RHUL Students' Union Advice Centre: a year in review

For many years, the Advice Centre at Royal Holloway University London Students’ Union - based on the Royal Holloway University campus in Egham – had been a part of the Student Voice department with minimal interaction with other Union activities, however as the demand from students for advice and advocacy support increased, the Students’ Union took the decision to make the Advice Centre an operational unit in its own right.

Since Royal Holloway University London Students' Union was an existing user of the MSL System from Membership Solutions Ltd (MSL), the advice team’s first step was to look at the benefits MSL’s Student Case Manager could bring.

That brings us to today: the Advice Centre at Royal Holloway University London Students’ Union has been using MSL’s Student Case Manager for three years and we spoke with Serife Tumburi, Advice Centre Manager, to get her highlights from the previous academic year.

Annual report, insights from a year at the Royal Holloway University London Students’ Union Advice Centre:

• Data is now coming from a few places, Student Case Manager, Google Analytics and drop-in numbers are used to produce valuable statistics.
• The Advice Centre has increased the members of staff from two advisors to five advisors.
• Fewer students want to see advisors in person, therefore the Advice Centre run Teams meetings and Zoom drop-in sessions on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
• The 2021-2022 academic year saw an increase in students taking a break from academic studies, so the Advice Centre have created content on the website based on reoccurring queries from cases.
• The University want to support the students in the best way they can, so RHUL SU are able to go to the schools at the uni to give them feedback about the student experience.
• Due to the drop in demand for actual appointments, there is a triage plan now; does it need to be an email or an appointment?
• Being able to see how many cases are being assigned to each advisor and help them manage workload, therefore Advisors are able to focus their efforts on the best places.