Allia Wilson

Manager - Student Learning Advisory Service Manager

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Allia Wilson has worked in education for the last 30 years, in a variety of areas and roles: from special needs, to primary, to secondary, to higher education. Over this time, she has accumulated a vast amount of knowledge and varied experience, not only professionally, but also personally, which together with her linguistic capabilities, as a native speaker of English, French and Arabic, has enhanced her performance in the field of education.
Prior to taking up the post of Manager, Student Learning Advisory Service (SLAS) in UELT at the University of Kent in December 2006, Allia had been working in Dubai for 8 years as Supervisor of the University Seminar and Academic Advising Unit. Her dual role at Zayed University, as supervisor and as teacher/advisor, allowed her to further develop and strengthen both areas of her expertise and she is looking forward to continuing to expand and build upon this knowledge at Kent. She sees academic advising as a developmental and intentional activity where the emphasis of an advisor’s role centers on providing students with a safe haven where each student's growth and potential is cared and catered for, and on helping students develop life-long and independent learning skills.

Roles and responsibilities:

As Manager of SLAS on both Canterbury and Medway campuses, Allia aims to support and maintain a cohesive and efficient team, as well as exploring further opportunities for growth and development. She sees her role as a collaborative one: working in partnership with her team and all the constituencies of the University. Nurturing, empowering and inspiring are key elements of her academic advising philosophy and her leadership style.

  • Team management and management of initiatives on both Canterbury and Medway campuses
  • Strategic management of Student Learning Support activities including overseeing the Retention Initiatives on the Canterbury and Medway campuses such as VALUE classic and VALUE MaP
  • Strategic development of new initiatives in Student Learning Support
  • Senior Tutor ( UELT undergraduate activities)
  • Liaison, consultation and partnerships with ASD, CED, and Q&A teams in UELT
  • Liaison, consultation and partnerships with all constituencies of the University
  • Liaison, consultation and partnerships with student academic support services at Kent, Christ Church and Greenwich Universities
  • Initiative: Collaboration, integration and embedding of study skills in core modules: the Advantage Initiative
  • Coordination: Teaching and advice.


Areas of interest and publications:
Allia's areas of interest are Modern Foreign Languages and Academic Advising where she has taken part in workshops, given presentations, attended, submitted and given papers.

Publications

  • “Arabic a minority language”. MFL Journal – 1997
  • “Discovering Dictionaries” – Cambridgeshire County Council – 1996
  • “Building Partnerships: Academic Advising at Zayed University – 2003 (Co-author with Dr. Connie Marsh)
  • “Advising at Zayed University – 2003 (Submitted to NACADA) (Co-author with Dr. Connie Marsh)
  • “Searching for Professionalism in Academic Advising – 2004 Hawaii International Conference on Education or NACADA. (Co-author with Dr. Connie Marsh)

Conferences

  • First Year Experience Conference in Columbia, U.S.A. – 1998
  • First Year Experience Conference in Houston, U.S.A. – 2001
  • Academic Advising for the Gulf Region of the 21st Century - (Proposal submitted  for December 2003)
  • BETT Exhibition, London - 11 January 2007
  • The Guardian HE Summit 2007 @ New Connaught Rooms, London WC2 - 31 January-2 February 2007
  • Student Retention & Progression in HE @ Inmarsat Conference Centre, London - 26 February 2007
  • 4th LDHEN Symposium @ Bournemouth - 12 April 2007
  • HEA Conference, 3rd Annual conference on Personal Tutoring & Academic Advising @ The Uni of Edinburgh - 3 May 2007
  • HEA Conference @ Harrogate - 3-5 July 2007
  • Addressing the Quantitative Skills Gap @ St. Andrew's, Scotland - 24-27 June 2007
  • ALDinHE Annual Symposium @ University of Bradford - 17-18 March 2008
  • Student Retention & Progression in HE @ Barbican Centre, London - 27 March 2008
  • SEDA Spring Conference 2008 @ Royal National Hotel, London - 8 May 2008
  • Labyrinth facilitator training in France - 23-28 May 2008
  • 6th LDHEN Symposium @ Bournemouth University - 6-7 April 2009
  • European First Year Experience Conference @ University of Groningen - 13-15 May 2009
  • SIGMA Launch event - 7 July 2010

Presentations

  • Supplemental Instruction – Zayed University in 2000
  • Zayed University A Unique Model – FYE 2001
  • Searching for Professionalism in Academic Advising – 2004 Hawaii International Conference on Education or NACADA. (Co-author with Dr. Connie Marsh)

Email: A.M.Wilson@kent.ac.uk
Location:
Canterbury Campus - UELT - Room 2
Tel: (+44) (0)1227 827124
Medway campus: Gillingham Building G0-09
Tel: (+44) (0)1634 888883

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