Student Services and SU
Student Services including Students’ Union, Counselling, Careers, Disability Services etc.
Facilitator: Alison Barty
Comments and questions made by the facilitator are given in italics and solutions suggested by students are given in bold.
Question 1: How many of you have used Student Union facilities? How would you rate them?
Birkbeck Student 1: Not great. They are not well organized and there is poor communication between AUT and student union. The Bloomsbury consortium is working on these issues together.
SOAS Student 2: Support at Birkbeck is often limited, the student union office is often closed and recently relocated, contacting them by phone is also difficult. Once you have made contact the service is good but very difficult to contact. Drop in sessions may help with this. More information about where the student union office is would be useful as would having people there all the time.
SOAS Student 4: Contacting the student union is exhausting and I’m not sure, if or how the student union will be able to help me. Also I don’t know how I can help the student union. The student union would benefit from one central office that can accommodate the work/life balance which is so important to students at Birkbeck.
Birkbeck Student 3: There should be more literature about what the student union can do for you. Why would I go to the student union? Currently I’m more likely to go to the disability office rather than the student union. The office is also in a bad location.
IoE student: Has SU membership, but didn’t attend events – partly because of time-constraints (fitting PT study around work) – also because some events would be unsuitable for Muslims. Most SU activities involve alcohol or catering, and both of these issues would be sensitive for Muslim students
SOAS student: Student felt that SU events were not targeted at mature students – would not feel comfortable or welcome at a function organized for undergraduates – also had very little spare time for extra-curricular socializing.
Question 2: Welfare Advice / Counselling / Careers Service
Birkbeck, IoE & SOAS students: None of the students had much personal experience of using these services [Welfare Advice / Counselling / Careers Service]
Birkbeck student: Student felt that none of these services had been well publicized – had no idea that they were available – what they would entail – who is eligible to use them – are they free – what are the qualifications/background of the staff involved – etc.? Had never heard of a central U of L careers service.
Have you received any welfare and financial advice? How have you found this?
SOAS Student 2: Wasn’t aware there was a welfare office and thought you could only apply for support with fees.
Birkbeck Student 5: Found the welfare office at SOAS to be very good.
Birkbeck Student 3: Disability Office directed me to the welfare office for assistance with meeting the cost of my diagnostic assessment. The hardship fund at SOAS is very useful.
SOAS Student 2: Advertising for the welfare office at Birkbeck is very bad and many students do not know about it.
What of pastoral / religious needs?
Birkbeck student: Not aware of any provision [for pastoral / religious needs].
IoE student: No quiet place available for Muslim prayer – on request, the student was given permission to use a small and poorly equipped careers library.
SOAS student: Aware of Christian Union, and a [Muslim] prayer room available.
Question 3: How have you found the counselling services? Did this meet disability related needs and how can it be improved
Birkbeck Student 5: Counselling services have been useful.
Birkbeck Student 3: Doesn’t see how dyslexia would relate to counselling.
Birkbeck Student 1: Thinks students who access counselling at SOAS have really benefited, particularly in the 2nd and 3rd years.
Birkbeck Student 3: Publicity and information is good at SOAS with regular e-mail updates.
SOAS Student 4: What about physical access and opening hours?
SOAS Student 2: I heard about the counselling service from induction course, maybe an annual mail out to remind students of services. There should be a focus on counselling students on how to be students. If you know what you are looking for you can find it.
Birkbeck Student 3: Maybe Birkbeck could do what SOAS does.
SOAS Student 2: Birkbeck offers no assistance with the work/life balance.
Birkbeck Student 1: Counselling affirms your response to your situation and how you deal with this. This is a particularly pertinent issue for students with disabilities.
Question 4: How can the disability office be improved?
SOAS Student 4: There should be more staff, they are brilliant – amazing. The room also needs to be changed as it is so small.
Birkbeck Student 1: Once diagnosed, life started working for her.
Birkbeck student: Should be a clear framework of guidelines adhered to across the board – would provide consistency when dealing with individual situations. Student had experience of taking problems to appeal, and felt that this could have been avoided if a better structure was in place.
IoE student: Student felt that the DO was generally well-organized – but was very unhappy about the handling of a dyslexia assessment. The assessor didn’t know how to use the PC – student felt that the result was invalid. Student was also told by DO that she would have to pay £300 for a full screening and that it would take 3 years to process – was advised not to include dyslexia on her DSA application as it would slow it up too much. Was near the end of the course, so did not complain or appeal, but felt that the advice given was wrong.
SOAS student: More rooms should be fitted with induction loops – hearing impaired students need to leave for lectures 5 minutes early to ensure that they can always get a seat in the front rows. Hearing problems made worse in large rooms and with large groups of people - especially difficult for language students. Would be better if front row seats could be reserved in advance for students who would benefit from proximity to the lecturer.
Question 5: Have you accessed the Careers service?
Birkbeck Student 3: Wishes she had but hadn’t. Not sure where they are. What services do they offer?
Birkbeck Student 1: They are fantastic.
Birkbeck Student 5: Workload prevents the use of the careers service.
Birkbeck Student 3: The careers department should push their services more, particularly at relevant times.
SOAS Student 2: We don’t have a fixed careers service but Birkbeck does run specialist career evenings for different subjects. Careers are set up by each department.
The University of London has a careers service you can use.
Birkbeck Student 3: Advice on disclosure and general careers advice on disability related issues would be useful
IoE student: Student suggested that careers information and guidance should be more closely linked to the course studied – careers advisors should tailor their information and deliver it straight to the classroom, rather than wait for individuals to come to them.
SOAS student: Had only seen leaflets for services which provided little more than contact details – no real information. Asked a careers advisor about the ‘home stay’ programme in Japan – they had no idea what it was – just pointed out some books to the student. Better to have specialized advice based on the career paths open to graduates of particular disciplines. Careers staff should be more proactive and investigate queries themselves, rather than leaving the student to research alone. Could do more to invite potential employers into the colleges to meet students, eg. careers fairs.
GENERAL SUMMARY
More consideration should be given towards religious sensitivities – providing appropriate venues for prayer, special catering, etc. in each Institution.
- Part-time and/or mature students often feel excluded from social events.
- Lack of information and promotion regarding services in general – lack of specialized career advice.
- Lack of consistent guidelines for support, and some faulty assessment and inaccurate advice given.
- Need for better communication of appropriate adjustments to be made for an individual to teaching staff.
