Category Archives: Support

Here is some information from the wider university service areas.

Social activities, Support

Are you a student and have a family? Check out the support available to you…

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Last week was declared ‘Family Friendly Week‘ by the Advice and Information Team and thanks to this a series of articles were posted on their blog, all aimed at helping students with families get the most out of University life and the local community.

There were top tips from a guest blogger about how she manages juggling family life with her academic studies, ideas for activities to keep your kids busy over the Easter holidays, advice on managing your time and your finances and loads of useful links to local organisations and services, including support available within the University itself.

You can see all the posts here.

If you want to receive future blog posts from the Advice and Information team you can also subscribe to the blog too.

Support

Easter Holidays – Important Information

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The University will be closed during 3 – 7 April, but the Learning Centres at City (Adsetts) and Collegiate will remain open 24/7.

Here is some useful information to help you during this period

  • Students are asked to bring their SHUcard to get into the buildings
  • The helpdesk will be closed but students can access books, journals and all electronic materials, printing, copying
  • Students can still top up their print or papercut account online, or pay library fines
  • There will be vending machines to use (and the Costa machine at Adsetts for those needing caffeine!)
  • Security staff will be there to help wherever they can with directional enquiries or filling up printers.
  • Students needing help can contact 0114 2253333 for 24/7 help on library and IT enquiries
  • We also recommend that students use the library gateway to search for answers to questions too – there are links to blogs, guides, and FAQs plus our twitter feed.

Have a great Easter break! 🙂

Support

Masterclass in March

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Masterclass is designed to support students who may be unfamiliar with study at university level, or need to update their skills particularly in research and writing.

They are 1.5 hours long and here are the classes taking place in March:

Thursday 5 March. 12.30pm – 2pm
Revision and Exam time

One of the key problems for students is that in exams, they don’t always answer the exact question asked. This session will focus on analysing exam questions quickly and recognising exactly what is being asked. We will also focus on getting the most out of your revision.

Monday 9 March, 10.30am – 12 noon
Avoiding plagiarism: how to paraphrase and reference correctly

Plagiarism is a very serious issue at university. This session will show you how to avoid plagiarism by paraphrasing the words of others more effectively, and how to correctly reference your sources using the SHU Harvard referencing system.

Monday 16 March, 10.30am – 12 noon
Critical reviews and writing critically

What does it mean to read and write critically? How do you go about critiquing an article by an expert? This class will help you answer these questions and improve your critical skills.

Monday 23 March, 10.30am – 12 noon
Literature Review – Using other’s work in your writing and synthesising effectively

This class will look at using multiple sources of information to support your points and arguments, and how to incorporate these into your work to maximum effect.


 

Support

International students and referencing

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Get some tips from students about referencing your academic work including:

  • Lending your essay – friendship or deception?
  • Recycling – good for cans and bottles but not for academic work
  • When referencing your sources, how much is enough?
  • Too close for comfort – collaboration or cheating?
  • Words, data, computer code, pictures – what do they all have in common?

Go to http://www.cite.auckland.ac.nz

Student voice, Support

University Mental Health and Wellbeing Day

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Wednesday 18 February
Various locations including Hallam Hall and Heart of the Campus

This Wednesday is University Mental Health and Wellbeing Day, an annual event aimed at promoting the wellbeing of students and staff in Higher Education.

The theme will be ‘Choose to Disclose’ and students will be invited to consider disclosing their mental health difficulties to the University and to social contacts.  You can find more information about this at http://www.umhan.com/umhan-blog/i-chose-to-disclose-campaign.

umhd

Students and staff will have the opportunity to share their own experiences in an informal setting, to hear from others and to find out about support that is available following disclosure, as well as having a cup of tea and a chat!

A Wellbeing Fair will be held in Hallam Hall from 11am – 2pm with representatives from local services including Mind and Samaritans, HR and University support services.  Refreshments will be available as well activities including smoothie making and signing up to your own individual pledge.  There will also be an information and activities session in the Heart of the Campus building on the same day.

Support

SYEDA Biteback – eating disorder support group

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Wednesday 18 February, 6pm – 7.30pm
HC.0.17, Heart of the Campus, Collegiate Campus

Are constant thoughts about food and exercise stopping you from studying, socialising and relaxing?

Biteback is a support group for students with an eating disorder. It is run in partnership with South Yorkshire Eating Disorders Association (SYEDA).

Sessions are led by trained SYEDA volunteers who offer free support, information and a safe, confidential, private space to share your experiences.

Admission is free. No need to book, just come along.

  • Sheffield Hallam: third Wednesday of the month, 6–7.30pm
  • University of Sheffield: third Monday of the month, 5–6.30pm, the Octagon TV Lounge

To find out more, including details of a one-to-one Biteback drop-in service, visit syeda.org.uk

Support

Become a finance savvy student

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Blackbullion is an easy-to-use online resource designed to develop your financial skills.

89% of the students who use it feel more confident about their financial future.

If you join Blackbullion before 20 February you could be in with the chance of winning a tablet.

Using Blackbullion will empower you to be money smarter and make sound financial decisions. It will give you essential financial skills and habits that will help you throughout your life.

You will need to register with your Sheffield Hallam email address AND successfully complete a module in order to be entered into the prize draw.

*Terms and Conditions apply

For further information click here.

Blackbullion

 

 

 

 

 

 

Support

PhD Scholarships for International and EU applicants

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30 fully funded PhD scholarships for September 2015

The scholarships are for home, EU and international applicants. They cover your tuition fees (at home/EU levels) and provide maintenance at Research Council UK levels – £14,057 for 2015/16 – for three years of full-time study, normally commencing in September/October 2015.  Therefore as an international applicant, you would have to find another source of funding to cover the cost difference between home/EU and international fees.

If you are interested in applying for a PhD scholarship, the deadline for all applications is 12 noon on Friday 20 March 2015.

Find out more here.

Support

Introduction to Mindfulness

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  • 18 February
  • 3pm-5pm
  • Multifaith Chaplaincy, Level 2, Owen Building, City Campus

mindfulness‘You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.’ Jon Kabat-Zinn

Find out more about this powerful technique that reduces stress and anxiety, improves sleep, aids concentration and memory, and has an overall positive impact on wellbeing.

Introduction to Mindfulness

A seminar that introduces the concept of mindfulness and the implications for improved mental health and wellbeing, as well as teaching some key mindfulness practices.

Book your place

Support

Preparing for exams

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Exams are coming up in January and this can be a worrying and demanding time for many students. But there’s no need to panic; getting your preparation right and using the right tools and resources will make your life easier.

We like this exam hints and tips article from the Independent. It’s talking about Easter exams, but that doesn’t matter, the ideas will work well in January too! There’s lots of great tips here about organising and looking after yourself in the run up to the exam period.

It might also be useful to you to know what tools and resources are available to help you with your exam preparation:

You might find that the Library Gateway useful. This online resource brings together all the different search tools you might need to find your way round the physical and electronic collections in the SHU library and you can find it at: http://library.shu.ac.uk

You can also access subject guides which introduce students to the books, journal articles and news items relevant to their subject area. You’ll find this at: http://library.shu.ac.uk/subjectguides.html

Another service offered through the learning centres are the drop-in study support sessions. If you’ve got a question about an assignment you’re working on or you want to have a draft of an assignment looked at, these weekly one-to-one sessions with a study support tutor are designed for just that. Look on shuspace here for more details. Throughout the next semester you may also be interested in attending an academic skills workshop as these cover a variety of study-related topics.

As a student at SHU you are also automatically enrolled on the new Blackboard organisation Academic skills resources (2014/15) which includes My Study Skills: the toolkit.

The Academic skills resources Blackboard organisation contains

  • My Study Skills: the toolkit (a SHU online resource available this academic year to July 2015)
  • skills4studycampus (which has a section on exam skills)
  • links to recommended free resources

The first time you go to skills4studycampus you have to register – this is to set up your personal account so that you can see your progress, go back to where you left off and add notes in ‘my journal’.

Finally, the Student Wellbeing Service can offer you lots of support around dealing with stress. They have self-help resources available and can also see you in a one-to-one or a group setting. They run group sessions on areas such as mindfulness and relaxation which many people find helpful.

We hope this is useful for you and will help you to feel prepared as we move towards the January exams. If you have any particular worries or concerns about exams, please feel free to come and speak to your Student Support Officer via your faculty helpdesk or an Advice and Information Adviser at one of our drop-in sessions. These run Monday to Friday at both City and Collegiate campuses.

And remember, stay calm and start preparing!