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.