Supporting Information
The University does not expect that academic staff should be able to respond to all students' personal and wellbeing concerns. These are important to the University, and the wellbeing of our students is a priority: https://intranet.birmingham.ac.uk/student/news/public/autumn-2018/student-mental-health-and-wellbeing-support-available-at-University-of-Birmingham.aspx.
We have increasingly invested in a professional wellbeing support network for students within the schools, colleges and student services. The professional staff are trained to offer advice and guidance and onward referrals as necessary. The central student services team includes professional practitioners including; mental health advisers, wellbeing advisers, therapeutic counsellors, mental health nurses and others. The team have an extended professional network of partners in the health service and third sector. These are experts in their fields, as our academic staff are experts in theirs.
Academic staff should be able to recognise and refer. Recognise that a student needs help, because they have asked for help, or because you see something that gives you cause for concern. Academic staff will often be the first point of contact for students in distress as a trusted adviser – and we do not seek to change that relationship. We want to professionalise the referrals so that academic colleagues can be confident that a student who has been referred for help gets the help they need.
The University provides a number of online sources of support, including general access online, self-help guides and a student support guide. The new wellbeing tab within the students' personal academic tutorial workbook will be available from 21 January 2019.
Further Reading
Yale, Annabel, T. The personal tutor–student relationship: student expectations and experiences of personal tutoring in higher education. September 2017