Some time ago, we posted an anonymised case study of one of the drop-in appointments. You can read Katy’s story here. We see so many students (between September and December we had 367 drop-in appointments with students) about such a range of issues, we felt it would be a good idea to share another example of a real life drop-in appointment (student’s details have been anonymised).
Gav’s situation
Gav had emailed the team (using guidance@shu.ac.uk) a few weeks prior to making it in to meet an Adviser in person. He explained that he’d basically dropped out of his first year after a bout of fresher’s flu, when he found it hard to catch up with the work he’d missed. He said that, during the first few weeks of uni he’d had a great time, going out to bars and clubs and meeting lots of new people. However, with the illness and experiencing some difficulties on his course he had stopped attending lectures and seminars. He said he felt silly and wanted to get things back on track for a clean start next September.
Gav* attended a drop-in appointment with an Adviser and, during the appointment the Adviser helped Gav to arrange a meeting with his faculty Student Support Officer to discuss his attendance issues. Gav also spoke about how he has struggled to make friends on the course, and finds the resultant isolation difficult. He also talked about struggling to maintain a routine and stick to a healthy sleep pattern. He wanted to hear some general advice for students in this kind of situation. He also wanted to find out whether he can re-take the year next year without being capped at 40%
What advice did Gav receive?
The Adviser discussed with Gav two elements to his enquiry:
1) Support available for students at SHU
2) Practical implications of lack of attendance / engagement
1) Support available for students at SHU
Study skills workshops and sessions
Clubs and societies to help Gav feel more engaged / help his routine.
The Adviser also mentioned that Gav could ask to speak to his tutor about lack of opportunity to engage with others on course outside of lectures and ask, could a group be set up? Could Gav approach others who may be feeling similarly? The Adviser explained the importance of keeping in touch with the faculty Student Support Officer, particularly around attendance and assessments e.g. if struggling to meet a deadline. Explained that evidence of extenuating circumstances would be required if he submitted Extenuating Circumstances or Exceptional Extension Request forms.
2) Practical implications of lack of attendance / engagement
The Adviser went through the referral process with Gav and showed him how to find information about Assessment Regulations on shuspace. The Adviser also explained funding implications if Gav ends up re-sitting the year and reiterated the loan repayment process. Gav worried that he has missed important inductions to particular software so the Adviser suggested he talk to tutor about this. Gav wasn’t sure how to find his faculty reception so the Adviser offered to take him down there and also show him how to find SWB reception, as the drop-in sessions weren’t busy that day.
What next for Gav?
Gav left with a to-do list as follows:
- Attend appointment with Student Support in the faculty
- Ring Student Finance England re funding implications
- Consider accessing support outlined in drop-in.
The Adviser invited Gav to re-attend drop-in if he wants to, as he now intends to stay at uni until Easter.
If you think you could benefit from talking things through with one of our Advisers, why not drop-in to Student Services? Up-to-date times of drop-in are available on shuspace.
*Gav’s name has been changed for confidentiality reasons and the photo used in this post is not Gav; it is taken from a photo library.