Students Matter Conference Tuesday 17 April 2018 Towards integrated academic, pastoral and wellbeing support Professor Julian Chaudhuri Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education and Student Experience What is student support Definition, importance, different modes of operating It covers all aspects of academic and non-academic life + professional life Why is it important Different types of support Support you can see, you can’t see, scaffolds Examples from engineering/medicine What do we do well a couple of examples Can’t focus on everything in this talk What should we do next Partnership with students External support

The Student Journey Results day Student Support Graduate outcomes Academic journey Non-academic journey Graduate outcomes Student Induction

Student support All aspects of the university experience that help our students to achieve in their academic and non-academic lives at the University of Plymouth Support for education, experience and outcomes Academic Support Learning support Pastoral support Health and well-being Careers Students’ Union support Pastoral care: comprises the range of support services that are provided for students’ emotional, psychological and spiritual wellbeing.

What does a typical student look like? No such thing! Internal and external attributes Different degree programmes Different backgrounds

What do we offer?

What do we do well? How do we know? Ask some students… The range of services across the University and UPSU School of Medicine – pastoral tutors Institute of Education – personal tutors Other examples: Family days Collation of professional development folders Careers support PALS leaders SSTAR awards!

The goal – seamless, integrated academic, pastoral and wellbeing support for students

Constructive alignment

Pastoral support Wellbeing support Peer support

Seamless, integrated academic, pastoral and wellbeing support for students The outcomes of student support can lead to improvements in learning outcomes, empowering students, and creating a virtuous circle. People – support and training for academic and front-line staff; support for those who are supporting! Support and academic structures that are mutually supportive Clear roles, reporting lines and boundaries Clear priorities for support services Integrated data systems

Supporting students’ self-directed learning – building and empowering independent resilient learners Lots of opportunities to support and empower students to become independent resilient learners. Positive psychology. Role of personal tutors is key.

Some challenges How can we encourage students to engage with support as appropriate? How do we know we’ve caught everyone at an early stage? We have a high percentage of ‘commuter’ students, and students studying off campus – how do we tailor support for them? What else…?