Sesame April/May 2002 - The Open University

14 Sesame April/May 2002 Issue 208Study supportHelp to stay the cours eEmma helpswith mentalh e a l t hJanet Murphy and John Grundy – bringing a personal touch to advice and supportBy Jane MatthewsIt’s a familiar moment for manystudents. One month into the course –and you have a growing conviction thatyou may have made the wrong choice.At the South Regional Centre John Grundytakes the call from an anxious student signedup on a level two science course. Her panicis obvious: “I can’t cope. What do I do?”At the next desk Janet Murphy isfielding a call from someone wanting to knowwhether his courses to date can be countedtowards a named degree – or whether he’ddo better to keep his career options open bychoosing the general multi-disciplinary OUdegree.Across the room Janette Troska is guidinga new disabled student through the kinds ofhelp and support she might need.The region has five educational adviserson hand to offer advice and support to its20,000 students. And you don’t have to watchthem at work for long to see how successfullythey manage to buck the trend towards thesort of impersonal call centre currentlyengendering phone rage in even the mildestcaller.questionsEnquiries are currently running at anythingfrom 1,000-2,000 a week, a substantialincrease from previous years even takingaccount of those times when every studentseems to have a question: ahead of manycourse starts in January, around the time ofthe first TMA in March, and a huge surge inOctober when many are thinking abouttheir next course and worrying about exams.One reason for the vast increase is theeasy accessibility of other advice routes, suchas email, with a single click taking youthrough to advisory services from the OU’swebsite.But in the south 70 per cent of studentsstill prefer to pick up the phone. They mayspeak to the Student Services team for awide range of questions from registration tofinancial assistance; educational adviserssuch as John, Janet and Janette for morecomplex matters; and associate advisers –all also current tutors – for more course orstudy specific queries.Of course the lines between what constitutesinformation, guidance or advice areblurry. Often a seemingly straightforwardquestion, about a late TMA for instance, turnsout to be the tip of an iceberg of difficultiesthe student is experiencing, requiring a wholerange of people to be consulted and involvedin supporting him or her.Which is why all of those involved inhanding out help operate on the understandingthat the 200,000 people studying withthe university remain 200,000 individuals.Two months into the job – though he was asenior teacher for many years and is also anAL in languages – John points to a card on hiswall from a student for whom he helped negotiatecredit towards a diploma for a coursehe’d done outside the OU.saying yes“Last week we had a call about a studentwho won’t be able to complete her degreenow because of serious illness. We spoke tothe dean and the faculty has agreed toproduce a special certificate and present itto her,” John says.“The family was so grateful. We are nothere to say ‘no’ but to say ‘yes’ if we can.”Janette echoes this. She has just spoken toa number of tutors to identify a support groupfor an isolated student who can’t get totutorials. “Really as an adviser you are anadvocate for the student, providing a linkbetween them and everyone else in theuniversity. I work on the basis that it’spossible to help. You can generally dos o m e t h i n g . ”“Every call is different,” Janet concurs. “Itcould be seven minutes, it could be half anhour. Yesterday I spoke to someone who saidshe was just phoning to let us know she waswithdrawing from her course. When westarted talking it turned out she was havingtrouble coping with a young family and somefamily sickness. So I suggested instead ofwithdrawing she should think about presentationtransfer. Keep the books and readthrough them in preparation for next year.“All she could see was withdrawing but infact talking it through together she decidedpresentation transfer was a better option.”“We don’t make the decisions for thestudent,” says John, “But I often find myselfusing the word ‘possibility’. It’s abouthelping them see what their choices are andwhat they really want.”Assistant Director John Marshall managesthe educational advisory team: “You need aperson who is skilled in helping studentsclarify their own thought processes. Aboveall it means carefully listening.”personalHe also sounds a caution, recalling thatonce upon a time the OU, like every highstreet bank, was able to offer a personalinterview and a personal relationshipwith its customers – in the OU’s casethrough the soon-to-be-defunct role of tutorcounsellors.He says: “The replacement supportsystems have the real advantage of instantaccess to up-to-date computer records, butthe disadvantage is that the staff memberwill not have personal knowledge of theindividual. This risks leaving students withsome sense of alienation. Though we havegrown up with this call-centre culture I thinkthere is a reasonable subset of our studentswho still prefer the personal touch.”One response to this challenge in the SouthRegion has been to use the phone proactively,contacting students considered vulnerablefor any number of reasons – from havinglaunched into the OU at level two or three tohaving failed to hand in their first TMA – andoffering guidance and educational support.Student Services Manager (Courses andEnrolment) Mike Wills, who oversees 12Student Services Assistants, says that thetwo topics enquirers seem most confusedabout are credit transfer and named degrees.“There’s an awful lot of good stuff on theinternet now but many people still wantmore,” he says. “As the OU gets morecomplicated we are lucky in having a veryexperienced team, many of whom have takenOU courses themselves so can really answerquestions fully.”Support for students experiencing mentalhealth problems has been given a boost withthe introduction of a new Mental Healthadvisor.And the first thing postholder Emma Flynnwants to do is hear from S e s a m ereaders who havea success story to tell. Their profiles will featurein a brochure. She explained: “This will offerpositive role models to other OU students andhelp raise awareness that students withmental health diagnoses are just as capableof achieving as any other student and notnecessarily more demanding, which seems to bea common misconception.” It will also highlightthe support that is available.Other priorities for Emma, whose previousexperience includes co-ordinating an eveninghelpline for mental health service users, writingshort courses aimed at confidence building andsocial reintegration, and voluntary work for MIND,are gathering more resources to help staff andtutors support students, and developing trainingin relation to mental health.progressiveShe told S e s a m e: “The OU is regarded asalready being very progressive in mental healthand we have some very good resources: a videofor staff training, audio tapes for students and theMental Health Toolkit for staff and tutors whichwas revised in 2000.“Education can be a wonderful means ofrehabilitation for people who have been sociallymarginalised by mental illness. With theright support it can offer a route back intoother forms of meaningful daily activity which areoften essential for longer term stability andfulfilment.”If you have a story to tell contact Emma via theDisabled Student Services Section at Walton Hall,or by email: e.l.flynn@open.ac.uk .D e c o d i n gtutor speakYou’re about to do your first TMA on thisyear’s course – but how do you ensure thatit becomes part of your learning experience?By following S e s a m e’s simple guideto decoding tutor speak, that’s how….This is a well-presented argument(You haven’t grasped this at all but you typeneatly)Might be worth pursuing(How could you miss this out? – it’s crucial!)Perhaps you could have given this moreemphasis…(And so is this)Suffers from a little repetition(Padding just doesn’t work)Incorporate more course materials(Lay it on with a trowel if you want a decentmark)Interesting(Priceless tutors’ catchall term)I’m not sure what you mean by…(This is drivel)This is a significant improvement(We both know it couldn’t have got any worse)I look forward to seeing you at the tutorial(Please come, I get so lonely)With thanks to arts student Sid Brown.