Promoting student satisfaction and engagement through effective student – personal tutor partnerships

A key partnership in HE, helping to promote student satisfaction and engagement, is that between the student and his/her personal or guidance tutor. Benefits of personal tutoring include supporting the transition from further to higher education, reinforcing learning in core academic modules, promoting development of transferable skills, improving student retention and progression, helping to build confidence, engagement and a sense of belonging, and improving career awareness and employability. Many students, however, have mixed experiences of personal tutoring sometimes viewing it as poorly organised and not well integrated into the curriculum. Similarly, many staff comment on additional workload associated with personal tutoring for which they feel ill prepared. In particular, staff are concerned about the diffuse nature of the boundary between the academic and pastoral aspects of this role, where interpretations between individual tutors may differ, thus potentially leading to inconsistencies in the student experience.

This paper explores student and staff experiences of personal tutoring across the Faculty of Engineering and Environment at Northumbria University, using focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with students and staff across all five constituent Departments. It then considers how best to integrate personal tutoring into the undergraduate curriculum using an example from the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences. Here, personal tutoring at first year level is embedded within a core module. Whilst student and staff experiences of personal tutoring across the Faculty are mixed, those in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences are highly positive.