Support staff
All institutions have some Student Services. Depending on size, there may also be Disability Services, Learning Support and Wellbeing Services or other local variations.
The people in these departments can be key links in helping to provide appropriate support to students and guidance and support to staff.
In many instances, Student Services may be the first destination for staff and students with queries. Staff can usually signpost to appropriate next steps or other relevant departments, depending on each institutions’ own structure.
This remains true for any student with a mental health issue; staff are there to help and will work with the student to find appropriate solutions to issues that individuals may encounter. These could be wide-ranging; financial issues, support plans, counselling or wellbeing interventions, benefits advice or a place to go when they don’t know where to go to get an answer.
Disability staff are usually the people who work with the student to create the Support Plans. They get required medical evidence of disability and diagnostic evidence relating to dyslexia.
They are highly skilled professionals who look at the course of study, the mode of study and the needs of the student on an individual basis in order to tailor a plan to match the needs of the student on their chosen course of study. This means no two plans are the same.
This can take the form of specific areas and staffing designed to help students with common issues around academic study – writing essays, referencing etc – and to provide opportunities for one-to-one-support. In many places, staff are also able to provide this type of support for remote or online students, using a variety of means of communication, email, Skype, telephone calls etc.
These services can provide support to students who are going through personal crises and issues that are not directly related to their academic studies. They are not there to replace the NHS and other statutory bodies, but are to provide an enhancement to the student experience and enable the institution to help the student to carry on with their programme of study , if at all practicable.
All efforts have been made to ensure materials created by the EDU comply with current accessibility guidelines (JISC: Support for learners with disabilities).
If further assistance is required with accessibility matters please contact the student support section in your academic partner UHI: Accessing learner support.
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