Position 109
THE POST
Faculty /Service: Education and Academic Services
Post: Education Support Advisor
Grade: E
Reporting To: Education Support Manager
Responsible For: Education Support Administrator(s)/Assistant(s) (as applicable)
Job Description
Organisational context and reporting line:
In collaboration with the academic Faculties, the Education and Academic Services (EAS) Directorate provides
all of the key administration and education support activities that underpin the student experience from
Freshers’ Week to Graduation. Service divisions within ESS include Library and Culture Services, Student
Employability and Academic Success, and Education Services. This role sits within the Education Services
area of responsibility comprising approximately 200 staff.
All teams within Education Services are asked to work collaboratively and innovatively as “one team” across
wide-ranging but interdependent operational delivery remits for which excellent customer service relies on all
areas of responsibility to work together and ensure an excellent staff and student experience. Student Services
teams include Timetabling, Examinations, Student Records, the Student Information Desk (SID), Community
Liaison, International Transition, Education Support (Hubs) and Graduation.
Team
This role is within the Education Support Team which provides the core and critical operational support for
teaching administration and support for delivery of all University of Exeter taught programmes for
Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught students. This is a large team of approximately 90 staff working
across multiple “hub” locations and across three campuses.
The Education Support Team is responsible for supporting an excellent experience for staff and students for
teaching support. This includes acting as the first line of enquiry for all student queries in relation to teaching
administration; and supporting both students and academic staff with process that support the teaching
delivery cycle such as: facilitating coursework submission and return; maintaining student marks records;
module selection support and module and programme changes; administration of student mitigation requests
and mitigation committees; and facilitation of Assessment, Progression and Awarding Committees (APACS).
On a day-to-day basis, the work of the Education Support Advisor will be managed by an Education Support
Manager who will have responsibility for a package of education operational delivery and academic
relationships and who will be line-managed by the Education Support Operations Manager.
Main purpose of the role
This role is expected to take operational responsibility for the delivery of taught programmes across an
assigned delivery package. This role would be allocated to a “hub” but would be expected to act as a flexible
member of a wider team, offering support and assistance across all teaching and education programmes,
and/or changing responsibilities and deploying expertise as required by developments of the
Colleges/programmes and the needs of the service. The Education Support Advisor role has a key
responsibility to ensure that the overall team complement for Education Support is working effectively to deliver
a seamless and high-quality service, within any distinct programme or Faculty responsibility allocations and
also to broader Education Support and Student Services service standards.
Main duties and accountabilities
1. To act as the lead in the management and organisation of processes and quality of Education Support
service for your area of responsibility. This includes proactively communicating and working across the
wider Student Services teams to ensure coordinated and collaborative “one team” quality of delivery.
2. To act as the source of advice regarding University and Colleges policy and procedure for taught
students and academic staff where issues are referred from the wider team.
3. To develop and enhance administrative processes for taught programmes.
4. To share good practice, and align processes wherever possible, across teaching administration and
education support within the University.
5. To review policies and processes to ensure they meet the University’s regulations and the requirements
of the TQA and other statutory requirements.
6. To maintain web-based information for staff and students regarding taught programmes;
7. To work closely with the academic leads for taught programmes ensuring that practices and processes
are fit for purpose and enhance the student experience.
8. To lead on communications across the University regarding developments with taught programmes , in
particular communications to and on behalf of academic staff
9. To contribute to process change and improvement initiatives in order to provide improved services to
internal and external customers in a cost-effective manner
10. Provide line management to other team members as appropriate, including performance management,
workload allocation and rota assignments, PDR leadership and team motivation and mentoring.
11. To provide support for appropriate College meetings, committees and working groups related to
Education Support
12. Support in the provision of training to staff and academics on all teaching administration matters.
This job description summarises the main duties and accountabilities of the post and is not comprehensive.
The postholder may be required to undertake other duties of similar level and responsibility.
Person Specification
Competency Essential Desirable
Attainments/Qualifications • Educated to A level or • Management Training
equivalent experience • First degree level or
• GCSE Grade A*-C Maths and equivalent experience
English or equivalent
Skills and Understanding • Knowledge of Higher
Education administrative
systems and processes
• Excellent organisational and
planning skills, with ability to
manage own workload, set
priorities and work to strict
deadlines, while remaining
calm under pressure.
• Excellent oral and written
communication skills, with
an ability to communicate
complex information clearly
to a variety of audiences.
• Ability or understanding of
confidentiality practices and
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legal requirements under Data
Protection
• Excellent IT skills including
proficiency in MS office
(especially, Excel, Word and
PowerPoint) and web based
programmes.
Prior Experience • Demonstrable recent, • Experience of LISA, BART
relevant administrative and other programme
experience requiring support systems
specialist or dedicated • Experience of web/VLE
updating.
knowledge, skills base and
• Experience of working within
contact networks to facilitate a Student/Staff Services
operational delivery Centre.
• Experience of managing a • Experience of working within
team, including performance a Higher Education
appraisal, performance Environment.
management, and workload • Identifying areas for process
planning improvement, making
• Experience of handling recommendations and
sensitive situations in a successfully implementing
diplomatic and sensitive way change
• Experience of leading the
delivery of complex
processes, tracking progress
and reporting on outcomes
• Experience of delivering
excellent customer service
and effectively handling
complex enquiries and
difficult customer encounters
• Experience of working
collaboratively and
proactively in a team and with
multiple team members to
deliver to multiple objectives
and high service standards.
Behavioural Characteristics • Excellent attention to detail and • Adaptable to the
ability to provide accurate demands of working in
information an area of rapid change
• Ability to present a professional and development, and an
image at all times understanding of these
• Ability to obtain cooperation by within a HE context
developing excellent working
relationships with a wide range
of people
• Ability to contribute to a positive
team working culture
• Experience of working
collaboratively and proactively
in a team and with multiple
team members to deliver to
multiple objectives and high
service standards.
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• Ability to deal with frequent
interruptions whilst maintaining
focus and accuracy
• Ability to understand complex
information and assist
customers with understanding
of this.
• Confidence and ability to work
independently with appropriate
supervision
• Ability to be flexible and
adaptive to changes in task
allocation and areas of
responsibility
• Ability to think laterally and
solve problems.
• Willingness to learn and
actively seek training and
development.
• Ability to motivate others
especially in times of high
demand and critical delivery
Circumstances • Willingness to work outside
normal working hours when
required by business need.
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