Hi all, my name is Kate Roberts and I am the Vice President Education at the Students’ Union. I am here today to give a brief overview of how students should be engaging with the Personal Tutor system and the expectations they have of personal tutors, alongside an overview of our Advice Centre service as a place for you to signpost students. The Students’ Union >> What do students expect from Personal Tutors and what can you expect from students We’re here for one simple reason: to make student life better at Royal Holloway

Careers and employability What do students come to Personal Tutors for? Wellbeing and welfare concerns Guidance and support Careers and employability So what do students come to Personal Tutors for? Students have a wide range of issues and questions they may utilise the personal tutor for. Whilst students may come to you for guidance on wellbeing and welfare issues, students should be aware it is your job to signpost students to the necessary service where applicable. Academic issues around feedback, referencing and module choice may be common themes alongside questions around careers and employability. More serious academic issues and questions may come to you as well, in this instance we have an Advice Centre at the SU trained to help students with these, with a specific academic advisor available for meetings. I will discuss more about this in a minute. Students mainly expect personal tutors to be contactable and approachable to help with these concerns, where a student is unhappy with their personal tutor it should be clear who they can contact. Help to digest feedback on academic work Help with referencing academic work Guidance on module choices We’re here for one simple reason: to make student life better at Royal Holloway

What do students need help with? Academic Misconduct Extenuating Circumstances Appeals Termination of Registration Complaints What do students need help with? At the SU we have an advice centre who help students with issues regarding academic work, housing or wellbeing. The main academic topics they have dealt with recently include academic misconduct (such as plagiarism, duplication and collusion), extenuating circumstances, appeals, terminations of registration and complaints. It would be great if you could be clued up on these topics, especially those of academic misconduct and extenuating circumstances so you are able to assist students with these issues, I just also wanted you to be aware this service is here if you need to signpost students to the SU Advice centre for help. Across the year we are also producing a blog series on these issues and other student processes to ensure less students are experiencing these and students know who to go to for guidance. The first blog of this series will focus on Personal Tutors, what students expect from a Personal Tutor and what personal tutors should expect from them including engagement, commitment and preparation where required. >> The SU Advice Centre Every student is entitled to use our Advice Centre at the SU. They are a private and confidential service offering impartial advice. They can email them at Advice@su.rhul.ac.uk . Alternatively they can book an appointment via the Students’ Union Helpdesk either in person or by calling 01784 276700. We’re here for one simple reason: to make student life better at Royal Holloway

>> Enable student voice to be heard on educational matters What do Reps do? >> Enable student voice to be heard on educational matters Course Reps Department Reps School Reps If a student comes to you with an issue or query that you feel would be more appropriate for a course/department/school rep to raise please don’t hesitate to signpost them to their academic reps. These reps, once elected, should be available for the student to see and contact on the RHSU website. This slide gives you a brief overview of the role of each level of academic rep. So there are 4 different levels, as such, of representation. Firstly, course reps, this role sits on student staff committees with academics in your department and represents the cohort of students to provide specific course level feedback and prompt beneficial changes (eg. 1st year course rep). Secondly, every department will have a department rep, this may be a student who has experience being a course rep but equally could be an individual who is really excited and engaged to make change from the off, the department reps look after the course reps and provide input into wider departmental aspects. Then, School Reps, school reps look after the department reps and attend school level meetings to provide feedback and input from all the students in the school. And lastly, the VP Education, which is my role, I look after the school reps and entire academic rep system. My role is to feed into University level discussions on improving education and represent students’ academic interests. Attend Staff-Student Committees Course and Module Level Feedback Contact Point for Other Students General Queries & Signposting of Support for Other Students Chair of Student-Staff Committees Curriculum Consultants for Course in the Department Support Course Reps in Department Wider Departmental Strategy Input Sit on Education Executive Attend School Board Support Department Reps in School Attend School Education Committee (Undergraduate) VP Education We’re here for one simple reason: to make student life better at Royal Holloway

What are current student priorities? >> My Manifesto Lecture Capture Moodle Online Resources BAME student experience Liberating education BAME Attainment Gap What is the role of a Society President compared to the Department Rep? Academic Societies Ensuring our fantastic reps are rewarded for the work they do! Rewarding academic and professional staff who go above and beyond Rep Recognition Careers? PGs? Wellbeing? I thought it may also be useful to go over the current student priorities in terms of education as it may be useful to have these on radar. What are the main changes students are asking for at the moment? My manifesto consists of 4 key areas: Online Resources where students are looking for increased use of Lecture Capture, a more consistent and innovative Moodle experience, and further innovation of online resources. The BAME attainment gap, at the Students’ Union we have undertaken a study into the BAME student experience over the last year and will soon be utilising our findings to work with academics on how we can decrease the attainment gap. I will be working with the VP Societies and Media to look at the role our academic societies play, how they fit into the new School structure and how they work alongside academic reps. I will also be improving our recognition of academic reps and yourselves, making it bigger and better! As a students’ union we are working on a whole range of different areas from careers, to postgraduate experience and wellbeing. Basically anything students tell us they want to change! If you have any thoughts, questions or ideas I would love to hear them, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re here for one simple reason: to make student life better at Royal Holloway

www.su.rhul.ac.uk 01784 276700 Facebook/SURHUL @SURHUL Thanks all for listening. Remember to come and chat with me if you have any questions! vpeducation@su.rhul.ac.uk Facebook/SURHUL @SURHUL www.su.rhul.ac.uk We’re here for one simple reason: to make student life better at Royal Holloway