Student Welfare Support Adviser

Oxford Brookes University has a vacancy for a full time pernament Student Welfare and Support Advisers The team works on a hybrid model (on campus and from home).

As a Student Welfare and Support Adviser, you will be part of a small team of student welfare and support advisers within the Mental Health and Wellbeing Support Service, which includes Solution-Focused Therapists, Student Welfare and Support Advisers, Mental Health Advisers, and Multifaith Chaplains.

As the Student Welfare and Support Adviser, you will be responsible for:

• Providing a first and regular point of contact for vulnerable students, those at risk or in crisis , with substantial and enduring mental health conditions, those who may be reluctant to access professional services, students who are unsure of which support services to access.
• Providing streamlined assessments, identifying clear referral pathways (internal and external), and offering support and guidance to students who are having difficulties functioning or continuing their studies for non-academic reasons or who are eligible for reasonable adjustments to help them successfully engage with University life and avoid crises.
• Providing specialist advice, guidance and support to students (both prospective and current students ) who have disclosed mental health as a disability or who have mental health difficulties more generally, which may or may not be in addition to a disability.
• Providing advice and support to colleagues within Student Support Services and other University staff when dealing with critical student events.
• Respond to serious concerns about students undertaking risk assessments of their situations, face-to-face (in-person or online video) by telephone of students who are at risk of harm to themselves or others, engage in safety planning, conduct brief solution-focused interventions and signpost to appropriate internal and external agencies.
• Offer a practical, problem-solving, flexible approach to helping students successfully engage with their academic studies and appropriate support services. This may include meetings with students who must present themselves following disciplinary and other offences.

Student Welfare and Support Adviser skills and experience:

• An undergraduate degree, equivalent qualification or work experience equivalent to an undergraduate degree.
• Experience in providing streamlined assessments, face to face (in person, via an online video platform, by telephone) to determine the nature and duration of help required by the individual including identifying clear referral pathways (internal and external).
• Experience in assessing and managing risk of harm to self and others in a front-line provision.
• Experience working on a 1-to-1 basis with students/adults in distress, affected by mental health difficulties or with other complex and multi-dimensional needs.
• Experience in working as part of a multidisciplinary team in an organisational setting.
• Experience in providing culturally sensitive interventions in a multicultural environment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and an ability to communicate complex information to others.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Ability to stay calm under pressure and manage challenging behaviour.

As the Student Welfare and Student Support Adviser, you will be joining a friendly, professional environment where every member of staff is recognised as important to the success of Oxford Brookes University. For details about the generous benefits that Oxford Brookes offers staff, please see here.

Interviews are expected to take place on 20th/ 21st May 2024.

*Please note: the successful applicant will need to be subject to a background disclosure check by the Disclosure and barring Service (DBS) before any appointment can be confirmed.

You will also enjoy the benefits of working at Oxford Brookes University with up to 38 days holiday, rising to 41 days holiday (this includes 13 Bank Holidays and Concessionary Days), a generous Local Government pension scheme (19.2% Employer contribution rate), cycle to work scheme and access to a variety of university facilities (Brookes Nursery, Gym and sports facilities). For more information about benefits please see the document 'All about Brookes' below.

CV and Personal Statement: 

As part of the application process all applicants are required to complete our online application form by clicking on the “Apply for Job” button below. All parts of the application form should be completed and in the section of the form called “Supporting Documents”, applicants must upload their CV and a Personal Statement. To complete the Personal Statement part of the application, applicants must download the Personal Statement document which is part of the advert below and complete the form, providing examples and explaining how they meet each item detailed on the document. The Personal Statement must then be uploaded to the application form along with the CV.

At Oxford Brookes, inclusivity is one of our five guiding principles: we take positive steps to create an environment in which we celebrate, value and provide equal opportunity to all. We are committed to recruiting from the widest possible pool and welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates who embrace our values, regardless of their background.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee to interview any disabled applicant who meets the essential selection criteria.

To email the post of Student Welfare Support Adviser to a friend please copy and paste the link below: