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AIS Service Standards

 

The AIS is fully committed to providing a high level of service to all our clients.

Set out below are the standards of service that you can expect to receive from the AIS. 

 

Mission Statement:

 
The mission of the Advice and Information Service is to provide appropriate support to students to meet their welfare and education needs and to ensure that students are provided with free, professional, confidential and impartial advice and representation.
 

Our Objectives:

 
1.To empower students with the relevant skills and knowledge to manage their problems effectively
 
2. To be proactive in our approach to advice and information through outreach work to reduce the need for one to one advice
 
3. To provide user-friendly information on relevant issues affecting students through a variety of communication tools
 
4. To foster good working relationships with the University and external bodies
 

Core Activities:

 

  • Representation for students at: conciliation meetings with Chair of Assessment Boards, Appeal Panels, Complaint Panels, Cheating and Plagiarism, Disciplinary Hearings and other meetings within theUniversity that require representation

  • Advice, Information and Representation on all welfare related issues- Housing,  Welfare Benefits, Consumer, Family, Health, Employment, Debt, Financial Support, Local Information, Legal issues, Complaints and all Academic issues. (Please note that on occasion it may be necessary for the AIS to refer a case to an outside organisation)
  • Liaison with external bodies on behalf of clients including: LEA's, DfES, SLC, HEFCE, UKCISA, AdviceUK, NUS, CPAG, NACAB and Social Security Departments
  • Liaison with UEL Schools and Departments at the University in relation to general issues that affect students and on individual casework
  • Liaison with Quality Assurance Department on issues to do with appeals and complaints and UEL regulations
  • Liaison with the Secretary and Registrar in relation to individual casework and general issues that affect students
  • Induction talks and Open Days to promote the University, to discuss university life, financial support arrangements and the Students' Union
 

Client Groups

 

Internal:

 
  •  Existing students at the University of East London and all the affiliated colleges
  • Chairs of Assessment Boards
  • Staff within the various Schools and Departments at the University and affiliated colleges.
 

External:

 
  • Prospective/potential students of the University and affiliated colleges
  • Ex-students (only in relation to UEL specific issues).
  • Local Education Authorities (LEA's)
  • Department of Education and Employment (DfES)
  • Student Loans Company (SLC).
  • Federation of Independent Advice Centres (AdviceUK)
  • National Union of Students (NUS)
  • Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG)
  • National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB)
  • UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA)
 

 Our Standards:

 

1.      Advice and Information Service Meetings:

 
1.1 The AIS will hold monthly team meetings
1.2 Agendas shall be sent out at least 3 working days before the meeting and any relevant papers will be included if they are received at least 5 working days before the circulation date
1.3 Agenda items shall be clear and informative of the issues and will comply with the house style
1.4 Action sheets and notification of decisions shall be produced within 3 working days of the meeting and will be distributed to all appropriate people. Where possible all urgent actions will be notified earlier
1.5 Action sheets shall state clearly who is required to take action on specific issues.
1.6 Minutes shall be produced within 5 working days of the meeting and will be approved at the next meeting
1.7   Minutes shall be clear and informative, showing clearly the decisions and actions and minutes will comply with the house style
 

Monitoring:

 
Minute books will be used to keep a record of the AIS meetings and all minutes and agendas will be date recorded and maintained for future reference. Thus enabling the AIS to monitor how far we are achieving the standards set out above. The AIS meetings will be used to gain feedback on the standards and to review how well we are achieving the standards.
 

2.      REQUESTS FROM CLIENTS:

 
2.1    Letter requests will be available for collection within 3 working days of the date that requests are made to the AIS. Where possible urgent requests will be dealt with sooner
2.2    A client shall be informed of any delay in processing their request within the 3 working day period
2.3    Requests from clients for representation within the University will be met as follows:
2.4    For conciliation meetings and School Hearings the AIS will attend provided a minimum of 2 working days notice is provided. Also, with the proviso that there is sufficient staff/officers/ to support the demand
2.5    For all other Panels the AIS will attend provided a minimum of 5 working days notice is provided. Also, with the proviso that there is sufficient staff/officers to support the demand
 

Monitoring:

 
Log sheets will be used to monitor how often the AIS are achieving the standards set out above and we will record occasions when this has not happened. All complaints received will be discussed at the monthly AIS meetings and will be reviewed at UELSU meetings.
 
  

3.      Quality of Advice, Information and Representation provided:

 

3.1 The AIS shall provide a quality and professional service to all our clients and to the University and external bodies
 

Monitoring:

 
The AIS team will be subject to internal audit by other members of the team.
Evaluation forms will be sent out annually to UEL Schools and Departments. This will allow for both quantitative and qualitative feedback.
The AIS client satisfaction survey will be used to monitor how clients view the service they receive from the AIS
 

4.      SERVICE AVAILABILITY:

 
4.1    A drop in service will be provided at Docklands and Stratford during term time between 10.30am-12.30pm and 1.30pm -3.30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
4.2    An appointment service will be provided at Duncan House during term time on Wednesdays from 1.30pm-6.30pm in room 046. Clients wishing to book an appointment will need to contact UELSU no later than 12pm on Wednesday
4.3    Details of AIS opening times and any changes will be publicised on www.uelsu.net
 

Monitoring:

 
A rota advertising the opening hours of the AIS and the availability of Advisers will be displayed on www.uelsu.net Also, this information will be publicised in ReFuel and on all UELSU notice boards within the University. At the beginning of each Semester, Schools and Departments within the University will be sent a copy of the AIS rota to be publicised on their notice boards
 
Log sheets will be used to monitor how effective the AIS provision is in meeting the needs of students. The Campus Administrators will log contact to the AIS for one month each Semester and this information will be stored on a spreadsheet and will be reviewed at the AIS team meetings
 
The AIS client satisfaction survey will be used to look at the quality of service provided/provision of service and the level of awareness and promotional activities. The information produced form this survey will be made available at the UELSU annual central services review and the University central services review.
 
Complaints received will be used as a monitoring tool and will be reviewed at the monthly AIS team meetings.
 

 

5.      Training and Development:

 
5.1 AIS team will attend training that is provided in-house and by external training providers to ensure that knowledge and skills are kept up to date and to allow for personal development
 

Monitoring:

 
Training request forms will be used to assess how staff/officers/ training needs are being met. This will be discussed during appraisals
 
Notes: The Advice and Information Service is a member of the Federation of Independent Advice Centres (AdviceUK) and is required to adhere to the membership guidelines. Also, the AIS are required to adhere to the UKCISA code of practice

 

Limitations To The Service Or What We Cannot Do

  • We may not always be able to deal with your issue/s and as such it may be necessary for the AIS to refer you to another agency.
  • We cannot represent you in any external proceedings against any UEL School or Service as once you take the matter externally; assistance from the AIS is reduced considerably.
  • We cannot represent you on any issue/s for which you are already receiving advice/assistance from another advice agency ( Conflict of Interest- more information is available from the AIS) 

How We Promote the AIS Service Standards:

  • The AIS Service Standards are available on the UELSU web-site and in the AIS interview rooms and on UELSU notice boards in each UELSU office. 

How Clients Help Us Improve the Service:

  • We survey our clients regularly to ask for feedback about the service we provide. We may ask you in person, by e-mail or in writing what you thought of the service you received. Please do tell us what you think so that we can improve our performance and, if appropriate, alter our provision to meet client needs more effectively. You may give feedback anonymously if you prefer. A clearly marked suggestion box is available at each of the Students' Union offices. 

Procedure for Comments, Compliments and Complaints about our Service:

  • We wish to receive comments, compliments and complaints about our service to help us with ongoing improvement. A comment, compliment or complaint about our service should be made verbally to the member of staff concerned or, if preferred, in writing to the AIS Manager.

 

What we do about individual Comments, Compliments and Complaints:

  • Individual comments, compliments and complaints will be dealt with by the member of staff concerned or, if appropriate, the AIS Manager. They will also be discussed at our monthly AIS team meetings to help us monitor and improve the quality of service provided. 
What we do if a client is not satisfied with how we have dealt with a complaint?
  • The complaint will be referred to the AIS Manager initially and then passed to the President of UELSU for further action. 
Updating the AIS Service Standards:
  • The AIS Service Standards are reviewed and updated through our monthly AIS team meetings which include time for reflecting on and improving the quality of the service we offer.

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