Departmental Pastoral Mentors

Source: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/pastoral-mentors/#a5 Parent: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/#a2

Pastoral Mentors are a point of contact, embedded within departments, who can support you if you are facing challenges that impact your ability to study and be successful in your programme. They are also a point of contact for Personal Tutors (also known as Academic Tutors) and provide end-to-end support for student queries, including signposting to expert services as required. If your department's Pastoral Mentor is not yet in place, remember you can contact your Personal Tutor or the Education Welfare team for support.

The Pastoral Mentor role was established through a university project in collaboration with various departments, students, the Students' Guild and the Students' Union.

Currently, Pastoral Mentors support undergraduate and postgraduate taught students. They do not support postgraduate research students, purely online learners, and degree apprenticeships students, as these groups of students have alternative support mechanisms in place. To find out more, please see the frequently asked questions (FAQs) at the bottom of this page.

You can also find out more about the role of the Pastoral Mentor by watching the short video below, and visiting the aforementioned FAQs.

Who is my Pastoral Mentor?

Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy (ESE)

Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS)

Faculty of Health and Life Sciences (HLS)

Play

Testimonials

What has been your experience of working with Pastoral Mentors?

It has been a pleasure, and I could not have imagined how helpful they would be. Pastoral Mentors can dedicate time to meet with students, proactively, at pace and at scale, and act as the bridge between our other University support teams to support students' success.

Dr Pablo Loren-Aguilar \ Physics and Astronomy, Senior Tutor/Director of Education

What difference do you think Pastoral Mentors can make to the ways of working centred around pastoral and wellbeing support?

Pastoral Mentors provide an additional mechanism that can engage with the data available and provide that first point of contact and triage for students. This then enables them to refer them on to other teams, such as ourselves.

Tim Harris\ Education Welfare Advisor, facing Physics and Astronomy

What benefits do you think the Pastoral Mentor role brings to the University's Student Academic Support model?

We provide students with a supportive bridge into services that they may otherwise not have accessed and a reassuring presence through their academic journey. We provide a pro-active data-informed outreach approach, based from within the department – this is what makes us differ from the rest of the support model.

Pastoral Mentors, Hannah Lyons and Hannah Jordan

Frequently asked questions

What can my Pastoral Mentor support me with?

• Acts as a first port of call when students are not sure what academic or pastoral support they might need.
• Shares and promotes information about Pastoral Mentor support services with students and staff.
• Proactively identifies and reaches out to students who may be experiencing challenges that create barriers to academic study, wellness, and success.
• Triages and maintains oversight for students in the department, including signposting and referring students to academic and pastoral support within and outside the department.
• Refers and signposts students to relevant University support services (including the Education Welfare Team), and to Academic Tutors, to help with any difficulties relating to pastoral support, academic study, and success.
• Co-creates action plans related to pastoral support needs and academic interventions with staff and students to support improvement in engagement.
• Provides clear and relevant pastoral information, advice, and guidance to staff and students in the department.
• Can provide evidence for mitigation applications where academic and pastoral concerns are raised.
• Fosters an inclusive, supportive, and accessible academic community for all students in a Department e.g., through departmental events, sharing of information, and proactive outreach.
• Works in collaboration with all University support teams to ensure the correct support is received and students can progress with their studies by being a central point of contact, embedded in the student’s department.

When and how can I meet with my Pastoral Mentor?

Your Pastoral Mentor will have 1:1 drop-in sessions during their office hours, which can be face-to-face or virtual, please contact them using their details above. They will also host and join events within your department throughout the year.

Do Pastoral Mentors support all students within the department?

Currently, Pastoral Mentors support undergraduate and postgraduate taught students. They do not support postgraduate research students, INTO students, PGCE students, purely online learners, and degree apprenticeships students, as these groups of students have alternative support mechanism in place.

For PGR support:

• https://as.exeter.ac.uk/academic-policy-standards/tqa-manual/pgr/supervisionofpgr/#pgrpastoraltutors
• https://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/doctoralcollege/support/pgrsupportandservices/wellbeing

Online learners:

• https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/online/services/
• Students on online programmes have two Student Support Advisors who work across all online programmes and students can book an online appointment or telephone meeting with.

For DA support:

• https://www.exeter.ac.uk/students/wellbeing/support/degreeapprenticeshipstudents/
• https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/degreeapprenticeships/apprentices/whattoexpect/

Undergraduate (UG):

This will be a student’s first degree, often a Bachelors Degree (BA/BA Hons). Bachelors (or honours, styled as ‘Hons’) degrees are Level 6 courses. They include titles like Bachelor of Arts, or BA (Hons); Bachelor of Science, or BSc (Hons); Bachelor of Engineering, or BEng (Hons); and Bachelor of Law, or LLB.  Also see: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/. UG programmes include Degree Apprentices (DA) (www.exeter.ac.uk/study/degreeapprenticeships/), however, as per the exceptions list below, DAs are not within the PM’s purview.

Postgraduate Taught (PGT):

These are level 7 qualifications, with the most common kind being a Masters Degree. This can be a Master of Science (MSc) or a Master of Arts (MA), for example. These are typically one year (full-time). They involve a taught component and an intensive, independent research project. It is important to note that an MRes is a PGT programme, while a MbyRes programme is a PGR programme. Also see: www.exeter.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/.

What can my Education Welfare Team/wider Wellbeing Services support me with, in comparison to my Pastoral Mentor?

• Worries about your academic progress, due to a health or wellbeing difficulty;
• Ongoing support through the Health, Wellbeing and Support for Study process
• This involves sitting down with you to discuss your concerns and difficulties, then looking through available support options.
• The aim is to create a plan together which helps you to get on track with your study and Uni life, using regular check ins to help address any challenges your health or wellbeing may be causing and support you to progress with your studies. This can include supporting evidence for Mitigation Applications where appropriate.
• We can help you liaise with other teams within the university, including other practitioners within Wellbeing Services and arrange joint meetings with your university or external support network, where appropriate, to help ensure your support is linked up.
• Engaging with HWSS can also help ensure that the University is offering you the full range of support available to you.
• Support around interrupting your studies, or changing your mode of attendance due to a health or wellbeing difficulty;
• Support with exceptional mitigating circumstances, where you may need to consider applying to repeat a year of your studies;
• Support for a specific study-related problem or issue impacted by your health or wellbeing through a one-off meeting, including signposting or referral to other support teams within Wellbeing Services if appropriate.

What can my Personal/Academic Tutor support me with, in comparison to my Pastoral Mentor?

• Provides academic advice and support to the student across the programme of study and reviews wider academic progress.
• Meets with tutees regularly throughout the year to support their transition and progress and help them to realise their ambitions.
• Works closely with Module Convenors, Senior Tutors, Education Welfare Team, and Pastoral Mentors to manage unsatisfactory engagement and/or performance.
• Can provide evidence for mitigation applications (excluding exceptional mitigation) where academic concerns are raised.
• Refers and signposts students to Pastoral Mentors for the department where they are unsure of the support students might need and/or they have concerns in relation to academic study and success.
• Refers and signposts students to specialist support services as appropriate (e.g. wellbeing (including the Education Welfare Team), careers and professional development, etc.).

I have a pastoral drop-in event that is clashing with a teaching event in MyTimetable, what should I do?

These pastoral drop-in sessions are optional and you do not need to attend if you have a clash.

Other resources

• Where to get help, support, and information for students in Exeter (PDF)
• Where to get help, support, and information for students in Cornwall (PDF)
• Information about the Student Academic Support (SAS) Project