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Setting Boundaries as a Rep
Wellbeing and Advice
Library Services
Maintenance on Campus
Though your role as a rep is focused on feedback impacting the majority of your course, you may still be contacted by students who need support with personal issues. It's important that you set boundaries with students on what you can help with whilst also helping them to get the support that they need.
Alternatively, you may recieve feedback that you would like to enact outside of your Falmouth SSLGs or Exeter SSLCs, to make space for more complex issues in those meetings.
You can use this page to identify what is and isn't your responsibility as a rep, where you can escalate feedback across the university, and how to help students find the support they may need if they are struggling.
Setting Boundaries
You may find that students come to you as their rep with difficult issues that you simply aren't qualified to solve – if this happens, it’s important to direct your peers to the appropriate members of staff.
The following are examples of what is NOT your job as a rep, and where you can signpost students for support:
It is not a course rep’s job to represent students on disciplinary matters. If any students come to you with these issues, you should direct them to the SU Advice service
Claims of harassment/bullying
Students who wish to make a formal complaint should be directed to their university’s complaints policy Falmouth ,Exeter. And may wish to contact the SU Advice service for confidential help.
Students may come to you with issues of a personal nature. If this happens, please refer these students to Student Support Services , who are qualified to give the specialist advice required in this area.
Sometimes students will contact you out of hours through non-university channels such as social media and group chats. It is entirely up to you and when you want to reply. Please remember to manage your time and maintain a healthy balance of your course rep duties, studies, and regular life. You are not expected to be on duty 24/7.
Wellbeing and Advice
If you have been contacted by a student who is struggling with their wellbeing, you can direct them to the Wellbeing team for support. There are a range of options available to students, from self-help guidance to 1:1 appointments. You can visit the following pages to find out more about how your wellbeing is supported at Falmouth University and The University of Exeter.
If a student you're speaking with needs practical support on an issue from housing to finances to academic issues, you can encourage them to check out our resources on various issues impacting the student experience. These guides provide solutions to common problems and answers to frequently asked questions, and can empower students to resolve issues independently. If a student needs more tailored support that they cannot find in our resources, they can also book an appointment with our SU Advice team for further guidance on how to proceed with their issue.
The Library and Academic Services
There are a variety of services at your university that can support students who may be struggling with their studies and academic work. This section contains pointers for how to support your coursemates if they are struggling academically and how you can report any feedback you may receive relating to the library services.
Academic Liaison Librarians
You can use these links to signpost students to their Academic Liaison Librarian at Falmouth University and The University of Exeter.
Your Academic Liaison Librarian can help you to:
- Save time by making the most of all Library services and collections.
- Navigate the maze of information resources to find relevant material efficiently.
- Develop skills in information and digital literacy, helping you to succeed in your academic work and beyond.
- Evaluate and think critically about information you find and use.
They also:
- Provide individual advice with your research, offering in depth help with finding relevant sources for your studies.
- Run workshops and taught sessions, exploring all aspects of information searching, use and management.
- Work with your lecturers and the SU to ensure the library offers the resources you need.
How to Give Feedback to the Library Team
Any students, including reps, can also anonymously give feedback to the library staff through this form.
You can give the library feedback on any library or research related queries. These might include:
- Questions about how to access specific resources or types of information (articles, scores, videos etc.)
- Issues with using online platforms for ebooks, online articles etc.
- Questions about using the module resource/ reading lists (Talis)
- Issues finding authoritative sources for research topics (and connecting academic and non-academic sources)
- Questions about finding and/ or using resources in our physical library spaces (including access to viewing/ listening equipment etc.)
- Questions about navigating and / or using online information
- Questions about finding and/ or using the archives or special collections
The library are happy to take any feedback you may receive about the library during your time as a rep - whether this is reported to your Academic Liaison Librarian or through their feedback form.
Further Support from Academic Services
You can also signpost students to further academic support through the academic services teams. Academic Services can help with anything from general support with essay writing and research or technology and digital skills to specialised support for students with disabilities, international students, and more.
Maintenance Issues on Campus
If students report a maintenance issue around campus to you (such as "the taps in the library bathroom are leaking", or "an automatic door to a university building is not working"), you can log this through Planon or signpost the student to the Planon portal.
Any student can log into Planon using their university login details. Students can follow the arrows in the request form to log which building/floor they are on and can even use the 'Graphical view' when logging a 'room / space number' so that they can see floorplans of where they are.
Logging maintenance issues via Planon will raise the issue directly with the Campus Estates team who can then work out how to fix it, which saves space in your SSLGs/SSLCs for more complex academic issues. The exception where you may also wish to bring a maintenance issue to an SSLG/SSLC is when the issue correlates to facilities you use for your course, such as labs, studio spaces or any other technical facilities.