Signposting - Surrey Students' Union

If students bring you issues that fall outside your role as a Course Representative, then you’ll need to signpost them. Here will take a look at how to signpost, but remember that the principle of signposting is to listen, assess, and act.

How to Signpost

Listen

Listen carefully to what a student is raising with you, and ensure you clearly understand their feedback.

You can use active listening skills to ensure that you are truly hearing what a student is saying.

These include repeating back to the student what you have heard, mirroring their language choices, nodding and using non-verbal communication to show you are engaged, and summarising at the end of your interaction so that the student knows you have taken their feedback on board.

Ask questions to clarify anything you’re unsure about!

Assess

Assess whether their feedback is related to their academic experience at University, or whether it falls outside that remit.

Use your knowledge of the themes and topics we covered before to assess whether the feedback falls into an academic category, and whether it would be something your School or the wider University management team can address.

Use your assessment of their feedback to decide if it is related to their academic expreiences, and then if it is, whether it is something that your School can address, such as module content or learning materials, or if it is a wider University issue.

If the feedback is about their wellbeing, please assess very carefully if it sounds like the student is at risk of harm themselves, or harming others. It may be difficult, but if you have any concerns, err on the side of caution and speak to a trusted member of staff.

Act

Act based on your assessment of the feedback.

If the feedback is about academic experiences, and can be addressed by your School, represent them via MySurrey Voice and your meetings with staff.

If the feedback is about academic experiences, but is not something your School can address, represent them via the Students’ Union (ussu.vpvoice@surrey.ac.uk) or at Student Voice Forum.

If the feedback is about University, but not academic, represent the feedback via the Students’ Union or at Student Voice Forum.

If the student indicates that they are at risk of harm themselves or harming others, it is vital you connect the student with either Security for urgent harm, or the Centre for Wellbeing for non-urgent harm. Contact the Senior Personal Tutor in your School or the Centre for Wellbeing if you are unsure what to do.

If the feedback is not about University, is a personal matter, or is about their wellbeing, please signpost the student appropriately, as this is not your responsibility to resolve.