MaryFrances sends a short, friendly email to her academic tutees, inviting them to drop in to meet her even if they don’t have a particular question. This method encourages students who wouldn’t otherwise book appointments to access academic skills support.

Teaching area

Academic Personal Tutor (APT) communications with students

Course

Undergraduate students, all years

Description

I contacted all my tutees at the start of the academic year – some came, some didn’t. Then I emailed them all again in Week 7 to see how they were getting on. I thought that midway through the term was a good time – by this stage, they might realise that they needed some support. The subject line was ‘Waiting for you’ – as in, ‘it’s halfway through the term, and you haven’t come to see me yet!’

I wanted to encourage them to come along. I knew from feedback from our student representatives that some students don’t know how to approach their APT and aren’t sure what to discuss, so I wanted to make the invitation as open as possible – showing my door was open for anyone to walk in.

Open invitation

Here’s the email I sent to my first-year academic personal tutees. For the second and final-year students, I removed ‘really early’ from the ‘Knowing you’ sentence.

Record keeping

I record all interactions with tutees in detail on our record-keeping system, Sussex Direct, even if the student has just popped in. This detailed record is useful to check at the next appointment to see if the student has acted on what we agreed. It’s also helpful to have the information for writing references later. Here’s an example meeting outcome note:

1. Attendance is important. We discussed attending lectures and taking notes later from recordings.
2. Meet module tutors to discuss any areas or seek clarity on materials or expectation in exams.
3. Take time to go through Canvas pages [our Virtual Learning Environment] to understand expectations on the module.
4. Contact Hadir and Cath, Academic Skills Lecturers, for 1-2-1 academic skills support.
5. Keep Academic Personal Tutor updated on progress and come for further support and guidance to ensure student keeps up with modules/studies.

Outcomes

Academic skills and student support

The tone of the email elicited immediate responses. Within an hour of sending it, I had four or five responses, which was completely different from my previous experience. Roughly twice as many students came after this Week 7 message than had responded to my initial email at the start of term.

Here’s an example of a student who made contact for the first time. Felix (pseudonym) is an international student who only commutes to campus when he has classes. We’d never met. He emailed to say he was coming to campus for classes and would like to pop in. It was such short notice that I hadn’t even read his email before he knocked on my door. Felix explained that he hadn’t engaged with his studies and had failed modules. He’d just been having a good time, socialising and travelling.

But now, he felt inspired by his friends who had done well and said he was ‘tired of not taking school seriously’. He wanted to pick himself up and focus. I explained all the support available, which he didn’t know about. Felix has stayed in touch since; he’s emailed me a few times and come for a couple of further tutee appointments.

Comments

Next year, I’ll start with an open email at the start of term, with a subject line such as ‘Waiting to meet you’. I want the students to know that I’m here for them, and they can book or simply drop in.