The University of Edinburgh

College of Humanities and Social Science

27 May 2010

HSS UGSC 09/10 5C

For discussion

Disclosable

College of Humanities and Social Science

Student advice and support in Schools within HSS

Compiled by Dr Wendy Loretto, BusinessSchool, May 2010

ACE / Business / Econ / LLC / Education / PPLS
1. Current system / DoS plus SSO support / DoS plus SSO support / SSO-led / Advice split between SSOs and DoSs / Senior DoS plus 3 part-time SSOs in a centrally located base. All overseen by Dir UG Studies / DoS plus dedicated SSO – who meets regularly with Dir UG Studies
a) Are all academics DoSs? / All FT staff and some PT staff are DoSs (only exclusion is one member of staff who has responsibility for a large MSc cohort / All academic staff (in theory) are DoS, either at UG or PG (MSc) level. In practice, frequent opt-outs / Yes – except those on e.g. buy-outs. / Yes – all grade 8-10 / No – only those who are well qualified by experience, temperament, expertise. / All, except HoS and Heads of Subject areas
b) Any dedicated SSOs? / No – each dept has an SSO but this is combined with other administrative tasks / No – most members of UG admin staff also take on SSO responsibilities on a rota system. / Yes / 1.5 SSOs. Each combines their SSO role with other administrative roles / 3 part-time SSOs / Yes - one
c) Split of tasks between SSOs and DoSs / SSO deals with routine queries and can sign up straightforward continuing students. SSOs do NOT provide academic advice. DoSs sign up all 1st year students and any non-routine continuing students. Provide academic and personal advice. / SSO deals initially with all student queries and will arrange appointments with DoS in necessary.
DoSs have regular meetings with directees. / Academic refs are completed by DoSs; academic advice is given by DoSs and SSOs; all other student advice is by SSOs / SSO for routine matters, e.g. wrt support services or uni regulations; DoS for academic and personal issues / SSO as first point of contact and will be directed to DoS if appropriate (i.e. for academic matters). SSO deals with routine matters – ensures consistency
2. Collect data on staffs’ or students’ view of system / No / Consultation with staff revealed support for revoking current system to move to only having certain members of staff being DoSs – will be trialling this from Sept 2010.
Informal and formal feedback from students reveal dissatisfaction with lack of consistency between DoSs / ? / Student questionnaire – collects data at end of academic year.
Informal feedback from DoSs (at training sessions) has been positive / Not formally / Informal feedback suggests this arrangement works well for staff and for students. Having a dedicated and knowledgeable SSO ensures consistency, efficiency and helps with problems associated with ‘weaker’ DoSs