Supporting students

An overview of student support services and EUSA

Alice Cummings-Advice Place Manager

Edinburgh University Students Association

What sort of support might be necessary?

• A listening ear• Advice/Action to sort out a problem:

money, somewhere to live, a problem with studying, visa issues, a combination of these!

• Specific information on a topic – academic or non-academic

• Help with confidence• Help with settling in/finding their feet• And lots of other things……and often more than

one of these things at a time!

Who can help?

• You – sometimes!• A wide network of other people across the

university in various support services:– Accommodation services– Careers– Chaplaincy– Counselling Service– Disability Office– Health Centre– Institute for Academic Development– International Office– Students Association – especially the Advice Place

Accommodation Services

• Helping people to find accommodation

• Extensive support system

• Emergency on-call system

• Lynne Duff: Assistant Director “Residence Life”

• Potentially useful for student in crisis, or if needing to arrange emergency accommodation

Careers Service

• 1 to 1 tailored support and advice• From 1st year to graduates• Information centre• Vacancy information – graduate, part-time, summer

- via SAGE• Links with Schools: Employability• Employer events• Often useful for those students unexpectedly facing

a change of course or uni, or who are leaving.

Chaplaincy

• ‘For all faiths and none’• Chaplain, Associate Chaplain • Honorary Chaplains from several faith traditions• Pastoral support: personal and/or spiritual• Programme of workshops / talks / visits• Support in emergencies (e.g student death)• Chaplaincy centre: a place of welcome and

quieter meeting place for students, and for many societies.

Counselling Service

• 1 to 1 counselling • Workshops on procrastination, relaxation, art etc• Groupwork for PhD students and those with

depression• Bibliotherapy –self help reading scheme• Consultation for staff about students• Close liaison with other student services• Very useful ‘dealing with distressed students

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Student Disability Service

• 1-1 advice and support for students

• Produce individual Learning Profiles with recommendations for reasonable adjustments to be applied by Schools

• Can help students access financial support to fund particular equipment etc

• Joint work with Counselling Service on specific provision for students with mental ill health

Health Centre

• GP practice (1 to 1, plus clinics)

• Liaison with other services and staff

• Academic support (e.g certificates of fitness, medical certificates, support for students needing to negotiate suspension of studies, advice for DoSs etc)

• Useful for advice in an emergency situation with a student

Study Skills Advice

• Based within new IAD: provides support for effective learning

• Generic study skills workshops: exams, essays, dissertations, time management

• Work with academics to devise appropriate subject-specific sessions

• Excellent student-friendly web resources• One to one work on study skills: long waiting

list!• Specific study skills support for disabled

students (must be referred via Disability Service)

International Office

• Currently the only place able to give advice on Immigration Issues

• 2 Specialist Advisers offering appointments

• Operate the “Batch Scheme” for Visa extensions

The Advice Place

• free• informative • impartial• independent from the University• Confidential

• Money, Accommodation, Academic issues

• 2 specialist academic advisers

• Extended opening until 7pm on tuesdays

Other EUSA projects you might like…

• TANDEM – for language learning and to socialise

• Peer proofreading

• Volunteering centre

• Over 300 student societies to help students meet people and feel at home