Academic Practice and Student Engagement Manager
Effective and inclusive advising plays a key role in supporting students with a range of different backgrounds and experiences to succeed. The new Effective Advising resource has been designed to support academic staff in their understanding of the role of Advisor in the Queen Mary context. It was co-created with students and it is intended to upport an advisory process where both students and staff are involved.
The Effective Advising resource has been designed to support academic staff in their understanding of the role of Advisor in the Queen Mary context. It explains relevant University policy, guidelines and regulations, as well as documenting best practice protocols to better support students.This is a suite of training materials hosted on QMplus and curated by the Queen Mary Academy. It has been co-created with students and it is intended to design an advisory process where both students and staff are involved.
The advisor training resource was developed in response to the recommendations of a working group which was established to look at how student engagement and experience could be enriched using the advisory system. Student union officers were involved at every stage of the process and worked in partnership with staff to assist in development of the resource, provide feedback and testing of the resource. These officers provided the student voice on lived experiences relating to advising.
The online training resource supports advisors to clearly understand what type of support services are available for students, where they exist and how they can contact them. More importantly, this resource allows for an understanding of what the regulations say about the correct protocols they need to follow and the policies that govern student engagement.
The resource is structured in three parts with a variety of quiz-based activities:Part 1. Contact with advisees (role as an advisor, how to build relationships)Part 2. Support services and procedures (the role of supported referrals)Part 3. Principles of effective advising (how to advise on academic progress)The resource is also a mechanism for academics to engage with students and develop the student’s understanding of what the academic process is, where both students and staff are involved in the advisory process. The training resources emphasise supported referrals where advisors know where they’re sending students and the outcomes of the student’s referrals.
The resource has been designed to complement the training which is organised in each School and Institute. Face to face training is organised by the Senior Tutor, and co-delivered by staff from the Advice and Counselling team, with support from other professional services departments as needed.The course is designed to complement the Advisor Hub.
Since launching in 2021, more than 200 Queen Mary staff have participated in this course. Thanks to them, the course team has incorporated participant feedback to continue to fine tune the Effective Advising resources. Participants in the latest version would recommend it to a colleague, and many agree that it will result in changes to their advising practice. The course will soon become mandatory for all staff in education/student-facing roles.
A wide range of resources for Advisors is available from Advisor Hub
Academic Practice and Student Engagement Manager, Queen Mary Academy