Expectations

University policy 

The University has set forth expectations for both staff and students. The University has a policy on the academic and pastoral support which is available to download from the Academic Services website: 

• EUSA Academic Support
• University of Edinburgh pastoral support

First point of contact

• An undergraduate student's first point of contact for academic advice is their Personal Tutor.
• An undergraduate student's first point of contact for pastoral care is their School’s Student Support Officers.
• Course Teams are made up of lecturers, tutors and secretarial staff who are related to each course. If you have any questions about the academic content of a course you should contact a member of the course team, any of them should be able to provide advice or to point you in the right direction. 

Contact

The Student Support Team and Personal Tutors will meet with students on pastoral and academic issues as they arise. We do not meet or correspond (via telephone or email) with third parties, unless we have explicit consent from the student: this includes parents, carers, and external organisations (unless serious circumstances apply, for example, mental health breakdown and the student has nominated a representative).

Further details on disclosing student information and the Data Protection Act (1998) can be found at: Guidance of Student Information Disclosure

Expectations of Students

Students should:

• Check their University email account regularly for communication from their Personal Tutor/ Programme Director or Student Support Officers, and to respond promptly to requests for information (normally within three working days).
• Ensure their details are up-to-date on MyEd, this includes updating contact details (Registry), and notifying the Student Support Officers of any discrepancies in course details.
• Attend meetings with their Personal Tutor when asked to do so.
• Complete any tasks assigned by their Personal Tutor linked to the meetings.
• Inform their Student Support Officers or Programme Director in good time of any problem affecting their studies, and so enable effective support to be offered.
• Provide the Student Support Officers or Personal Tutor with background information they need, to (for example) advise on Special Circumstances or to write an academic reference.
• Take due account of advice or information given.
• Make themselves aware of regulations and procedures relevant to their studies, and to seek advice where they are unsure what is required.

Expectations of Personal Tutors

A Personal Tutor should:

• Welcome new students, and to follow the academic progression of all their students.
• Guide the students in their course choices and advise them on study difficulties.
• Meet with Yr1 & Y2 students once a semester and with Yr3, Yr4, Yr5 students once a year.
• Refer the student where appropriate to more specialist sources of information and guidance, for example the Student Support Officers.
• Provide an academic reference for a future employer or programme of study.
• Respond promptly (normally within three working days) to a request for contact. Where this is not feasible (annual leave, conference or field work attendance), the Personal Tutor/Programme Director should provide an alternative contact.
• Advise and support the student in Special Circumstances, disciplinary or appeal matters and pass on details to the Student Support Officers as appropriate.

Expectations of the Student Support Officers

The Student Support Officers should:

• Provide pastoral care for undergraduate students, including personal and health issues and accommodation problems.
• Provide guidance on degree regulations and requirements, degree transfers, study abroad, course work submission deadlines and extensions.
• Advise and support the student in Special Circumstances, disciplinary or appeal matters.
• Respond promptly (normally within three working days) to a request for contact. Where this is not feasible, the Student Support Officers should provide an alternative contact.