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to contact to arrange a meeting” ENV student, NSS 2017 “I have found it very hard to get in contact with my adviser… It seems to be the case that your adviser is either there for you the entire way or not there at all.... I feel like meetings with your adviser should be compulsory at the beginning and end of every term, or at least the start and end of every year.” LDC student, NSS 2017 “Academic staff also need better training on how to deal with mentally unwell students.” LDC student, NSS 2017 This shows that it appears there is inconsistency between schools in the support given by academic advisors. This was a theme raised in last year’s Student Experience Report based on student comments, and it seems that there is still an issue. Below are comments from students in the same schools as those listed above, providing positive feedback: “My academic advisor is incredibly helpful and supportive.” HSC Student, NSS 2017 “I have been given invaluable support from my academic adviser, student support services and the School of Biological Sciences.” BIO student, NSS 2017 “Availability of the counselling service and a personal advisor, that you are able to discuss future opportunities with.” ENV Student, NSS 2017 “The personal advisor contact has been fabulous, can’t fault them at all.” LDC Student, NSS 2017 This illustrates that students within the same schools are having completely different experiences when it comes to academic advisors which brings into question the systems by which advisors are allocated, trained and monitored. Another factor that has potentially contributed to a decrease in satisfaction of academic support is students’ difficulties with deadlines and extenuating circumstances “There is little mental health support in that every time you apply for extension you have to explain everything and fill out a lot of paperwork every time even if you have a long term condition.” AMA student, NSS 2017 “Better information on collecting work submitted with an extension and easier access to late submitted coursework.” LDC student, NSS 2017 “I even missed an important [dissertation] deadline due to my adviser not informing me of it, even though he/she was sent two reminder e-mails to pass the message on to me” PSY student, NSS 2017
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