Advert
Student Mentor and Academic Study Skills Officer
With the recent opening of the new Centre for Student life it is an exciting time to work within Cardiff University’s Student Life Division.
This post will play a key role in delivering the Academic Skills and Mentoring Service, which supports student transition, retention, and attainment. The service delivers a programme of Academic Study Skills workshops and a Student Mentor Service for first year undergraduate students.
The successful candidate will need to demonstrate an ability to deliver high quality training, use innovative recruitment methods to engage students with the service, work collaboratively and have experience of supporting students. We are seeking a candidate with experience and enthusiasm for working with key stakeholders (Academic Schools, Student Life Services, Students’ Union) to ensure that the service meets the needs of students and enhances their experience.
The post is full time (35 hours per week) and open ended.
Salary: £28,762 – £33,314 per annum (Grade 5)
Any queries relating to this post are to be directed to the Academic Skills and Mentoring Manager, Carly Emsley-Jones, at Emsley-JonesC@cardiff.ac.uk
We offer an excellent remuneration package including 37 days annual leave per year plus 8 bank holidays, pro rata for part time staff, as well as access to a range of staff discounts and development opportunities through accredited training.
Date advert posted: Tuesday, 15 November 2022
Closing date: Friday, 2 December 2022
Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds who have the ambition to create a University which seeks to fulfil our social, cultural and economic obligation to Cardiff, Wales, and the world. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.
Job Description
Key Duties
- Ensure that the provision of the student mentor scheme and academic study skills is delivered to the institution, taking responsibility for key academic schools, recruiting, training and supporting student mentors as required, whilst proactively changing the delivery according to stakeholder requirements.
- Provide professional advice and guidance on the Student Mentor Service and Academic Study Skills to internal and external stakeholders.
- Use judgement and creativity to suggest the most appropriate course of action for student mentoring and academic skills and ensuring complex and conceptual issues are understood.
- Investigate and analyse specific issues within Academic Study Skills and Student Mentoring, creating recommendation reports, supported by advances across the HE sector within academic study skills and mentoring.
- Collaborate with others, internally and externally, to make recommendations based on best practice for developments of established processes and procedures.
- Establish working relationships with key contacts, developing appropriate communication links with the University’s Schools/Directorates and outside bodies as required, to ensure the service is developed and delivered considering best practice and stakeholder needs.
- Create specific working groups from colleagues across the University to achieve the objectives of the Academic Study Skills and Mentoring Team, embedding the service across the University, and contributing to a framework of different delivery models.
- Supervise specific project teams on an occasional basis to accomplish key objectives.
- Collaborate with colleagues to develop digital and face to face content for mentor training and academic skills workshops and deliver training and workshops as required.
- Undertake a variety of administrative duties to support the department using a range of packages to ensure all relevant administrative tasks are completed in adherence with set policies and procedures and to pre-determined deadlines.
- Instruct and guide other employees across the University within Academic Study Skills and Student Mentoring, as required.
Specific Duties
- To contribute to the development and delivery of a publicity and marketing programme incorporating a range of media, including social media, digital and print, and working collaboratively with support staff, and the wider university marketing and communications team to ensure compliance with all marketing regulations, policies and procedures.
- To deliver and support events such as the annual Celebration Event, Induction Week, Open Days and Volunteering Fairs across the University to raise the profile of the service and to undertake all administrative tasks associated with this. This may include some evening and Saturday work.
General Duties
- Ensure that an understanding of the importance of confidentiality is applied when undertaking all duties.
- Abide by University policies on Health and Safety and Equality and Diversity.
- Perform other duties occasionally which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.
Person Specification
Important notice:
- It is the University’s policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable.
- As part of the application process you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement.
- Please ensure that the evidence you are providing corresponds with the numbered criteria outlined below.
- Your application will be considered based on the information you provide under each element.
When attaching the supporting statement to your application profile, please ensure that you name it with the vacancy reference number, e.g. Supporting Statement for 15497BR
Essential Criteria
Qualifications and Education
Degree/NVQ 4 or equivalent Professional membership/experience. Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Substantial experience of working with students in a student support, engagement, or transition related setting, including building and maintaining networks with a range of stakeholders. Experience of delivering teaching and/or training both in person and online. Experience of adapting or developing course content or materials to enhance training/teaching delivery. Ability to use standard IT packages and set up standard office systems and procedures and make improvements as appropriate. Customer Service, Communication and Team Working
Ability to communicate conceptually detailed and complex information effectively and professionally to a wide range of people using a variety of different media. Evidence of ability to explore customer’s needs and adapt the service accordingly to ensure a quality service is delivered and best practice is adopted. Planning, Analysis and Problem solving
Evidence of ability to solve expansive problems using initiative and creativity; identifying and proposing practical solutions and resolving problems with a range of potential outcomes. Evidence of ability to gather, collate, analyse, interpret and present data and statistics using IT software to support this. Excellent organisational skills including evidence of ability to work unsupervised to deadlines, planning and setting priorities for own work and that of others and monitoring progress. Desirable Criteria
Qualification in teaching and / or training Experience of working in a Higher Education environment Fluency in Welsh, written and oral Job Category
Education, Management & Executive