Advice at UWTSD Students’ Union – Our Commitment to You

What you can expect from us:

• A prompt service:  We will aim to respond to your enquiry and follow-up e-mails within 3 working days.  In addition to e-mail, we can set up appointments on Microsoft Teams or telephone to talk through your case, though there could be a longer wait for appointments during busy periods.

• An impartial service:  We are an independent organisation, separate from the University.  The advice that we offer and the options that we put forward when discussing your case are based around your interests, not the University’s.  

• A compassionate service:  We will treat you with dignity and respect and will discuss your case with you in a non-judgemental manner.  We will be honest with you about the options available to you.

• A confidential service:  We will handle your enquiry in the strictest of confidence, in line with our GDPR obligations, which you can read more about here.  Nobody outside the Students’ Union Advice team will have access to your enquiry.  Your advisor may - in exceptional cases - wish to seek support from Head of Membership Services or the Chief Executive Officer. In this situation, we will not mention your name, and we will ‘anonymise’ the details of your case.  We will only discuss your case with the University or a third party if you give us explicit permission to do so (except in certain emergency situations, where we might be obliged to ‘breach confidentiality’ – more detail below). 

What we expect from you:

• Keep in touch: If there are updates to your case, please let us know – the earlier you inform us, the better we can prepare for the ‘next step’. 

• Respect for our staff: we provide a compassionate service, and so we ask of you the same in return with respect to our staff.  Any abuse or harassment (physical, verbal or otherwise) of Advisors may result in the service being withdrawn.

• Stick to appointments: We know that ‘things happen’ and you may miss your appointment.  However, if you can’t make your appointment, or expect to be late, please let us know as far in advance as possible.  That way, we can rearrange, or offer the time slot to another student who might be waiting. 

• Be upfront:  It’s up to you how much detail you choose to share with us.  However, we can only advise you based on what you tell us – if there are details to your case that you haven’t told us, this could affect the quality of advice that we’re able to offer. 

In very rare situations, we reserve the right to:

• Change your Advisor – if, for example, there is a ‘conflict of interest’ between your case and the case of another student that the Advisor is supporting.  

• Breach confidentiality – if, for example, we have very serious concerns about your (or somebody else’s) safety, we might need to contact the University or a professional service.

• Withdraw service – if, for example, you repeatedly miss appointments without notification, behave abusively towards your Advisor, or do not take positive steps towards resolving your case. 

Our aim is to empower you to take the decisions that are right for you.  Here are the services that we can usually offer:

• Information about University policies, procedures and regulations.  You can find this information on the Students’ Union website under ‘Academic Advice’. 

• Advice on the possible consequences of different choices.

• Guidance on how you might approach the University to improve your chances of a successful outcome, based on what you’ve told us about your case.

• Suggestions on how you might improve your chances of a successful outcome.  For instance, we might suggest how to improve your statement when completing a University form; which evidence you might wish to include; or how you might structure your argument in a University panel.  

• Referral or signposting to other sources of support, if we aren’t able to provide you with a professional service in your case.  

In some situations, we might also offer to:

• Attend a University panel or meeting with you for support.  However, we would not usually speak at this meeting.

• Contact University staff on your behalf.  However, we would usually expect you to try to make contact first.  

We would not usually:

• Take action or initiate a University process on your behalf.

• Speak for you in a meeting.

• Complete a form or write a formal letter for you.

 

We aim to provide you with the best service we can.  If you believe that the service that you've received from the Advice service does not meet the standards in this Commitment, the first step is to have a chat with your advisor to see if you can resolve this issue.

If you still feel dissatisfied, you have the right to follow the Complaints Procedure, as outlined in the  Students’ Union Complaints and Disciplinary Procedures (Bye Law Section 12). 

These Procedures will investigate and consider whether the Advisor met the standards in this Commitment, and the standards expected of Students’ Union staff in general.  They will not consider complaints against the Advice service if the reason for your complaint is simply that you’re unhappy with the outcome of your case or the University’s decision on your case.