New students
Personal Tutors and their role
In your first year you will be allocated a personal tutor from among the academic staff. Personal tutors will not necessarily teach you, but you are expected to meet with your tutor at least three times each academic year to discuss your academic progress.
Personal tutors are your first point of contact with BSU and they will provide academic and other support. They may if necessary (and with your agreement) refer you to additional sources of support. To help you record your progress, you will be asked to complete an online questionnaire prior to each meeting with your personal tutor.
Your personal tutor will normally work in an academic discipline that is related to your studies. However, the flexible system of choosing subjects to study at BSU means that if you change your programme of study or pathway, then you may find that your personal tutor is in a different subject. It is easy to change your personal tutor if you want to – ask for the relevant form at the Student Administration Services in the Main House.
In the event that personal difficulties are impeding your academic progress, you should inform your personal tutor, since they may be able to act as an advocate on your behalf. It is very important that you alert a member of staff at BSU at the earliest possible opportunity if there are any issues that are affecting or could affect your grades. If you do not perform well in assessment and then reveal that something has been impeding your progress then it will be more difficult to resolve than if you had alerted someone before the assessment was due.
Your personal tutor will normally be the person who will get to know you best, but you can also speak to another member of staff, a module co-ordinator, a programme co-ordinator, the Head of Department, the Head of School or someone in Student Support office (Doynton).
Contacting your personal tutor and teaching staff
The best way to contact BSU teaching staff is to send an e-mail, see contact list at appendix A for e-mail addresses.
Most BSU lecturers also have voicemail facilities on their telephones. You can leave a message by calling their extension from any internal telephone – there is one available to students in the Stanton foyer.
To telephone from outside the university, dial 0122 587 + the relevant extension number).
You can leave a written message for your tutor at the School Office, SNG19.
Help with Effective Learning – the Writing and Learning Centre
If you need additional help with learning effectively at university there is further help and advice from the Writing and Learning Centre. The Centre offers one-to-one appointments, workshops, and resources to help you achieve your potential. You can get advice on:
- academic writing, including referencing
- research and scholarship
- time management and other independent learning skills
- oral presentations
- revision and exam-writing ... and more!
To find out more visit the Writing and Learning Centre pages in Minerva (our virtual learning environment).
For more resources and information about timetabled workshops, visit the on-line Bath Spa Careers pages and follow the links to Skills Assessment and Career Development:
