March Update from the ENSA Advice Team

March has been a key month for the advice team at ENSA. Following the busy February Trimester 1 Results and Appeals Deadlines, and ongoing academic misconduct cases, the team has dealwith an increase in student's seeking support for welfare issues including financial hardship. The team have also been working on ongoing project work to increase our support, including an upcoming Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence campaign and a review of our website content.

We also attended a meeting with the Fit to Sit Officers from each school in order to discuss key issues impacting students and the best ways to work together to support students who's studies are impacted by extenuating circumstances.

The team are also in the process of moving to a more effective record management system which will hopefully enable us to support students in a more efficient way and provide better insight into  how we are currently helping students in order to improve our service.

ENSA Collaboration

The team have also continued our contribution to wider ENSA projects, events and planning. As part of this, we all attended a team away day at the start of March focussed on Student Journey and our the Student Community Development Plan. We also all fed into a review and discussion regarding ENSA's Vision, Mission and Values.

Members of the team also supported events for Student Elections, and talked about ENSA Advice's offer at introductory talks for staff and students.

Couch to 5K

If you are a student or staff member who is interested in beginning or returning to running, why not register your interest for our new  9-week "Couch to 5K" group? Currently in week 3, the group meets on Wednesdays at 4pm in Harrison Park (West)- register to attend here: Couch to 5k

This is a positive and inclusive group, designed for anyone who can currently walk comfortably for 30 minutes but would not yet feel able to run 5K. Each week there will be one coach led session, along with two additional runs that participants can complete independently (or with a friend!). 

Training and Development

Several advisers attended internal Safeguarding Training, a reminder of the university and ENSA's responsibilities to ensure the safety of students and also vulnerable children and adults in our wider community. If you ever have concerns about the safety of yourself, a student or a vulnerable person you can contact the Wellbeing Support and Inclusion, use the Report & Support service or let an ENSA adviser know.

Hannah also attended a webinar from Student Minds discussing Artificial Intelligence and student wellbeing. Marianne attended the AdviceUK Scotland Member Forum and Diane attended the Edinburgh Food Project - Referral Forum. Attendance at these kinds of events enables us to keep on top of issues impacting the wider student and Edinburgh communities, in order to best support our understanding and inform our advice.

AI use within assessments campaign  

ENSA advice are currently planning a campaign focused on AI use within assessments. The aim is to inform students, provide information about university guidelines, reduce confusion and help students feel confident about how to use tools appropriately and ethically in their studies, ultimately reducing the number of academic misconduct cases. Our student survey is currently open and you can complete it here: ENSA Academic Integrity & Artificial Intelligence (AI) Survey

Need Advice or Reassurance?

In the meantime, remember that we’re here to offer confidential, non-judgmental advice and reassurance on anything related to your welfare, wellbeing, or studies.

If you’d like to speak with an adviser, just click below to book in: ENSA ADVICE | Scheduling and Booking Website