Role and responsibilities of Senior Tutors

Senior tutors are responsible for coordinating the following activities within their School or part thereof:

• Overseeing and coordinating the operation of student support and development and the personal tutoring system in their School or unit, as well as acting as a point of reference, advice and guidance for all personal tutors in their School or unit.
• Producing and annually updating guidance for personal tutors in their School or unit as a local supplement to the University Guidance for Personal Tutors, ensuring that all material is appropriately disseminated to all personal tutors within their School or unit.
• Providing appropriate information and training for personal tutors to enable them to fulfil their role effectively.
• Appropriate induction of new personal tutors.
• Appropriate refresher training for all personal tutors must be organised biennially (resources to provide such training are developed by working together with other Senior Tutors and shared by way of the Senior Tutor Network (STN)) 
• Assisting students in cases where the student feels unable to approach their designated personal tutor, including arranging allocation of a new personal tutor if necessary
• Advising the Head of School or head of unit on the adequacy of tutor to student ratios, on any other matters relevant to the effectiveness of the School’s arrangements for personal tutoring, and on any matters related to student wellbeing and their impact upon learning
• Reviewing all induction processes for new students to ensure their School or unit complies with its responsibilities in this area. The Senior Tutor needs to ensure that students are aware of the importance of participation in the personal tutoring programmes and the expectation to seek support as needed
• Ensuring that school or unit handbooks for staff and students are updated regularly about personal tutoring arrangements in their school or unit and about student support and development across the University
• Liaising closely with other colleagues who have responsibilities for specific aspects of support for students’ learning and development such as the School’s Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) for disability issues, the Support and Wellbeing Officers for student welfare issues, the School’s careers and employability staff links and the appropriate staff in the Student Service centres
• Monitoring and enhancing the effectiveness of student support and development and the personal tutor system in their school by a range of means, likely to include:
  • being members of their School or unit teaching and learning committees and liaising with the specialist services;
  • collecting and responding to staff and student feedback (for example, through Student Staff Fora or equivalent (SSFs), or personal tutoring programme evaluations);
  • Annual evaluation of the personal tutoring programmes and providing a summary report to relevant people including the University Senior Tutor;
  • being part of extenuating circumstance panels and examination boards;
  • and consulting with colleagues in other Schools.
• Senior Tutors must review student participation in the personal tutor programme as part of their annual evaluation of personal tutoring and feedback
• Ensuring that student support, development and personal tutoring is an agenda item on all relevant school or unit committees, SSFs and education meetings 
• Dissemination of information from the STN to their School's personal tutors and other relevant colleagues and, if appropriate, to students
• Ensuring annual updating and submission of the School or unit’s tutoring statement to the University Senior Tutor and communication of such tutoring statements to staff and students (for example, by inclusion in appropriate staff and student handbooks, including on Moodle).

All Senior Tutors automatically become members of the University’s Senior Tutor Network (STN), which they are expected to attend and actively participate in.

The STN meetings take place at scheduled times throughout the year and help support and inform the Senior Tutors in their role, acting as a two-directional conduit for relevant information to and from the University Executive Board (UEB). International campus Senior Tutors liaise regularly with the University Senior Tutor and have access to the STN workspace. 

In addition, one member of the STN will be appointed as the University Senior Tutor and one member will be appointed Deputy University Senior Tutor.

For more information and resources, please consult the following:

Senior Tutors Network - Workspace

Senior Tutors Network - MS Teams

Senior Tutor Network Membership List (Internal only)