Back to top
Lots of glass buildings on campus with grass in the foreground and sunny skies behind

About Advice

Meet the team and find more information about what you can expect from advice(su)

Advice(su) is your free, independent and confidential advice service, available to all UEA students. We’re here to guide you through university processes, helping you find the right information to make an informed decision. You’re at the heart of everything we do, and we’re committed to a person-centred, non-judgemental approach.

 

Our team

A photograph of Natalie

Natalie Davison

Advisor

A photograph of Tess

Tess Lewis-Williams

Advisor

A photograph of Maegan

Maegan Senarlo

Advisor

A photograph of Kathryn

Kathryn Redfern

Head of Advice & Welfare

Our standards

We’ve made a commitment to provide the best support we can to all UEA students, and it’s important that you understand how we can do that. We ask that students help us to deliver the most effective support by engaging with our standards too. 

What students can expect from us 

  • A confidential service. We work independently to UEA and don’t share any information with the university unless you ask us to. We need your written consent before storing your details on our advice case management system, and will speak to you if we think it would be helpful to contact UEA about your circumstances.  
  • Non-judgemental advice. We’re all human, and want to create a safe space where you can talk about what’s been impacting you. We’re here to listen and help you decide on the best course of action. 
  • Self-help resources and information. You’re here to learn – we’ll provide the tools you need to face challenges and find solutions independently in the future. We maintain good relationships with UEA so they can keep us updated on any policy and regulation changes. 
  • Honesty and clear boundaries. Our job is to make university processes and regulations easier to understand, and sometimes that means having to be really honest about your options. If we think your circumstances don’t meet the grounds for the outcome you want, or if we’re not the right team to offer support, we’ll let you know.  
  • Communication. We’ll keep our webpages, emails and resources up-to-date, and make sure our response times and closures are advertised clearly. 
  • Fair. We’re a small team of advisors, and there could be times where we face conflicts of interest when supporting larger groups of students, particularly in plagiarism and collusion cases. If we can’t offer bespoke support to everyone, we’ll help you access information and explore alternative means of support.   
  • Accessible, inclusive and adaptable. Your student experience is always changing, and we’re always looking at new ways to provide information and advice, in ways that suit you. We’re committed to taking on feedback and adapting our practices to meet the needs of our students.
  • Recognition of our limits. There may be times where your circumstances or support needs go beyond the scope of our knowledge and ability to help. We'll be honest when this is the case, and help you access alternative routes of advice whenever possible.

What we expect from our students

  • Respect. Our advisors are working hard to support as many students as possible, and we ask that you be considerate in your communication. There may be times where we cannot provide the information or outcome that you want – there can be many reasons for this and we expect students to remain polite and treat advisors with respect.  
  • Honesty. We can only provide the most effective support to you when we know all the details of your situation. The more information you can share, the easier it is for us to find the right solution for you. We work independently from the University and will not judge you. 
  • Patience during busy periods. We are a small team and there may be times of the year when we see a very high number of support requests. We aim to help you in the quickest possible timeframes and will keep our website updated with anticipated response times. Please do not send multiple emails to advisors unless you have new information to share about your case.  
  • Engagement. We’re here to help you navigate University procedures, but we cannot do the work for you. Our advice will be most effective with your input and initiative – take the time to read through the information we share, and actively engage with the recommendations we give you.    
  • Responsiveness. The sooner you respond to our emails, the sooner we can start advising on your circumstances. If you do not contact us with sufficient time or information about your case, we may only be able to offer basic information and will not be able to offer full appointments or support at university meetings.  
  • Punctuality. If you are going to be late for an appointment, or unable to attend, please let us know as soon as possible. See below for our late appointment rules.  
  • Effective communication. Our advisors are working with lots of students, and you can respect their time and work by responding to emails and communication promptly, especially if they have given you a deadline. Check your emails regularly and let us know if the situation has been resolved or you no longer need our help. If we have reached out to you and not received a response in an appropriate timeframe, we may close your case.  

Withdrawal of service

In some unusual or extreme circumstances, we may have to limit or withdraw a student's access to advice(su). If this is the case, we will always try to signpost the student to alternative routes of support and advice.

Some examples of when access to the service may be withdrawn temporarily or permanently are listed below - this is not an exhaustive list, and the reason for withdrawal of service will always be communicated.

  • If a student behaves in an abusive, threatening or violent manner towards our team, including through email correspondence or in an appointment face-to-face or on MS Teams.  
  • If a student repeatedly fails to attend appointments, ignores advice given by the team, or continues to pursue a course of action against the advice of an advisor. 
  • If a student is believed to have knowingly, and deliberately, provided inaccurate or misleading information to advice(su).  
  • If the provision of advice or support would put advice(su) in the position of a conflict of interest, relating to an ongoing complaint against uea(su).    
  • If a student sends prolonged, repeated and excessive correspondence to advice(su) to the extent where it constitutes harassment, has a detrimental effect on staff or impacts our ability to support other students effectively.  
  • If a student requests collusion from staff with fraudlent or illegal activity.  
  • If a student is receiving legal advice on the same matter.  

Exhaustion of options

If it becomes apparent that advice(su) have explored all options with a student relating to a single matter, and are unable to provide additional information, guidance or signposting, the student case will be closed and the student informed. The student will be welcome to return to advice(su) for guidance and support about different or new circumstances.

Withdrawal of service will be communicated to the student by the Head of Advice and Welfare, or the Director of Engagement at uea(su). If a student wishes to complain about that decision, a complaint can be submitted here

Queries and appointments

Once you've completed our contact form, we'll review it and identify the best type of support for you - this could include an email with information and structured guidance, or we might think it's best to offer you a 121 appointment.

We can offer appointments face-to-face in the Students Union office, by Teams and telephone. We’ll do our best to offer the type of appointment that best suits you, but there may be times when we limit certain appointments to make sure we can support as many students as effectively as possible.

We offer 45 minute appointments as standard, but may offer 30 minutes if an appointment is required at short notice.

  • If you are late for your appointment, within 10 minutes of the start time we will still be able to see you, but expect a shorter appointment. 
  • If you are 15 minutes late or longer, we will not be able to continue the appointment, but will rebook you for the next available appointment.  

In the case of complex situations or group meetings, advisors reserve the right to rebook late appointments if they feel the remaining time will not be sufficient to support you properly.  

If you miss your appointment and do not contact the advice team within 2 working days to follow up, we may close your case.