Academic personal tutoring development opportunities

This page provides an overview of the development opportunities which will be available to academic personal tutors (APT) throughout the academic year. The provision is listed chronologically by month and will be updated when additional opportunities become available, and sessions will be promoted too once booking is open so pleased look out for announcements e.g. via the all staff eNews, MS Teams channels and on Twitter @UniLeedsODPL.

Current development opportunities for APTs

November 2023

Building authentic tutor/tutee relationships – 23 November, 11am–12noon

This session, for new and experienced APTs, will explore ways of building authentic relationships. We will explore what might be meant by the term ‘authenticity’ in the context of higher education and APT more specifically, given it is often listed/cited as a key attribute of effective APT (see e.g. UKAT). There will be discussion around the potential benefits of authenticity and how it connects to APT practice. We will also consider some of the challenges we face as students and staff in engaging authentically and will have opportunity to consider how to develop our own practice to embrace authenticity on our own terms.

December 2023

Academic Personal Tutoring (APT) discussion group – 11 December, 12-1pm

Sign up to join a focussed discussion group for colleagues interested in the development of APT at Leeds. In this series of sessions, we will explore a piece of reading about APT and engage in a wider discussion about implications for our own practice and institutional developments. The sessions are facilitated by Rachael O’Connor, University Academic Lead for APT, and this first event will be a hybrid event so colleagues can join via Teams or on campus.

In this first session, we will discuss: ‘The higher education personal tutor's and advisor's companion: translating theory into practice to improve student success’ by Lochtie, et al which was published last year and is made up of a suite of case studies on APT. If you can, please read case studies one and two in advance, which are both on the theme of APT and employability. Don’t worry if you don’t find time to read the case studies in advance – you can still come along and join in the discussion.

So that we know the room is big enough, please sign up to attend this hybrid session here:

January 2024

Exploring academic personal tutoring (APT) at Leeds – 10 January, 2–3.15pm

This session is designed for all APTs and will be useful for those new to the role or who are more experienced and would like a refresher. We will consider the key aspects of the APT role and will look at:

The importance of academic personal tutoring
The purpose and boundaries of the role
Referrals and signposting
Facilitating student sense of belonging as a tutor
Resources and support available for academic personal tutors

This session is intended to sit alongside the induction and support provided within your School/Department.

February 2024

Student panel on academic personal tutoring (APT) – Thursday, 22 February, 2-3.30pm

Are you curious to learn more about student perspectives of academic personal tutoring (APT)? This session will explore academic personal tutoring through the student lens and is available to all colleagues. A panel of students from a range of Schools and backgrounds will reflect on their experiences of APT, what APT means to be them (bringing in their individual identities and lived experiences) and draw on their diverse experiences. The session is designed to facilitate authentic and honest conversations around academic personal tutoring between staff and students to support us in developing our APT practice.

Dates to be confirmed:

Active Listening for Academic Personal Tutors - date to be confirmed

Join us to explore and experience how active listening can enhance your academic personal tutoring practice. A series of practical and reflective activities will be used to refine your active listening skills and explore listening from different perspectives. You’ll also consider possible issues and how these might be avoided or overcome. Further details of this session, including the link to book, will be available shortly.

Additional provision

This section provides details of related sessions which will be relevant to APTs.

Student Success Forum

The Student Success Forum provides a space to discuss strategic or operational changes that empower or enable colleagues to introduce discussion or changes to work practices in their respective areas. Visit the Student Success Forum SharePoint site to find out more and sign up to the Student Success mailing list to receive calendar invites.

Access and Success Insight Sessions

These sessions provide University staff with updates on Leeds' commitment to the Access and Student Success Strategy. Focusing on a different topic each month, sessions equip staff with practical information and provide a supportive environment for colleagues to meet and network with others from across the University. The Access and Success Insight Sessions are advertised about a month in advance. To sign-up for the sessions please email j.l.burgess@leeds.ac.uk.

Additional resources

These are links to further resources which you may find useful:

Year-round welcome

Welcome Hub (previously known as the Here & Now hub on the corporate site)
Welcome comms toolkit (launched as part of the new Student Comms and Engagement SharePoint site)

UKAT (United Kingdom Advising and Tutoring association)

UKAT supports practice and research in advising and personal tutoring. The UKAT website provides resources, details of forthcoming events and provides accreditation for APTs. Details of relevant events will be shared.

OD&PL training and events

Browse current OD&PL training and events which are available to book now, visit the OD&PL training and events page.