Specialist Mentor

The Role

The successful candidates will assist students individually with a variety of study organisation challenges, and in resolving problems to enable students to focus more effectively on academic progress. Responsibilities vary, but may include supporting students to keep appointments, plan and track completion of study related tasks, and navigate some social situations. A minimum caseload of 8 students is a requirement.

Working as a member of a multi-disciplinary team you will meet regularly, by appointment, with your allocated students to advise and assist them on appropriate approaches and strategies which they may adopt to facilitate effective study and learning.

This job description is subject to review and amendment in the light of the changing needs of the University, to provide appropriate development opportunities and/or the addition of any other reasonable duties.

Specialist mentors provide highly specialist, specifically tailored, one to one support which helps students in accessing their higher education studies. This could include a range of issues, for example, coping with anxiety and stress situations, how to deal with concentration difficulties, time management, prioritising workload and creating a suitable work-life balance.

The SM-ASC role can be recommended for students with autism spectrum conditions (ASC), attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Specialist Mentors help students understand what is required of them academically in Higher Education, recognise the barriers to learning created by their condition and support them in developing strategies to address these barriers. Mentors will usually provide support for their students throughout their time  most students this support will need to be ongoing while for others it might be gradually phased out or only be required at certain points of their course, such as points of transition.

Specialist Mentors should not act as advocates or counsellors

Students will have an allocated number of sessions allotted to mentoring. Mentors are required to work within these guidelines. We request a minimum caseload of 8 students, however minimum work hours are not guaranteed and will vary according to individual assignments; these respond to individual student support plans and work around individual timetable scheduling. On average, an eligible student may be allocated between 1-2 hours mentoring per week during term time.

Students will be allocated to you by your line manager taking into consideration availability and established competences.

This employment opportunity is offered as a Non-Medical Helper funded by Disabled Students’ Allowances. Whilst the majority of mentoring sessions will take place during the academic terms mentors should be available throughout the year. In person 1:1 sessions will take place in approved campus locations between 9.00am and 5.00pm.

Main Duties & Responsibilities

• Supporting students in understanding what is required of them academically in HE.
• Identifying barriers to the student’s learning.
• Helping students to develop effective organisation and time management skills and strategies to manage their workload and deadlines in the presence of their condition, including plotting assignment deadlines & identifying and managing any converging deadlines.
• Helping students with prioritisation and realistic goal setting, including producing plans of work and targets and working with the student to monitor and review progress in this area.
• Developing a support programme to facilitate the growth of the student’s independence, reducing the need for support in the longer term. Assist the student to meet their own aspirations for participation and fulfil their study and personal potential
• Orientation:
  Ensure students are able successfully navigate the campus for scheduled sessions (fresher’s week sessions; lectures, seminars and workshops; appointments at finance office etc).
• Transition:
  Use knowledge of the University’s structures and procedures to guide and support students transitioning through university from their arrival, breaks in study, through to transition…