if they feel that this will improve their overall delivery of student support and development.
2. Senior Tutors are responsible for carrying out or co-ordinating the following activities within their School or part thereof:
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Overseeing the operation of student support and development and the personal tutoring system in their School/Unit, and acting as a point of reference, advice and guidance for all personal tutors in their School/Unit.
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Producing and annually updating guidance for personal tutors in their School/Unit as a local supplement to the University Guidance for Personal Tutors, and ensuring that all material is appropriately disseminated to all personal tutors in their School/Unit.
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Providing appropriate information and training for personal tutors to enable them to fulfil their role. Senior Tutors can in turn seek assistance regarding such information and training from the University Senior Tutor and Professional Development.
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Arranging an induction for new members of staff as personal tutors.
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Assisting students in cases where the student feels unable to approach his/her designated personal tutor, including allocating a new personal tutor if necessary.
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Advising the Head of School on the adequacy of tutor/student ratios, and on any other matters relevant to the effectiveness of the School's arrangements for personal tutoring.
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Reviewing all induction processes for new students in order to ensure that their School/Unit complies with its responsibilities in this area. See Induction.
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Ensuring that School/Unit handbooks for staff and students are updated on a regular basis in respect of information about personal tutoring arrangements in their School/Unit and student support and development across the University more widely.
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Liaising closely with other colleagues with responsibilities for specific aspects of support for students' learning and development such as the School's Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) over disability issues and associated support for staff and students, and the School's Career Liaison Officer.
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Monitoring and enhancing the effectiveness of student support and development and the personal tutor system in their School by a range of means, including liasing with the specialist services, collecting and responding to staff and student feedback (for example, through Learning Community Fora) and consulting with colleagues in other Schools, see Monitoring Student Support and Development.
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Ensuring submission of the School's Tutoring Statement to the University Senior Tutor.
3. Senior Tutors should be members of relevant School/Unit Learning Community Fora.
4. All Senior Tutors automatically become members of the University’s Senior Tutor Network (STN), and within which they are invited to actively participate. One member of the Senior Tutor Network will be appointed as the University Senior Tutor.
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E. The Personal Tutor Role and Personal Tutee Meetings
The Personal Tutor Role
1. It is accepted that the role of a personal tutor will vary between schools due to the variety of approaches taken to delivering effective student support and development. However, all schools must ensure that they have a written definition of the role of a personal tutor in their School and must communicate this to all of their personal tutors and personal tutees. Such a definition must also cover arrangements for the personal tutoring of students on exchange from other campuses or from other overseas institutions. The International Office carries out the basic personal tutor role for incoming exchange students who are not registred with a particular School, with academic advice on individual modules being provided by the staff delivering those modules.
2. As a minimum, the definition of the personal tutor role in a School must explicitly include acting as a gateway to the wider student support and development provision of the University.
3. Personal tutors are not expected to be able to advise students on all matters of personal development and support. However, they are expected to have a sufficient enough knowledge of both their own School and the wider University to be able to assist students in finding the assistance they may require. Such information will be made available to them via their School’s Senior Tutor(s).
4. There is an expectation that personal tutors will provide their personal tutees with references as they may require for employment or further study. Where a School does not expect its personal tutors to provide all such references it must have an alternative mechanism in place for providing them and must make all students aware of this mechanism.
5. Personal tutors are encouraged to challenge their tutees to make the most they can of their experience of studying at the University of Nottingham. In part they may do this by signalling the wide range of opportunities made available by the University and its Student Union.
6. All personal tutors are expected to be familiar with the University’s Guidance for Personal Tutors, as well as their own School/Unit’s supplementary guidance for Personal Tutors, and to keep abreast of updates to this material.
Personal Tutee Meetings
7. Personal tutors should have scheduled meetings with their personal tutees at the start of each academic year and at least three times in each academic year in total.
8. For undergraduates in their first year of study, their initial scheduled meeting with their personal tutor should take place within the first two weeks of their registration with the University.
9. In addition to scheduled meetings, reasonable provision should be made to enable undergraduates to contact their personal tutor as they may require.
10. Schools may choose to use in whole or part the ePAR system provided by the University to facilitate personal tutor meetings.
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F. Personal Development Goals
Schools are encouraged to give students the opportunity to set at least one personal development goal in each semester. Personal development goals may relate to any area of potential achievement other than those for which students are explicitly provided with an assessment grade or academic University award. By setting, achieving and reflecting on their personal development goals, students may be assisted in maximising their experience of their time at the University of Nottingham, and should improve their employability, well being, and/or sense of community. It is suggested that the best goals will be simple, tangible, memorable and potentially achievable. Possible personal development goals may include:
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Investigating work placement or final employment options and identifying possible companies to apply to.
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Undertaking a volunteering activity.
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Undertaking a sporting activity.
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Helping to run a student society.
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Becoming a member of a Hall of Residence committee or team.
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Learning about another society or culture.
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Improving writing/research skills.
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Improving time management skills.
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Increasing levels of tutorial contribution.
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Identifying and applying for study abroad/campus mobility options.
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Developing ideas for a dissertation topic.
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G. Personal Support and Development for Postgraduate Students
All Postgraduate Taught (PGT) students studying for an award of the University should receive a level of personal and academic support from their School which addresses their specific needs. Schools should particularly consider:
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Providing early progress checks and review of feedback on the performance of PGT students.
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Enabling prompt identification of and response to factors disadvantaging the learning of PGT students.
PGR students should receive personal and academic support from their supervisor and from their School Postgraduate Student Advisor, as set out in the research degree programmes section of the Quality Manual.
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H. Personal and Academic Records (PARs)
Each School’s student support and development arrangements should include the provision to enable every undergraduate student studying for a University award to maintain their own personal and academic record (PAR). PARs should at a minimum be able to incorporate information on a student’s academic programme, and a record of their scheduled personal tutor meetings.
All students should be provided by their School with information detailing how their PAR can be maintained.
The University provides an online ePAR resource that schools may adopt in whole or part in order to assist in maintaining PARs and/or facilitating their personal tutor systems and meetings. However, it is up to each individual school to determine whether the ePAR system best meets the needs of its students and personal tutors in delivering student support and development. Alternative forms of record include those based around PAR folders or student portfolios.
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I. Central Support Services
The following central support services are responsible for providing student support and development.
Academic Support
Academic Support offers support for both students with study difficulties and those who wish to develop ability to study effectively. It also provides specialist academic support for both dyslexic students and disabled students and is a recognised Assessment Centre for those who wish to apply for Disabled Students' Allowances.
Accommodation Office
The Accommodation Office provides assistance in finding suitable accommodation and information provision relating to the same.
Centre for Career Development
The Centre for Career Development provides:
• Structured support in acquiring and developing the knowledge and skills required in managing career development, including:
a) awareness of opportunities including access to information about the widest possible range of potential careers and further study.
b) awareness of their own characteristics, interests and values, and of the impact of these on career choice and decision-making.
c) the making of career plans and decisions, and strategies for their implementation.
d) the development of effective job-seeking skills and behaviours.
• Support and guidance in producing effective applications for employment and further study including, where appropriate, an effective CV.
Counselling Service
Counselling is a free, confidential service available to all student and staff members. Counsellors are professionally qualified and work within the ethical framework for good practice as published by British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Disability Support Team
The Disability Support Team co-ordinates a network of Disability Liaison Officers, appointed in each school as a point of reference on disability issues. The unit also ensures that the University keeps abreast of developments in disability issues and has launched a Disability Plan for Students to ensure that the University is able to comply with the relevant legislation.
Financial Support
Financial Support provides information about financial matters (including fees, student loans, bursaries and scholarships), as well as access to hardship support and information on the same.
The International Office
The International Office is responsible for the recruitment and welfare of international students at the University. An experienced team of dedicated staff advise and support students from their initial enquiry, throughout the application process and give ongoing support on issues such as immigration, employment, finance, personal and family concerns, and academic difficulties.
Centre for English Language Education
The Centre for English Language Education (CELE) at The University of Nottingham provides English language support for international students. Pre-sessional courses are for students intending to study at Nottingham and who need to improve their academic language and study skills, whilst In-sessional courses provide support for students during their studies at Nottingham. CELE also offers the following services and study programmes: preparatory courses for Cambridge English Language Examinations; Pre- and in-service teacher training courses for teachers of English as a Foreign Language and English for Academic Purposes; Examination centre for IELTS; and special courses for language and skills development.
The Graduate School
The Graduate School provides a focus for postgraduate education and represents the needs of postgraduate students within the University. The school offers a comprehensive range of research training courses to all postgraduate research students to enable them to make the most of their research activities. Presentation skills courses are also available and should be taken by anyone applying for one of the prestigious prizes offered by the Graduate School to support research students who wish to present their research at a national or international conference
Other support services available to students include:
Chaplains
Cripps Health Centre
Halls/Wardens
Students' Union
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J. Student Responsibilities
All students need to appreciate that a successful undergraduate or postgraduate career will involve more than passing assessments to achieve a University award. The University both centrally and at a school level provides a wide range of support and development services intended both to assist students in difficulty, and to improve the wellbeing, personal and academic development, understanding of University practices, employability and sense of community of every student. However, it is the responsibility of every student to gain an adequate knowledge of what services are available to and appropriate for them, and to make use of these services as their individual needs and circumstances require.
In particular, students should make all reasonable efforts to prepare for and attend all scheduled meetings with their personal tutor, and to keep their personal tutor informed of their personal development progress. Students are reminded that they are likely to require references for employment or further study from their personal tutor, and that it is unreasonable to expect their personal tutor to be able to supply an adequate reference if they have not engaged in a reasonable level of interaction with them.
Students must keep their School informed of circumstances that may impact on their progress and which may require personal support at either a School or University level.
K. Monitoring of Student Support and Development
Each School should take steps to monitor the effectiveness of its arrangements for the provision of student support and development. The Senior Tutor(s) should take a lead role in undertaking such monitoring.
One aspect of University School Review of Schools is to determine whether adequate provision is made overall for student support and development support in line with this section of the Quality Manual.
Central support services providing student support and development are subject to periodic review by the University.
It is the responsibility of the University Senior Tutor to monitor the operation of student support and development across the University and to bring issues of concern to relevant University committees.
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