You should approach the Student Office in the first instance with any general queries or problems. Depending on the nature of the query, you may be referred to the Student Advisor or another member of staff.

The Student Advisor’s office is located in Keynes College, Room A1.02, Tel: (01227 82)4771. The Student Advisor offers daily drop in sessions (10am-12 noon and 2pm-4pm daily except Wednesday morning) for which no appointment is needed. You are also welcome to make an appointment either by contacting the Student Advisor directly or via the Student Office.

Role

The Student Advisor is a member of the School's Personal and Academic Support System.

Sometimes you might experience problems that can impact on your ability to study. Problems may be academic, personal or health-related. The role of the Student Advisor is to provide advice and assistance to undergraduate and postgraduate students to help you overcome such problems.

The Student Advisor can give advice on the following:

• Academic concerns
• Personal progress
• Issues relating to mental health, disability and dyslexia
• Applying for concessions
• Intermissions/withdrawals
• Equality and Diversity issues
• Feedback and complaints
• Any academic, personal or health problem that might affect your ability to study

The Student Advisor is not an expert in all these fields. However, she is able to ensure that you can access the relevant help and support. Sometimes this might involve referring you to one of the many Student Support Services available on campus.

Please also see the Student Advisor’s webpage.

The Senior Tutor is Dr Roger Giner-Sorolla.

Details of the Senior Tutor's role can be found in the following presentation:
Senior Tutor responsibilities

Equality and Diversity

The School of Psychology is committed to developing a working and learning environment in which all have the right to be treated – and the responsibility to treat others – with dignity, courtesy, respect and consideration.

We aim to develop a culture that

• Values diversity
• Fosters respect for everyone
• Does not tolerate prejudice
• Is free from harassment and bullying

The University of Kent’s Equality and Diversity Policy is available at
www.kent.ac.uk/hr-equalityanddiversity/documents/equality-and-diversity/e&dpolicy.pdf.

Confidentiality

The School of Psychology always abides by the Data Protection Act (1998) when handling information relating to students. More information regarding the Data Protection Act (1998) and the University of Kent’s Code of Practice is available at www.kent.ac.uk/data-protection/

The Student Advisor and other members of the PASS Team may ask to see students or need to send out correspondence, for example if there are concerns about a student’s progress. Please make sure that your contact details up to date on the Student Data System (SDS) and that you check your email and internal post regularly! It is important that you come and see us when we ask you to!

If you feel you need advice on problems, it is better to talk to us sooner rather than later so we can offer support and guidance as early as possible.

Students can ask their Final Year Project Supervisor and/or the Student Advisor for a reference. The supervisor's reference tends to be more personal as they will have worked closely with you. The Student Advisor's references focuses more on attendance, marks, predicted grades, coursework submission. The reference can also include citizenship skills demonstrated by the student (e.g. participation in RES/WES, Kent Union Student Rep, involvement with the Psychological Society etc).

Please note that seminar leaders are not permitted to provide references.

We welcome any comments or suggestions from students. In general, these can be submitted to the Student Advisor who will ensure that your feedback is raised at the appropriate committee meetings (e.g. Staff/Student Liaison Committee meetings) so that changes can be made as and when necessary. Alternatively you can submit your feedback via the School's suggestion box outside the Psychology Student Office or by contacting your student representative. You can also offer feedback via our School student survey, which we carry out every year.

If you have an individual complaint and you cannot resolve the matter with the person your concern relates to, please contact either the Student Advisor or the Head of School, Dr Joachim Stoeber (Email psyhos@kent.ac.uk). Alternatively, you can speak to an advisor at the Kent Union Advice Centre, which is independent of the University. Their contact details are available at www.kentunion.co.uk/pages/support/advice/.