1. SAM for Keele
• The Student Advisory Model (SAM) project
started in 2012 and launched in December
2013
• A virtual student advisor available 24/7 on the
web
• SAM is a resource for students across the UK
• Next stage is to create SAM content specific to
Keele
www.ask-sam.ac.uk
2. SAM’s existing capacity
SAM already provides 140 answers:
• Finance and money
• Living away from home
• Coping with difficulties
• The language of Higher
Education
• Learning & IT
These answers will be made
specific to life at Keele
www.ask-sam.ac.uk
3. Purpose of this community
• Review the information posted on existing SAM
responses and provide feedback
• Define the list of new responses
• Help identify online services SAM could deliver,
and how far into a process SAM should take a
student
• Poll suggestions on SAM’s new name, and
discuss any other issues
www.ask-sam.ac.uk
4. Contacting the team
• Project contacts:
Jen Paddison, Executive Support Manager
(SAM Project Manager)
j.a.paddison@keele.ac.uk
Simon Knight, Project Development
Officer
s.knight@keele.ac.uk / 33952
www.ask-sam.ac.uk
Editor's Notes
Slide 1Hello and thanks for visiting this online community. I’m Jen Paddison and I’m the project manager for Student Advisory Model.Keele University received funding in 2012 to create an online one-stop-shop service for information, advice and guidance for students. With the help and support of staff across the University, the Student Advisory Model, or SAM as it is better known, launched in December 2013.SAM’s answers are very general, and there for students across the country to use. The next stage of the project is to create an updated SAM who gives advice and information just for Keele students, and your support will be invaluable. We will be contacting colleagues directly about this, but our aim is to capture as much information as we can via this online community.
Slide 2140 responses were created for SAM following consultation with student support staff here at Keele, student groups, and colleagues from AMOSSHE. The responses cover 5 key areas:Finance and money gives information on fees, loans, other financial support, managing money and how to talk to if you have money issues.Living away from home lets students know what to expect from university accommodation, what to do if they have problems with accommodation, how to register with health services, and settling in to life at university.Coping with difficulties gives advice on how to deal with emotional problems and depression, sexuality, disability, balancing studies and social life, exam stress and failed assessments, illness and taking a break from studies.The language of higher education advises on how to make the most of feedback, managing failed marks, resits and extenuating circumstances, avoiding the pitfalls of plagiarism and making the most out of the support from personal tutors.Learning & IT provides guidance on how to get support for your study, managing your workload and what to expect from a university’s library, elearning and IT services.We’re already working on making these answers more specific to Keele, but we need your help to identify key areas and pieces of information that are missing, or need developing further.
Slide 3The aim of this community is to have one central place where your feedback on the changes to SAM can be added quickly, enable colleagues across the University to discuss key issues, and to post updates and news on the project as and when they arise.You will find a post linking to a Google document listing SAM’s existing responses and our proposed amends to make them Keele-specific. This document is split into sections based on theme, so that you can view the responses most relevant to your field of expertise. We would be grateful if you could add your comments to the spreadsheet directly, which is quick to do, and should another colleague reply to your comment, you will get an update.We have also posted a link to a list of proposed new responses needed for SAM for Keele students, and again we would ask for your feedback, and we’re requesting offers of assistance in developing the content of these new responses from staff with the relevant knowledge and experience.SAM will also be able to connect securely with the existing student systems at Keele. He’ll be able to help users create a student status letter, request an extenuating circumstances form, book an appointment with student services, and more. A conversation post regarding this will be added inviting all staff to feed in. A more defined document will then be shared looking at the detail of these processes, and asking for your expert opinion on what extent SAM should enable a service before a student will need to refer to a department or service.We have some suggestions for SAM’s new name for Keele, so please let us know which one you prefer, or if you have a suggestion of your own. Please feel free to add your own posts that you feel need discussion
Slide 4I can be contacted if you would like more background information on the project, and my colleague Simon Knight is also available if you need help using this community or Google Plus. Thanks for your time.
