The positive impact of personal advising training What works? Student retention and success change programme: Final conference The positive impact of personal advising training Dom Jethwa – d.jethwa@qmul.ac.uk Student Engagement and Support Manager (ERS) 11th April 2017

What Works notes the centrality of academic staff-student relationships to retention “Students who feel that they have a less good relationship with academic members of staff are more likely to think about leaving.” (Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: final report from What Works? Student Retention and Success Programme p.32)

Students want and expect particular aspects to these relationships staff are available and respond staff value the input of students staff are approachable staff view them as individuals staff appear interested in students and their progress (Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: final report from What Works? Student Retention and Success Programme p.33)

Personal Advising affords an opportunity to build these relationships (Personal tutors offer)… first point of contact academic support academic development pastoral support identify another individual or service to provide appropriate information, advice and guidance identify/work with students at risk provide support for students who are thinking of leaving integration into the wider university experience (Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: final report from What Works? Student Retention and Success Programme p.32) Points 2 and 3

The context…. QMUL has approximately £16,000 students belonging to 15 Schools in 3 Faculties on 5 campuses Schools are largely autonomous Personal Advisers are also variously Adviser, Academic Advisers, Mentors and Personal Tutors In 2012 the student support experience varied greatly

Since 2013/14 QMUL have been offering personal adviser training 2-3 hour session Mandatory for all academics participating in PGCert in Academic Practice and PGCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education School specific sessions devised

All session have similar core content Importance of personal advising Business as Usual personal advising– responding to quick “how do I?”, keeping in touch, keeping office hours up-to-date, understanding the courses, setting boundaries Difficult conversations – noticing when all is not well, supportive signposting, maintaining boundaries QMUL Support Services – what is available

1,347 431 More than 400 staff have participated so far… Academics currently working at Q.M 431 Staff working at Q.M.U.L have been trained

Feedback from staff is generally positive Did this training session meet your personal tutoring needs?

There have been some useful findings from this experience Training is important for building staff confidence Institutional practises do not have to be consistent for training to be helpful School specific sessions are the most engaging Staff value the opportunity to discuss this role with peers Staff need to know what support services are available