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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