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Full time
Fixed term for 18 months

Closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday 12 February 2023.
Interviews are expected to take place Tuesday 21st February 2023.

There is an expectation that work will be undertaken in the UK.

This role will require membership of the PVG scheme. An offer of employment will be subject to a satisfactory outcome of this process.

For the purposes of sponsorship, this is a role under SOC code 3235.

The University of Stirling recognises that a diverse workforce benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers and welcome applications from those who would contribute to further diversification of our staff and ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion is woven into the substance of the role. We strongly encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds including gender, identity, race, age, class, and ethnicity.

The post holder will form part of the Mental Health & Wellbeing team within Student Support Services. The team - which comprises three Mental Health Advisers (one vacant), a Mental Health and Wellbeing Officer, a team of part-time student counsellors, Assistant Advisers (Wellbeing) and a team of Mental Health Mentors - provides a range of professional advisory and support services to current and prospective students. The successful post-holder will report to the Head of Student Support and Operations, who reports to the Director of Student Services.

The successful applicant will fulfil a senior advisory and support role in collaboration with other staff from Student Support Services, to deliver high quality, integrated support to students at all levels of study. The post-holder will play a leading role in identifying, coordinating and providing tailored support to students who register with a wide range of mental health conditions, in particular those with severe, complex or enduring conditions, as well as those presenting in a state of emotional distress. They will also provide guidance on matters relating to mental health and available support to students, staff and applicants. In addition, the successful candidate will operate part of the week in a Duty Advisor role in the Student Services Hub, providing senior support to the front line Student Services Hub team in the event that students present in crisis or in need of mental health related support.

The post holder will be recognised as an authority in the field of mental health and wellbeing. They will work in close partnership with other university staff and external practitioners to ensure that students obtain appropriate support to enable them to successfully complete their studies. They will also work to develop strong professional, collaborative relationships with external organisations, including the NHS, Students’ Union, Stirling Council, and external support agencies to develop robust referral and signposting pathways and information sharing agreements.

The post-holder will promote the importance of positive mental health and wellbeing across the institution and will play a leading role in the development, promotion and implementation of policies and procedures relating to mental health and wellbeing, arising from the new institutional Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy.

Special Conditions
It is a requirement of this role that working hours are flexible to meet the demands of the business. In particular, this is likely to require staff to (a) work a rota operating 5 days over any 7 days (e.g. including weekends) and also (b) work out with “normal working hours” including, for example, early morning and evening work as required to undertake duties such as being part of a pool of advisors operating within the Student Hub, operating in the evenings within student residences, delivering evening appointments/drop ins, or for a Student Open Day. Some travel elsewhere in the UK e.g. to other campuses or conferences may occasionally be required.

For full details of this post please see attached Further Particulars document.

• Deliver comprehensive, specialist support to students and applicants with mental health conditions through a collaborative, case work approach; in particular by directly providing or recommending appropriate support to meet identified needs at all stages of the student journey
• Work in close partnership with colleagues/partners including Student Support Services, Professional Services (notably Accommodation Services), Faculty staff, the Students’ Union and external agencies – e.g. GPs, NHS, statutory and third sector agencies – to identify appropriate support (including making referrals where appropriate) that enable students to thrive during their time at University and beyond
• Provide calm, responsive and professional support to students/staff in the event of situations involving students in crisis or those with mental health issues. This may involve attending/coordinating weekly TAAS meetings, the University’s mental health crisis management meeting; and may involve attending/ inputting to case conferences, Support for Study/Fitness to Study meetings, and the Student Incident Response Team (SIRT) in the event of serious crises
• Supervise/provide ongoing CPD/guidance to a team of Mental Health Mentors
• Improve the mental health awareness and knowledge of colleagues across the institution by devising and delivering training workshops, providing written resources e.g. guidance, training materials, web copy, referral guidance, newsletters, attending Faculty meetings and being present at events such as open days/applicant days/induction & transitions events
• Keep abreast of developments in the external environment, including changes to legislation, policy and recommended good practice in the field of mental health and wellbeing, and provide professional advice and recommendations to managers and colleagues
• Maintain up to date client records in line with institutional procedures, and provide regular appropriate and timely management information on service usage and trends
• Continually develop own knowledge of specialist support (technology/non-technology related), in order to continually deliver high quality needs assessment activities
• Undertake other reasonable tasks as identified by the Head of Student Support and Operations.

In addition all Student Advisers are expected to:

• Sensitively assess students’ needs at that time and adopt the most appropriate response to the individual requirements of each enquirer, either addressing the issue on the spot or facilitating a relationship with the most appropriate professional service(s) or external service on behalf of the student;
• Provide a central point of contact for students who require to engage with several services, or who need to make contact with Student Support Services on multiple occasions;
• Respond to the needs of the Student Support Services team by providing appropriate senior level advisory support depending on the changing needs of the service;
• Exercise professional judgement to prioritise the urgency and severity of issues presented by students accessing the service;
• Log and escalate issues of concerns to an appropriate line manager;
• Log enquiries using the University’s monitoring systems, and maintain/update student records;
• Contribute to the development of resources for students, including web resources and Frequently Asked Questions;
• Develop and maintain an excellent knowledge of the services, functions, systems, policies and processes provided by Student, Academic & Corporate Services and other student facing services; and
• Contribute to and implement plans for service improvements, including providing regular reports to colleagues and senior managers regarding themes and matters of current concern for students.

Qualifications

• Educated to degree level, or equivalent
• Mental health related professional qualification e.g. qualification in mental health nursing (and registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council), a psychiatric qualification, or equivalent, or qualification in Occupational Health or Social Work

Knowledge & Skills

• Significant experience of assessing, monitoring and managing cases of people with chronic or acute mental health conditions, preferably including young people and those from diverse backgrounds
• Proven track record of providing tailored, client-centred support and advice to people with mental health conditions, preferably in a student environment
• Up-to-date knowledge of the higher education sector, and student support issues in particular
• Comprehensive knowledge of relevant equality legislation (notably the Equality Act 2010), with a particularly strong knowledge of legislation, policy and issues relating to mental health
• Significant experience of crisis management in relation to people with complex mental health conditions who may pose a danger to themselves of others
• Experience and confidence in delivering group workshops, psycho-educational workshops and training sessions
• Skill and confidence in designing and delivering presentations to a wide range of audiences with varying levels of knowledge and understanding of mental health issues
• Excellent written skills, including the ability to prepare succinct briefing papers, guidance notes, web copy, management reports and client records
• Experience using standard IT desktop applications/software and capable of further developing IT skills to use specialised software applications as required
• Excellent numeracy skills and ability to analyse figures, including experience of preparing management information and reports
• Strong knowledge of issues surrounding confidentiality and GDPR/data protection, and a sound, pragmatic understanding of the applicability of confidentiality and boundaries in a University context

Interpersonal skills:

• Committed to providing high quality, student focused services
• Excellent customer service and interpersonal skills , including the ability to communicate clearly and concisely, orally and in written form, at all levels
• Exceptional listening and questioning skills
• Skill in explaining complex issues to those not expert in the field of mental health to influence positive thinking about mental health issues
• Understanding of and empathy with the needs of students with mental health conditions
• Resilience and skills to work effectively with clients or colleagues who may be distressed or angry, and to defuse challenging situations
• Understanding of and respect for diversity, including the ability to engage with students from a wide range of cultures and with a range of support needs
• Excellent team working skills, with an ability to develop and maintain co-operative relationships, demonstrating a team spirit in working to continually enhance services

For a full list of Essential Criteria please see the attached Further Particulars document.

• Qualifications or previous training in effective listening
• Experience of using digital platformsand social media in service promotion and/or delivery
• Experience of supervising, recruiting and/or training staff
• Experience of undertaking needs assessments (for funding bodies such as SAAS) for students with a mental health condition

The role holder will be required to evidence that they can meet the qualities associated with the following behavioural competencies, as detailed within the AUA Competency Framework.

Student, Academic & Corporate Services

Student, Academic & Corporate Services (SACS) is responsible for the core aspects of the University’s governance, strategic planning, student and academic administration, and enhancing the student experience through the provision of integrated student support services including: careers and employability; student systems, records and programmes; counselling and wellbeing; student disability; money advice, and general guidance on matters relating to student welfare.
SACS comprises the following functional divisions:

• Academic Registry
• Careers and Employability Service
• Policy and Planning
• Student Support Services, incorporating the Student Hub

Student Support Services

Our vision: Students empowered to achieve their full potential
Our mission: To provide responsive, student-focused support that empowers our students to thrive at the University of Stirling and beyond

In line with the University’s strategic plan 2016-21, we:

CONNECT…by working in partnership with students, Faculties, professional services and the Students’ Union to develop an accessible and inclusive environment that promotes independent learning
INNOVATE… by providing support that responds to the individual and often complex needs of our diverse student population, enabling students to thrive during their time at University
TRANSFORM…. by empowering students to develop confidence, resilience and life-long skills resulting in academic success and employable graduates

We do this by delivering a range of proactive and one-to-one services to students, including: money advice and support, including the provision of hardship funds; counselling and wellbeing support; support for students with a wide range of disabilities from mental health conditions to learning disabilities to physical or sensory impairments; access to peer mentoring support; and generalist guidance and support for students with a wide range of other enquiries or challenges.

Services are delivered by working collaboratively with our partners and key stakeholders, particularly Academic Facilities and Professional Services, as well as external partners such as the University of Stirling Students’ Union, the Scottish Funding Council, AMOSSHE and AMOSSHE Scotland, SAAS, local authorities, the Scottish Government, and various sectoral bodies such as NASMA and SHUCS.
We are committed to delivering high standards of professional service and to continually evaluating and improving our services in order to maximise the student experience and assist academic and professional staff providing support to the student body.

Further information:

For an informal discussion regarding the post, please contact;

Katie Perrin, Head of Student Guidance and Wellbeing via email, [email protected]

or

Jacqui Lenaghen, Deputy Head of Student Support Services via email, [email protected]

The University of Stirling is committed to providing education with a purpose and carrying out research which has a positive impact on communities across the globe – addressing real issues, providing solutions and helping to shape society. Stirling is 4thin Scotland and 43rdin the UK for research impact, with 87% of its research having an outstanding or very considerable impact on society – and more than 80% rated either world leading or internationally excellent (Research Excellence Framework 2021). Interdisciplinary in its approach, Stirling’s research informs its teaching curriculum and facilitates opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaboration between staff, students, industry partners and the wider community.

The University of Stirling is ranked among the top 30 UK universities for student satisfaction (National Student Survey) and top 10 in the UK for postgraduate student experience (Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey), and has an overall five-star rating in the QS Stars University Ratings.

More than 17,000 students study with the University of Stirling globally, with over 120 nationalities represented on its scenic central Scotland campus alone. The campus – also home to 1,700 staff – has its own loch and castle, and a recent multi-million-pound redevelopment has delivered modern, flexible, and digitally connected study and social spaces at the heart of campus, including enhanced student support and retail and catering outlets.

The University has twice been recognised with a Queen's Anniversary Prize – the first for its Institute for Social Marketing and Health (2014) and the second for its Institute of Aquaculture (2019). Stirling is Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence and its recently redeveloped world-class facilities provide the perfect training environment for the University’s sports scholars – many of whom compete at the highest level, including at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games – and for students, staff, and the wider community.

As a signatory to the £214 million Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal, the University is driving productivity and inclusive growth across the Forth Valley, and beyond. Through pioneering collaborative solutions to global challenges, researchers are putting innovation, skills, and partnership at the heart of a sustainable economic recovery.
www.stir.ac.uk@stiruni