9. Advice and Support

You will be allocated a personal academic adviser and there is a Programme Director for each degree programme; see below.

For straightforward administrative enquiries, you should normally ask in the Maths Office first. For general academic advice, you should normally ask your adviser / Programme Director (they may well be the same person) or the Student Support Officer. Their roles are described below.

How do I know who my adviser is?

The relevant Programme Director will generally be assigned as an academic adviser for postgraduate students; see Contact Information. MySIS will show who your current adviser is. If you cannot find who your current adviser is then please contact the Maths Office.

The Adviser's Role

Your adviser's role is to give you information and advice during your studies; in particular to discuss with you and approve any electives in your "module registration" – the list of modules you register for each year. You should get to know your adviser as normally you should ask them to act as a referee for job applications, etc. If possible, you will keep the same adviser throughout your time at Queen Mary. Teaching is not part of an adviser's role, although your adviser may be willing to help you with mathematical problems.

You should visit your adviser at the start of each semester to agree your programme of study for that semester, and you should visit your adviser at least once again during each semester to discuss your progress. It is also important that you discuss with your adviser any academic, financial, medical or other problems as soon as they arise. Your adviser can then refer you to the appropriate person within Queen Mary to deal with your problem, which you may also need to report to the Programme Director (if not personal academic adviser) or the Student Support Officer; see below.

The Advising Contract

The aim of the adviser-advisee relationship is to

  • Foster and develop in our students a sense of value for and ownership of their education.
  • Actively promote our students' involvement in the planning and achievement of their academic and career goals.
Responsibilities of the Adviser
  1. Be available for advisees for scheduled meetings and via email according to School policy.
  2. Help the advisee to understand the academic and administrative processes of Queen Mary.
  3. Help the advisee to understand the expected standards of achievement and likelihood of success in certain areas of study.
  4. Help the advisee to decide on details of a study programme and give advice about modules.
  5. Be involved in discussions with the student and other School staff in the event of poor attendance or performance.
  6. Refer advisees to other resources when appropriate, such as specialist careers or counselling advice.
  7. Provide references for current and former advisees.
  8. Read the Staff Handbook and the Student Handbook.
Responsibilities of the Advisee
  1. Be aware of your academic adviser's office hours (if applicable). When using email, follow email etiquette.
  2. Acquire information needed for selecting modules appropriate to your study programme.
  3. Seek academic and career information needed to meet your educational goals.
  4. Become knowledgeable about the relevant policies, procedures, and rules of Queen Mary.
  5. Be prepared with accurate information and relevant materials, such as completed forms, when contacting your adviser.
  6. Read the Student Handbook.

Please note: Meetings with your academic adviser should be scheduled via email to take place at a mutually convenient time; see Contact Information.


The Student Support Officer's Role

The Student Support Officer is there to help you with any difficulties that are not primarily academic, and to provide an additional layer of support between the Maths Office and the academic staff. The Student Support Officer is an expert on the technical and bureaucratic aspects of student life. In particular, the Student Support Officer will act as a back-up adviser when your personal adviser is not available, will help you report extenuating circumstances, will direct you to the appropriate Queen Mary support services such as Advice and Counselling (see below), and may be available when the Maths Office is closed. The Student Support Officer will also help us to monitor your attendance, exercise submission, and marks for in-term assessment, and may discuss these issues with you.

Advice and Counselling Service

The Advice and Counselling Service offers confidential, professional support services to students. We are located on the ground floor of the Geography Building on the Mile End campus, and are open on weekdays throughout the year, including most vacations. Detailed information and advice is available on our website www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk

Welfare, Financial and Immigration Advice

Our Welfare Advisers can advise you on solutions and options relating to financial, legal and welfare issues. We can advise you about your rights and entitlements to different sources of funding and welfare support, and also offer an advocacy service if you need professional representation to remedy your difficulties e.g. if you need help dealing with Student Finance England or the UK Home Office. We provide specialist advice and support on all aspects of student finance (loans, grants, bursaries), hardship funds, welfare benefits and dealing with debt. We also offer preventative advice, on issues such as planning a budget and maximising your income from a range of sources, to help you avoid problems emerging during your studies.

We also provide confidential advice on all student and Tier 4 related immigration issues. The Welfare Advisers in the Advice and Counselling Service are the staff at QMUL who are authorised by the UK government to offer immigration advice to our students. See our website www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk for information about immigration advice. 

Counselling

Life inevitably has its ups and downs, and it is normal to sometimes feel a bit low or anxious. But at times, emotional and psychological issues can become more challenging, and may have a negative effect on your studies and well-being. Our Counsellors can help you to make sense of difficult experiences and feelings. If you are finding life difficult, the opportunity to think and talk reflectively about your difficulties can bring relief and meaningful changes.

The first step is meeting confidentially with one of our Counsellors to discuss what type of support might be most useful to you.  This might be short term counselling, group therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or a referral for longer term support or specialist services outside QMUL / in the NHS.  For many students, just one or two sessions can really help. Our Counsellors are all highly experienced in working with students, and all types of issues.

Contacting the Advice and Counselling Service 

We offer pre- booked appointments, as well as a limited number of same day first come first served appointments, Monday to Friday during the main university term times. For more information and contact details please visit the Advice and Counselling Service’s website. If you are on a placement, studying abroad, or find it difficult to get to Mile End, some services can be provided via telephone or email.

www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk

Telephone: 020 7882 8717

Email: via website online form


The Roles of the Director of Taught Programmes and Director of Postgraduate Studies

The Director of Taught Programmes is Dr Mark Walters. His email is: m.walters@qmul.ac.uk.  He oversees all taught programmes and takes primary strategic responsibility for programme development and resource allocation. The Director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes is Dr Sebastian del Bano Rollin.  He takes primary operational responsibility for postgraduate programmes including student information and quality assurance. His email is: s.delbanorollin@qmul.ac.uk

Getting Help

If you have administrative or technical questions relating to a specific module then you should approach the module organiser, either at the end of a lecture or in the module organiser's office hours; see Contact Information. Some module organisers may also provide additional support for students who are finding the module difficult – ask about this if necessary.

Writing Support

Mathematical Sciences students often have difficulty writing essays and other descriptive text. However, this is an essential skill that you will probably use much more than mathematics in your working life, so you need to improve it during your university course.

  • We offer some general guidance on mathematical writing.
  • The Language Centre provides a range of programmes in academic English and study skills, including in-sessional programmes for students currently studying at Queen Mary, pre-sessional programmes, foundation programmes and pre-masters graduate diplomas to prepare students for their undergraduate and post-graduate studies, courses in modern foreign languages, and courses for specific purposes.
  • Learning Development works with students at any level from any subject discipline, undergraduate or postgraduate, to become more effective in their academic work. They can help with aspects of study including reading effectively, writing, exam technique, revision, note-taking, time-management, critical thinking, avoiding plagiarism, presentation skills and group work. Throughout the year they run one-to-one tutorials, drop-ins, retreats and various workshops. Learning Development also provides a range of study support including free and impartial guidance in maths and statistics with specialist tutors giving advice on how to understand the subject, develop an overview of the topic and tackle general problems. Writing & Study Guidance is offered by Learning Development Advisors in the form of one-to-one tutorials, workshops, drop-ins, retreats and downloadable resources. They also offer a programme of PhD writing development events. In addition, tutorials on writing are offered by the Royal Literary Fund (RLF) Fellows, who are hosted by Learning Development. Writing & Study Guidance and RLF tutorials are based in the Library on the Mile End Campus.  For more information on the range of services they offer, and to book a tutorial or workshop, check www.learningdevelopment.qmul.ac.uk.

My QMUL

my.QMUL should be used  together with this handbook for general information on your time at Queen Mary. my.QMUL contains a wide range of information, including:

  • Academic and student support services
  • The academic year
  • Campus facilities
  • Details of some key Academic Regulations
  • How to? advice
  • QM contact information
  • Calendar
    • Graduation
    • Student administration, and enrolment advice
  • QM policies
  • Campus and QM information

Access my.QMUL at: www.my.qmul.ac.uk

Bursaries, Grants and Scholarships

Student Loans

If you have applied for funds from Student Finance then you will receive the first instalment once you have enrolled fully for the academic year. If your payments do not arrive and you cannot remedy the problem with Student Finance yourself, please contact the Advice and Counselling Service for specialist support.


QMUL Financial Assistance Fund

If you have exceptional or unforeseen costs or you are in financial hardship you could be eligible for help from the Financial Assistance Fund.  The fund is there to help any eligible student who has a particular financial need but we cannot meet every application we receive and we cannot always meet all of the costs that you might apply for. Full details, guidance and an application form can be found on our website - http://bit.ly/FinancialAssistanceFund

Contact

Telephone: 020 7882 5079