Student Support - Introducing the New Service Background
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Student Support - Introducing the New Service Background
Student Support - Introducing the New Service Background As many of you will be aware Student Support has undergone some changes in the last year and has introduced some new staff and services. We see these changes as an opportunity to develop and evolve our service in relation to service delivery, consistency and availability of professional advisers. It is important to us that prospective and current Ulster University students have access to a comprehensive and responsive Student Support service, we also aim to provide strong support and guidance mechanisms for staff at Ulster. Introducing the New Service Triage service Office opening times on each campus are 08:45 – 17:00 (08:45 – 16:00 on Friday) with Triage Assistant available on each campus. Triage Assistants offer both drop in and ongoing scheduled appointments. They are trained to respond to initial queries, provide immediate support and signpost, or refer on to the appropriate service. Our Triage Assistants are trained in delivering advice and guidance and can assess students’ needs and provide relevant assistance with emotional issues, health and wellbeing queries, finance worries, disability needs or any other relevant enquiry. Triage Assistants will also check paperwork such as Support Fund applications prior to submission, ensuring all required evidence is presented. Please do not hesitate to bring students down to our Student Support centres and we will begin the process of getting them the help they require. If the Triage Assistant feels that the student is unsure of their issue and needs a full assessment, a structured interview will be conducted, which includes a Core10 analysis. This assessment includes aspects such the student’s emotional wellbeing, Disability/AccessAbility, Student Finance and Health and Wellbeing as required. When the Triage Assistant has completed their assessment they will be able to determine if the student may need further specialist help or advice with regards to health, anxiety management, DSA or finance. If this is the case the Triage Assistant can make an appointment with a specialist adviser within 5 working days, or they may suggest meeting with an adviser at the daily drop in sessions (if the need is more urgent). Daily drop in service for students to see an adviser are available each day between 15:00 - 16:00 (Monday to Thursday) and 14:00 - 15:00 on a Friday. The Triage Assistant may also recommend that the student access appropriate external resources to assist with their issue as illustrated in Figure1. Figure 1: Triage Service Model Student Health & Wellbeing Advisory Service Throughout the year we will have a number of key health campaigns running in partnership with the Students’ Union and other relevant bodies to support our students’ health & wellbeing. We will be providing group work and training for students and staff based on their requests and needs. Health and Wellbeing Advisors will be available on each Campus and will provide drop in and scheduled appointments as necessary. Students are required to register with a GP to deal with immediate physical health needs. If you have a student in a medical emergency please get in touch with their emergency GP service or A&E or contact Security on 22222 for first aid assistance. If they are feeling mildly unwell please get a member of the University first aid staff to assess their situation. All of the Security and Sports Centre staff as well as some individual staff members in each department have first aid training. Counselling Triage Assistants and professional staff will be available to provide advice and guidance and deal with immediate and longer term emotional health needs. However if the student needs a referral to see a counsellor this can be immediately accessed through the Carecall 24/7 Freephone helpline which students and staff have found to be a very useful addition to our service. This helpline can be used for staff to access professional advice as well as for students to immediately access counselling support. If the student wants to see someone face to face they can call the helpline and request a counselling appointment within three days. This counselling support can be accessed by calling Carecall on 0800 028 5510. Student Finance The Student Support Fund is now open for applications from students experiencing serious financial hardship. A list of criteria and application forms are available online on the Student Support website at www.studentsupport.ulster.ac.uk. The Student Hardship fund is also available for students not eligible to apply for the Support Fund. In addition we offer support with budgeting and money management as well as advice around other sources of funding. AccessAbility Our AccessAbility service is available to students with a diagnosed disability, specific learning or mental health difficulty or medical condition. Our highly qualified advisers have specialisms including specific learning disabilities and mental health and are available to provide a professional, accessible and confidential service. We will arrange for a student’s needs to be assessed following DSA (Disabled Students Allowance) approval and then make recommendations regarding reasonable adjustments and support requirements to be put in place. We will also communicate these adjustments to relevant University Faculties, Schools and Departments and discuss any operational implications. It is vital that students disclose their disability or medical condition to Student Support as soon as possible so that we can guide them on the process of applying for DSA, needs assessment and accessing the support recommended for their specific needs. AccessAbility staff are also available as a resource for University staff in relation to guidance and advice. The advisers will arrange and facilitate regular disability awareness sessions for staff on all campuses. Links with Schools and Departments will be made to ensure information sharing and promote partnership working. In relation to prospective students, AccessAbility Services organise open evenings for young disabled people and take part in wider participation projects to promote equal access for all, regardless of disability or mental health issues. Introducing the New Staff To assist you with getting to know the staff within our service we have included a list of all our staff and their roles and campuses served (Appendix 1). We still have a few temporary staff in position until recruitment processes are complete. However, we hope to have all permanent positions filled by December 2014. Figure 2 illustrates the revised organisational structure. Figure 2: Student Support Organisational Structure Contact Us We are making every effort to promote our new services to students and staff so any ideas of how we can reach these audiences would be most welcome. To date we have been busy attending all induction talks for first year students and Fresher’s weeks and open days on all campuses. As well as meeting Students’ Union representatives and taking part in the recent very successful Student Health Week run by the Students’ Union, we have also been meeting with members of the Chaplaincy and other University Departments. We are also keen to meet with Academic Staff where possible and to come along to any group gatherings or meetings where you think we could have some useful input. Additionally we will be organising events throughout the year and will be sending out a regular bulletin like this one. We hope that you will find it helpful. Please drop in and see us if you have any questions or visit our website at www.studentsupport.ulster.ac.uk. Our Student Support centres are located at: Belfast Room 82C45 Tel: 028 9536 7300 Email: [email protected] Jordanstown Room 15G20A Tel: 028 9036 6336 Email: [email protected] Coleraine Room E047 Tel: 028 7012 4105 Email: [email protected] Magee Room MG108I Tel: 028 7167 5218 Email [email protected] Appendix 1: Student Support Contact Details Name Job Title Jordanstown / Belfast Email Campus Start Date Jean McMinn Laura Griffith Claire Drummond Pamela Smyth Kevin Crawford Michael Spence Sarah McSherry Seaneen McLoughlin Alison Young Emma Mullan Mary McCormick Dr Darren Quinn Ciara Field Judith McMeekin Desna McCullough Barbara McArthur Pending Pending Coleraine / Magee Norma Patterson Stephen Harper Heather Keanie Lesley Ann McCaul Pamela Cunningham Angela Crawford Deborah Mairs Nicola Jamison Louise Hargan Pending Pending Head of Student Support PA to Head of Student Support Administrative Manager AccessAbility Manager AccessAbility Adviser (MH) AccessAbility Adviser (SpLD) AccessAbility Adviser (Disability) Student Support Adviser (Register) Student Support Coordinator Needs Assessment Coordinator Student Finance Coordinator Operations and Communications Officer Support Assistant Triage Support Assistant Triage Clerical Assistant Clerical Assistant Student Health and Wellbeing Adviser Administration Coordinator [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Jordanstown Jordanstown Jordanstown Jordanstown JN/BF JN/BF JN/BF Jordanstown Jordanstown Jordanstown BF/JN Jordanstown Jordanstown Belfast Belfast Jordanstown JN/BF Jordanstown In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post 04/11/2014 01/12/2014 Student Health and Wellbeing Advisory Service Manager AccessAbility Adviser (MH) Student Finance Coordinator Support Assistant Triage Clerical Assistant Support Assistant Triage Clerical Assistant Student Support Coordinator Student Support Coordinator AccessAbility Adviser (SpLD) Student Health and Wellbeing Adviser [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Coleraine Coleraine CE/MG Magee Magee Coleraine Coleraine Magee Magee CE/MG CE/MG In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post In post TBC TBC