Mentoring and tutors
Peer mentoring
Your peer mentor is a fellow more senior student, who is there to offer you practical support which is designed to complement that provided by your personal tutor and friends.
Who are the mentors?
The mentors are all current students studying one of the courses led by the School of Geography. New undergraduates are matched up, in small groups, with current year two or three students.
How does it work?
You are matched up with a peer mentor who is also studying geography. Your peer mentor meets with you bi-weekly throughout semester one, complementing your timetabled tutorial programme. They are there to offer support, share knowledge, and give practical know-how tips to help you settle into university life. They receive training in mentoring and leadership and run structured sessions with you to help build key skills.
Previous mentees have said:
[My mentor] was extremely helpful and very easy to approach, always offering advice and willing to meet up to discuss things if we wanted to.
They always provided useful advice based on their own experience during the sessions which I took on board and applied to my own studies. They were also always very friendly and approachable which helped to create a positive feel within the group.
Alongside teaching us important skills and giving us advice from a student point of view, they also engaged with us on a social level, such as talking about shared interests and opinions. Their sessions definitely helped in making first term feel less daunting.
Find out more
You will be automatically assigned a mentor, who will arrange regular meetings, and who you can contact with questions. If you have a question about peer mentoring, please speak to your personal tutor, or our Peer Mentor Coordinator and Senior Tutor, Dr Kieran Phelan.
Personal tutors
Your tutors are all experts in their fields of study and are there to support and advise you throughout your undergraduate careers with us.
Who are your tutors and how can they help?
Your tutors are all members of academic staff in the School of Geography and are experienced teachers and researchers. They are your main point of regular contact in the school and help you develop the academic skills you need to succeed through your undergraduate studies at Nottingham.
In your first year, they will run your tutorial programme, and will meet with you to for feedback meetings to discuss your assessment results. In second and third year, they will continue meeting with you for feedback meetings.
Throughout your time with us, your personal tutor is your first point of contact with the school. In addition to academic support, they also play an important pastoral role, offering advice and signposting to support services in times of need. They can point you in the right direction if you are struggling or experiencing difficulties.
What are tutorials?
In your first year, you’ll complete the tutorial module. This is a compulsory module, led by your personal tutor, and taught in small groups, to help you develop academic skills. The programme is designed to be encouraging, to give you knowledge and experience to succeed at university.
Attendance to tutorial is compulsory, and recorded. Apologies must be sent to the tutor ahead of the session for non-attendance, with a valid reason.
Tutorials are in-person, bi-weekly, and are assessed through essays and presentations.
Find out more
The Senior Tutor in the School of Geography is Dr Kieran Phelan. You can contact them via lg-geog-seniortutor@nottingham.ac.uk or visit them in their office at B26b, Sir Clive Granger Building, University Park.