Within each subject are there should be someone who takes responsibility for the organisation and delivery of Academic Tutoring. This is a responsibility in the job description of the Subject Director but in practice the Subject Director may devolve this responsibility to another academic within the team. For the remainder of this section we will refer to this person as the Academic Tutoring Lead.
An Academic Tutoring Lead has oversight of the Academic Tuition process and the Academic Tutors within their School. As well as being an Academic Tutor themselves, their role is to provide support, guidance and training to the Academic Tutors assigned to them and to ensure the effective provision of Academic Tuition to students in their school or subject area. The Academic Tutoring Lead will participate in the ongoing development of the Academic Tuition process.
Academic Tutoring Leads must support students by
- Ensuring that all new students are given an initial presentation about Academic Tuition during Welcome Week, outlining why they should engage with the process and the value it can add to them and their academic success.
- Maintaining oversight of students in their School, helping Academic Tutors to monitor student engagement, aiding them in following up frequent absentees and collaborating with other university teams as required.
- Ensuring that students who decide to suspend their studies, transfer course, or withdraw from the University are given adequate support and guidance.
Academic Tutoring Leads must support the other Academic Tutors in their school or subject area by
- Defining the purposeful programme of activities required by the Academic Tuition policy for their School.
- Disseminating up to date information about Student Services and student development resources (e.g. careers services, etc.)
- Providing an induction for new Academic Tutors and ensuring that tutors engage with appropriate staff development at the required frequency
- Offering guidance or advice to other Academic Tutors when requested
Academic Tutoring Leads should
- Allocate students to tutors in a timely fashion, no later than the week before the beginning of semester 1, to allow effective pre-arrival interactions between students and Academic Tutors
- Reallocate students to new Academic Tutors in response to staffing changes
- When a relationship tutor-tutee becomes un-sustainable, reallocate the student to another Academic Tutor
- Monitor the effectiveness of the Academic Tuition programme within their School, benchmarking this annually and contributing to the production and revision of an Action Plan for Academic Tuition
- Participate in the institution-wide Student Experience Network, providing support and guidance to other Student Experience Leads and propagating effective practice across the institution.