Student Support SystemStudent Support System

School of GeosciencesSchool of Geosciences

You and Student Support

• The Student Support co-ordinator is your central and initial contact point

– She will make arrangements for your 1-2-1 meetings with your Personal Tutor

– She will inform you of the timings and places for Group meetings

– She will listen to you, assess your situation and direct you to the best sources of help or advice

– She will administrate your records and monitor your support, acting in your interest to ensure you are enabled to succeed.

You and Student Support• The Student Support co-ordinator looks after

the following:

– guidance on degree regulations and requirements – information on submission deadlines and procedures – requests for deferred submission of course work – requests for Special Circumstances for degree course work

or exams – processing of degree programme transfers / interruptions– procedures for applying to study abroad – requests to change Personal Tutor – UK Border Agency or other visa issues, including the School

level census (where applicable) – references to confirm student status (e.g. for flat rental) – advice on support for personal or health issues – advice on support for accommodation problems

Personal Tutor Role• Each of you will have been allocated a Personal

Tutor

• You will need to see your PT as soon as possible this week. Reading and think about your choices!

• Role is to support students in:– Reviewing academic progress through a complete

programme of study by providing: • welcome at the beginning of each academic year• guidance on course choices, degree path(s)• advice on study difficulties• overview of progress

– Reflect on long term development• based on learning inside and outside the formal

curriculum– Fostering a sense of belonging to a learning community

Personal Tutor RoleThe PT will provide:•advice on course choices •advice on study skills •advice on feedback and academic progress •guidance on careers related to degree programme •guidance on exam and other assessment techniques •advice on essay and field / laboratory report writing skills •academic advice on changing degree programme •advice on studying abroad (academic matters) •an academic reference, on request from you, where appropriate

The PT will NOT:

•contact your LEA on your behalf re funding and fees matters

•Do your work for you! The PT will support you by assessing how best to develop your skills and learning strategies.

You and Student Support

• Your Responsibilities in engaging with us:

– Reflect on academic performance

– Understand how learning supports longer-term aspirations • reflect, engage, take an active approach to your

development, write records

– “Engage as a one of a community of learners”• ie - not as a passive recipient (or not!) of content

You and Student Support• Your Responsibilities in a Practical Sense:

– Attend initial interview, armed with all information and sensible, researched course choices for discussion

– Attend individual meetings, one each semester, as arranged

– Attend and participate in the Group Meetings facilitated by your PT or their representative.

– Complete any tasks assigned to you by your PT

– Enter notes into EUCLID to maintain and develop an engagement trail and keep your Support Team informed.

– Respond quickly and clearly to requests for information

– Maintain records and ensure you have supporting documentation for special circumstances.

– Keep yourself informed regarding your funding

– Keep yourself informed of the times and sites of examinations, and assessment hand-in dates and times for all courses

Student myed channel

Personal Tutor Tasks and Personal Tutor Tasks and AdviceAdvice

School of GeosciencesSchool of Geosciences

The Tasks of a Personal Tutor• Meetings:

– One individual meeting per semester (and others by appointment)

– Group meetings– Brief students on any preparatory and follow-up work

• Respond promptly to student requests for contact:– Normally within 3 working days– Liaise with Senior Tutor/Student Support Team if

problems• Share personal (pastoral) responsibilities with

Student Support Team:– Refer to central services and specialist sources of

guidance as appropriate• Maintain accurate and appropriate records via

EUCLID• Undertake training and CPD associated with role

Individual Meetings

• Tailored to individual student:– time of year, year of study, student’s progress

• Focus on core purposes and any student concerns

• Student led preparation and follow up– http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/institute-a

cademic-development/undergraduate

• Guidance, advice and resources for Personal Tutors in preparing for and running 1:1 meetings– http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/institute-a

cademic-development/learning-teaching/academic-pastoral/support/resources/individuals

Group Meetings

• Considerable flexibility in timing, topic and structure– Opportunity to link to specific elements of the degree

programme (e.g. preparation for placements)– To deal more effectively and efficiently with specific

topics (e.g. study skills)

– To work with other personal tutors across different year groups or support particular cohorts (e.g. joint degree students)

• Guidance, advice and resources for running group meetings

– http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/institute-academic-development/learning-teaching/academic-pastoral/support/resources/groups

Support for Personal Tutors

Central Support Services• Student Disability Service

http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/student-disability-service/staff

• Advice on helping distressed studentshttp://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/student-disability-service/staff/supporting-students/help-distressed-students

• Student Counselling Service http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/student-counselling

• Careers Service (employability and careers)– http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/careers/sta

ff

• A to Z of Student Support Services – http://www.ed.ac.uk/staff-students/students/student-

services

Support for Personal Tutors

• IAD web resources and guidance for personal tutors http://bit.ly/QIg7hK– Links to academic advice and procedures– Links to advice on personal support for students– Resources for personal tutors– Information on Central briefing events and CPD:

• Personal Tutor IT tools• Personal Tutors: students mental health workshop• Personal Tutors: running lively and useful group

meetings

• School documentation and contacts

• The College Personal tutor pages

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IT tools – Current Status• EUCLID tools are fairly straightforward!

– Take record of meetings– Take record of notes/discussions– Ensure students are not forgotten (e.g.

failed/ignored emails)

• Student records/notes accessible by all with EUCLID account

• Notes are best marked confidential– to Dean of Students/ST/PT/SST/Student/Originator

• Route in – login to EUCLID and on left-hand-side youwill see a tab “Personal Tutor”

EUCLID is your Friend !?

• Login to EUCLID

• Click on “Personal Tutor”

Finding Students

Assign Myself

to Studen

ts

Assign Unassigned Tutees

Re-assign Tutees, searching by current Personal Tutor

Find Tutees to assign

Assign by file upload

Personal Tutor ‘My Tutees’

If you click “Full record” you’ll get to normal EUCLID “Courses” screen

Note new tab “Meetings/Notes” that takes you back to the meetings and notes page

Personal Tutor ‘My Tutees’

If you click “Notes/ Meetings” you get to this screen

Here you set up meetings or check what meetings have been set up for you.

Personal Tutor - Meetings

Record a Future Meeting“Record a future meeting” tells the student that you want a future meeting and “opens” it

“Meeting type” is important

Note “Confidential” flag

Note that nothing can be deleted or edited once saved

“Record recent meeting” is probably the most useful, and records a meeting that has already taken place

This must be completed to “close” an individual meeting

Record a Recent Meeting

Schedule a new meeting

• No Sem 1 meeting & No Sem 2 meetings links removed• Replaced by No meeting (past 90 days) link• No meeting past days editable

Students with no 1:1 meeting

Senior Tutor

Cancelling a meeting

Notes are arranged in orderof date, latest at the bottom

Comments on notes (children) go under the initial note (parent)

A parent can have unlimited children

Confidentiality propagates down

You can now “close” a discussion!

The requirement for an S1 or S2 individual meeting is met by the first comment on a future meeting, or by the record of a past meeting

Working with Notes

“Add a note” allows you to record any “random” individual meeting

Working with Notes

“Add comment” allows you to add further points relating to a meeting or student issue

Notes – an Additional Meeting

30

What goes in notes?

• Comments on meeting outcomes– From PT: brief comment– From student: expanded comments– From PT: feedback on student comments

• Any other communications from anyone that should be on the record (all staff can add notes)– Praise is good!– Feedback like “Progress on project not good

enough”

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What goes in notes?• SCC stuff (but be careful)

– Can be marked confidential

• … but confidentiality includes: Dean of Students, ST, PT, SST

– Confidentiality choices should improve with time

– If the student tells you something very confidential you will wish to keep notes somewhere else

• The “somewhere” else should be accessible if the bus gets you

• Note that un-disclosable information may not be used in SCC

– May have to “cover yourself” with a note here. “student has told me something I may not disclose further. I have told him that if I can’t disclose it I can’t take it to the SCC or make allowances. He has accepted this.”

‘Personal Tutors’ email notification matrix

Ref Action Action by Notification to Comment

      PT SST ST PTE    

  Create 1:1 meeting SSO Y     Y   All types of 1:1

  Create 1:1 meeting PT       Y   All types of 1:1

  Create 1:1 meeting ST Y     Y   All types of 1:1

  Create 1:1 meeting Other staff Y     Y   All types of 1:1. (However, other staff won’t do this).

  Create SSO meeting SSO       Y    

  Create SSO meeting PT   Y   Y    

  Create SSO meeting ST   Y   Y    

  Create SSO meeting Other staff   Y   Y    

  Request Meeting Student   Y       Applies to all types of meeting

  Add meeting comment Student Y          

  Add meeting comment SSO Y     Y    

  Add meeting comment PT       Y    

  Add meeting comment ST Y     Y    

  Add meeting comment Other staff Y     Y    

  Add note Student Y          

  Add note SSO Y     Y    

  Add note PT Y     Y    

  Add note ST Y     Y    

  Add note Other staff Y     Y    

  Add note comment Student Y          

  Add note comment SSO Y     Y    

  Add note comment PT       Y    

  Add note comment ST Y     Y    

  Add note comment Other staff Y     Y    

                 

  Assign Personal Tutor Any           Covered in separate note - see K:\Euclid\IS_Shared\Project Work\SSG001\ ESS - PT Phase 1 Change Tutor Notifications.doc

Here we see who gets an email under what circumstances

Note that emails contain no information except a link to the notes

The ST has a different system that fires an alert if requests are not dealt with, or meetings not held and closed

Scheduling Group meetings

IT - Further stuff

• If a meeting is requested by a PT (student) the student (PT) will get an email (this does not have a link to the notes / EUCLID pages, unfortunately!)

• If a PT gets a meeting request or receives a note from a student it must be responded to within three working days - if not it is flagged to the SSC

• Student contribution expected

• FAQs at http://www.euclid.ed.ac.uk/staff/User_GuidesPersonal_Tutors/PT_FAQ.htm#General

Student Support Team

On-line Resources

Accessing Timetables

• You can now use Web Timetables (SWS), a tool accessible through MyEd.

• Select “Timetabling at Edinburgh (Staff)” from menu on the Admin or Teaching tabs.

• Can also link from a student’s EUCLID record, or from a Course description in EUCLID, or the DRPS

• The best thing is to just try it!

• See the further note on this in the handout.

Positives to Discuss• GeosPALS – encourage your tutees to

attend• Personal development• Career development• Choosing courses• CV writing• Study skills• Time management• Presentation skills (verbal/written)• Praise and encouragement

What not to Discuss!

• Visas etc → College Office• Community charge etc → Advice Place• Funding → Advice place

Frequent issues

• Mental health/depression/stress• Medical/Special Circumstances• Lack of motivation (in tutees)• Relationships• Transferring Course/School/College

Infrequent issues

• Chronic illness/condition (e.g. Dyslexia = special arrangements)

• Family• Financial• Legal – (e.g. been arrested!)• Drug/alcohol abuse

Progression rules

• Full-time students are expected to take and pass courses worth 120 credits each year

• PTs are permitted to deal with students without referral to the Senior Director if they:– have passed 100 or more credits last year– have not failed any course that appear in the relevant

DPT– have not failed any course 4 times– Are in a position to progress (no more than 20 credits

short of credits needed to be achieved by the end of that academic year)

– and have not been referred to the Senior Director before

Progression - Concessions• PT can authorise concessions for progression of

students who have narrowly failed to get the required credits.

• PT can authorise Interruption of Studies (max 1 year) for students in non-honours years (except for non-EU)

• PTs cannot authorise:– Concessions relating to variations from DPTs (SCAO)

– Progression and exclusion re academic failure (ST)

– Repeat year for a student in non-hons years (ST)

– Repeat year for a student in hons years (College)

– Repeat year for non-EU student (any year) (College)

– Interruptions of study in hons years or for greater than 1 year (College)

– There are many other decisions that require Colege and even Senatus approval.

Progression rules

• Normally, these students will be allowed to proceed to the next year of their programme, re-taking the failed course(s) “assessment only”. – In some cases, the student may wish to retake the

course “in full attendance” - this is allowed. – If an “outside course” (i.e. a course not named in the

DPT) has been failed, then a new course can be substituted (in full attendance)

• Email the SSC, but the student will not normally be interviewed by the Senior Director or the Head of Degree

Progression rules• All other students must be referred to the Senior

Director (email the SSC, not to Senior Tutor/Director directly)

• Interviews will not take place before Freshers’ Week– Get tutees to book an interview ASAP!– Students who have any chance of continuing should

be encouraged to take the appropriate classes but shouldnot be signed up for them in EUCLID

• If a student is not progressing to the next year of the programme, they should be referred to the Senior Director (this is particularly important where international students are concerned)

PT Attributes and Conduct

• Patience• Listening skills• “Appropriateness” (eg keeping oneself safe!)• Managing the PT/student relationship

(distance vs chumminess)• Compartmentalising PTs’ problems (more

distance)• Note and record-keeping• Confidentiality

Finally

• Keep in contact with the SSC• Maintain records and contact through

EUCLID• Use the ‘notes’ section for brief

summaries of your meetings• Contact your SSC or the Senior Tutor for

advice on unusual or difficult cases• Look out for material on Individual and

groups sessions, both from the ST and IAD

Policies for 2013-14• Student Withdrawal and Exclusion (revised)

– Form– Template communication to student

 

• Assessment Regulations– minimal changes to Taught Assessment Regulations– significant changes to Postgraduate Research Assessment

Regulations occurred in 2013 (to align with Taught) 

• Degree Regulations– In 2013 were revised and restructured to make them

easier to use (see link for UG changes) 

• Part-time / Full-time study revised in 2013– clarification

from Registry on what constitutes FT/PT (EASE authentication needed) 49

New policies for 2013-14• Academic Standards and Guiding Principles (

revised 2013) • Feedback Standards and Guiding Principles (

revised 2013) • Collaborative activity

– new forms, clarification on authority to approve, new Global Partnerships Protocol for international collaborations (2013)

 • Online distance education • External Examiners

– new Code of Practice and Report Forms (2013)50