Nick
In answer to your questions, responsibility for students with disabilities
was added to my job description as Welfare Advice Officer at the Uni of
Surrey in 1991, when the post became full-time. Since then, working with
students who have special needs (disability/specific learning difficulties)
has gradually taken me over. We have HEFCE funding as part of a bid which is
paying for a full-time special needs officer for 3 years from Sept 1997. We
don't officially work with staff (I think that is supposed to be
Occupational Health) but we do deal with some queries.
As you can see, I'm part of student support which does not have much status
in HE. I have a postgraduate professional qualification in social work and I
am constantly amazed at the work largely untrained staff are expected to do,
not only in general student support but also in relation to students with
disabilities, some of whom can be quite vulnerable. The pay is lousey,
recognition, well shall I say there is a lack of understanding about what
the work involves and there is certainly poor understanding of the workload.
As for training - what do other people think? Should there be some
nationally recognised standards? Or is really the kind of work anyone with a
bit of common sense can do?
Liz T.
At 14:56 25/11/97 GMT, you wrote:
>Dear Forum,
>Please excuse me for crashing in on your group; Lynn tully at Cranfield
>suggested that you may be able to help me.
>
>I'm a tutor at Exeter University, and I convene an informal Equal
>Opportunites Forum for interested parties. This is outside the University
>committee structure, which has the advantage that no one is excluded;
>students, student union staff, all grades of Univ. staff can contribute.
>
>The Forum identified provision for disabled studentsd as a priority; we
>would really like to know:
>
>1. does your institution provide an 'Advisor for Disabled Students', or
>similiar (eg advocate, support worker,..)
> if yes to 1., is this person..
>
>2.on the institution payroll / from outside the institution
>
>3.dedicated to support work for disabled students (staff ?) / combining this
>with other work
>
>4. paid / released from other duties for a set number of hours / unpaid
>volunteer
>
>5.full time / part tiem (how much ?)
>
>6. anything else that might be relevant
>
>Thanks,
> Nick.
>Nick Givens
>School of Education,
>University of Exeter,
>Heavitree Road,
>Exeter,
>EX1 2LU.
> Tel (+44) (0)1392 264869
> Fax (+44) (0)1392 264922
>
>
>
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