Testimonial #36

I am a 3rd year student at the University, and would almost certainly not be still be here ready to sit my final exams if it wasn't for my student advisor. Her advice and understanding has been invaluable. When I first went to student support I was ready to leave my degree due to stress and hardship I was under.

I had a lot of stress due to financial problems, but was able to alleviate some of these, and later secure funding for a repeat year that I would have found impossible to do otherwise. Throughout my degree I have suffered with panic attacks and anxiety, and my student advisor has been there whenever I have needed to provide advice and support, as well as guidance with any paperwork I've had to fill in for mitigating circumstances. I truly feel I would not have had the resolve to carry on without the help I was given.

There is no price that can be put on the help that is provided by the current student advisors, and I feel very sorry for any future students that will have to cope without the service, should the planned cuts go ahead. I feel that the student advisors are vital to the University support system, and that to compromise this will leave many students isolated and forced to leave degrees that they could have otherwise completed, had they been given support appropriate to their needs.

Testimonial #35

I am a mature student at University and it took me a lot of courage to come back to education as I has not had the best experience in the past. I gave up a full time job and a mediocre career to come to Sussex and better myself as a person, improve my job prospects and fulfil my potential. However things have not quite gone as I had imagined they would in the first year, and I have found myself struggling with depression and have recently discovered that I may be dyslexic which has been having a detrimental effect on my studies for years. Without the support of the dedicated and friendly student advisor's in my department I would not be seeking the help I need. They have encouraged me to not only seek help, but also helped me find the correct places in which to apply for it. I am still struggling now as I have only just started to get things in order, the thought of having to continue without the support as it is now concerns me greatly. I am a shy person as it is, having to go to a centralised support area to not only have to explain my situation over and over again, but also my course and it's requirements would put me off even asking for help in the first place and I would struggle on, and either not achieve what I am capable of or leave the University. They may save money at the end of the day, but if there are less students paying to attend the Uni then what good is that saving? I understand the need to find ways to save money, I have lived on minimum wage for ten years, but doing so at the detriment to others is not the way to go about it.

Testimonial #34

I am very disappointed to hear that student support is going to be turned into a faceless centralized service. Talking about ones problems requires privacy and understanding. An adviser needs to have a personal understanding of a situation within the right context for the best solutions to be found. Our school advisor does just this and is a great asset to the university. If this were to change I believe that the university would lose both some very good students and the good reputation that it has held until now regarding the quality of the services provided.

Here is my testimonial. I have always been a high-achiever both in my studies and work. Throughout my life, I have always been top of my class. Sometimes however things can happen that are completely beyond ones control. In my case this was finances. I had begun my studies with the understanding that my student loan was secured. Due to various administration inadequacies on the part of the Student Loans Company I found out half way through the second term that in fact my loan would not be approved. The accounts office was not presenting me with any options. All I was getting was the standard threatening letters that if I did not pay my fees within the next few weeks all services would be withdrawn. I did not have the funds to pay for the tuition fees myself and there was no time to try and make any alternative arrangements. This left me in an impossible situation. I thought that my only option was to leave (and I would be leaving with a debt for the term that I had already completed). This prospect was devastating to me. I had been planning and saving for 3 years to get here. I had left my job to get here and now due to something that could not have been foreseen I would be leaving having achieved nothing.

My student advisor helped me through this hard period. She did not just present me the various options. She helped to explore and exhaust all possible options for finding a way to stay. During this difficult period she was the only friendly face the university could provide me with. Because of her I am still here, I am back on track and the university continues to receive my payments.

After this experience I have been recommending Sussex University to all my friends and family. Where I come from word of mouth is the most successful form of marketing. I really do hope this doesn’t change.

Testimonial #33

I am a Sussex final year student who has just been diagnosed with Cancer and as you can imagine my world is falling apart in front of me. Uni is so important to me and at present I am determined to complete my degree but may be forced to postpone due to upcoming treatment and operations. There is no way I would even know how to get support and facilitate my situation and make appropriate choices without the help of the student advisors. They have seen me anytime I have needed and helped me work through mitigating evidence with respect and understanding and continue to do so. This service is VITAL to all students I am totally disgusted that it is being threatened.

Testimonial #32

I was very sad to hear of the planned cuts/changes to the Student Advice Service as I think the current setup is a vital part of student support. I’m a mature 3rd-year student and, at the time I was a single dad, with my daughter at college, as well as trying to complete my degree. My financial situation became so precarious that the only choice was to go back to work and I faced the prospect of giving up my degree. My student advisor helped enormously with arranging an alternative of intermitting for a year. Due to the timing of this decision, this was quite a problematic arrangement, but she went through hoops to get this organised. Without her help I would have almost certainly had to give up my degree. This kind of background support it vital to many students and it is very important that the advisors are able to give close one-to-one advice and assistance. A one-off ‘drop-in for a chat for a couple of minutes’ is not a viable alternative in most cases and if this were the only support on offer, the student drop-out rate would increase enormously and would be much more costly to the University overall, that any possible budgetary savings.

Testimonial #31

I came to this University because it offered all of the services that are now being taken away from us, and the student advice centre is a perfect example. The services offered by the student advice centre are absolutely crucial and there is absolutely no excuse for cutting it down. We as students need help and guidance more than anything and I dont think my degree should be jeopardized so that the profit being made from it isn't. That is not what education is about. I am furious that the money I decided to spend on this university, that was supposed to go towards making what was a great uni even better, is now going to pay the people who have made the decision to completely destroy it. Tough decisions do need to be made but they are be being made in every single wrong direction imaginable. I have developed a personal relationship with my student advisor and I am one hundred percent sure I would not have done so well to date without her, her personal knowledge of my subject area, and her understanding and guidance. And if that is replaced with a different person everytime I need advice having to look my course up on a database, my degree will suffer. If all of the cuts proposed are made, I and many other students I have spoken to, will seriously consider taking our money elsewhere.

Testimonial #30

During freshers week, amongst other things, we had an introduction session with [a student advisor], who explained her roles, and the various problems that we might want to take to her. I am a mature student who has a form of bipolar disorder, but I have always refused to play victim to it, and so although [the student advisor] seemed very nice, I didn’t at first think that I would be needing to see her.

However, I was to be proven wrong even before the end of this session. Towards the end, she mentioned that dyslexia was something she could help with. I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that I may be dyslexic, after all, I can program a computer but I can’t write joined-up, and so I stuck up my hand.

Now, it was only a little thing, but it really stuck in my mind. When I put my hand up, [the student advisor] addressed me by name. Clearly, this person who I didn’t remember meeting before, had gone to the trouble of memorising all of our names before coming to the session. That spoke louder than words that this was someone I could trust.

And so, shortly after the start of term, a test was arranged, and I did indeed turn out to be dyslexic, which not only meant that I had access to additional support, but was invaluable to me not only in explaining why my school years had been such a disaster, but also, having a valid reason why this was not my fault gave me a huge boost in the confidence I needed to be successful in my degree.

My first term was a real surprise to me. I was doing extremely well in pretty much all of my subjects, but what I failed to realise at the time, was that I was in a high state of agitation. Unfortunately, about halfway through my second term, one of my subjects started to cause me serious stress, and, well, being bipolar, after a high comes a crash.

This has happened a number of times in my life, and normally what happens is that I lose my objectivity, and have been known to become somewhat paranoid. This hasn’t been so much of a problem in the past, because my way of dealing with has been just to take myself away from the world until the storm passes, but I was right in the middle of a degree. That wasn’t going to work this time, and I had never developed any alternative strategies.

Another person who has posted on here mentioned that when things started to slide for them, that they became scared to go into the buildings, and I have to say that I know exactly how that feels. When my objectivity takes a holiday, my whole experience can become clouded by paranoia, and the University campus, which yesterday seemed so welcoming, and that I was so proud to be a part of, has today become nothing short of enemy territory. Frankly, at the point at which this happened for me, if [the student
advisor] had not previously taken the time to get my trust, then I don’t think I would have felt like there was anyone I could talk to, and I almost certainly would have just dropped out.

As it was, I went to see her. I was feeling kind of stupid that I had let such a small thing get blown out of proportion so much, but she very quickly dispelled this feeling in me, and we were talking openly and honestly about the problem, and by end of the conversation I was back on my feet and ready to just go and get on with it again.

Something similar happened again last term. I tried to speak to one of my teachers about something that had been bothering me. Unfortunately, we got our wires crossed and misunderstood each other, and I went away from this so angry that I got myself into a complete state. Once again, my objectivity went walkabout, and if it had not been for [the student advisor], the solution to the problem, which was remarkably simple, would not even have occurred to me. If I had not had her to talk to, I would almost certainly be down the DSS office, filling in the forms again, right about now.

The bottom line is that university life, while it can be fun, can also be extremely stressful. Even if you’re not naturally insane. I am and have been extremely impressed by the support available at Sussex, but it seems
to me that the management have missed the point entirely in deciding to make their cuts here. We all know that times are hard. We all know that cuts need to be made somewhere, but it seems to me that cutting the student advisors, and absorbing the service into a central office is short-sighted in the extreme, and that it’s the sort of decision that has been made by someone with no idea what paranoia feels like.

The personal relationship (and I hope I can say friendship) that has been built up between [the student advisor] and myself is the very thing that has enabled me to go to her, knowing I can trust her at those times when I discover that the campus has once again morphed into ‘behind enemy lines’. Moreover, the fact that [the student advisor] is attached to my school means that she is also able to give me a valuable insight into how the department actually works, and the sort of thing that’s expected from me as a student. It also means that she actually knows what I’m talking about when I talk about one of my courses.

I simply don’t think I’d want to use a centralised service. I’m pretty open about my shortcomings, but even so, I’d find a centralised service too impersonal. Those times when my world is coloured by paranoia are my problem, and well, I’d feel like I was taking a nasty case of the sniffles to the A&E department of a large and busy hospital.

In short, without this service, I’m sad to say that I think the University management will see a sharp rise in people just dropping out of their degrees.

Testimonial #29

“When I first started at Sussex, I remember [a student advisor] introducing herself to a group of us and telling us that while she hoped we would never need to use the support services, they are there to help when you need them. At the time, I didn't think too much about what she said and I just got on with Freshers' Week.

Later in the academic year I was diagnosed with a serious illness and I became distressed, isolating myself from the university, friends and family.

I was scared to talk to anyone about my problems and it reached the point where I thought I would have no alternative but to leave the university. Finally, at that stage I spoke to [the same advisor] and now I wish I spoke to her much sooner! I was taken aback by her professionalism, understanding and knowledge. She was non-judgemental and sympathetic to my situation and guided me through the process of reintegrating with the university. Her knowledge of my school/degree gave me the confidence to trust her advice.

I think it is incredibly important to have a permanent contact at the university who understands your personal circumstances and you feel you can confide in. There is absolutely no way I would have felt comfortable explaining by situation in an open plan office or having to repeat myself every time I'm presented with a different student advisor. In fact, it has been deeply troubling me thinking that this support might be taken away and replaced with something more akin to a bank call centre.

While most students will never have to use support services, they are absolutely essential in some circumstances and there is no substitute for having a permanent in-house student adviser who you know and trust. Removing this will be removing the human face of the university and I for one would not be comfortable discussing my personal problems with anyone else.

There are some very vulnerable people and I believe cutting this "model of best practice" service will have a human cost far greater than any financial savings you think you are making.”

Testimonial #28

“After a very successful first year, my second year suddenly felt absurdly difficult. I became stressed and anxious, my marks dropped steeply and my self confidence was at an all time low. I probably would have dropped out of the course without my student advisor. She took the time for a long, personal talk, listened to me and showed me exactly where I had problems and where I was just imagining them, where others had gotten just as stuck as I had and how had they had managed. She
helped me put every aspect of my situation into proper context and find out exactly how to get out of it. She showed immense experience and knowledge about every detail of my course, the department and the different teachers' personalities. The idea that a centralised, impersonal service could provide the same assistance is absolutely ridiculous.”

Testimonial #27

During my first year at Sussex, I encountered some problems which were really getting on top of me with regards to my work and personal well-being. I began by seeing my Academic Advisor who was less than helpful, probing into my problem and coming across as unsympathetic and unhelpful. After discontinuing my correspondance with the tutor in question, I went to see K., one of the Student Advisors in the Informatics department. K. couldn't have been more helpful. She listened, put my mind at rest and helped resolve the problem (and further ones I encountered).

I see the inclusion of Student Advisors in each department as absolutely essential given their links with their particular department faculty members and knowledge of the department's workings. A general "student support" office sounds impersonal to me and I doubt it will be able to offer the quality service that the Student Advisors provide. The fact that the new student support service doesn't expect to see one student on multiple occassions worries me somewhat too, further re-enforcing my expectations that the proposed new support scheme will be impersonal, less effective and less approachable by hesitant students.