Learner support has been widely recognised as an integral part of University life and is often regarded as a key factor affecting student success. Studies have shown that students coming from schooling backgrounds that do not cater to the needs of higher education find the transition into university more challenging and therefore require support outside of their usual class content. It has also been suggested that, in order to ensure student success, academic and pastoral care should be a constant part of studies right till the time of graduation.
With this in mind, in September 2017, Middlesex University launched its Centre for Academic Success (CAS) which provides specialised support to all enrolled students. One of the key aspirations of CAS has been to foster a university-wide nurturing ethos to enable students to transform their potential into success. For this purpose, CAS has been offering academic support services to all enrolled students with the aim of promoting academic success, facilitating progression rates and ensuring completion of a degree.
The need to offer specialised support to students has become more imminent than ever before as students arrive at the university from diverse backgrounds and from varied educational systems. This poses a great challenge for lecturers who are constantly endeavouring to ensure that students master not only the content of the programme but also the academic skills required for them to succeed. The services that CAS offers aims to address this potential gap in learner competencies. Through academic enrichment sessions, students are introduced to the concept of academic integrity and university expectations. Whether it is a generic pre-sessional workshop on topics such as referencing and avoiding plagiarism or an intense, customised session based around an upcoming assignment, these classes have proved successful in promoting student success as they address study skills that students tend to struggle with the most.
In conclusion, learner support services are crucial, not only for individual student progression and achievement but also for supporting higher education institutions in their missions to provide all students with transformative and holistic learning experiences. At Middlesex University, the strategic step to formalise this support in the form of an independent department (CAS) has proved to be vital towards providing the complete student experience and this has been validated through the formal and informal feedback collected from staff and students who have acknowledged the role of this support towards improving retention rates and promoting academic success across the university.
Faiza Umar has been teaching the English language and academic study skills to non-native speakers for over 17 years.
She is currently employed at Middlesex University Dubai as the Head of the Centre for Academic Success and is also a lecturer on the International Foundation Programme. Her qualifications include a Master’s degree in Education (Leadership, Management and Change), and another one in English Literature. She has completed her Post Graduate Certification in Higher Education from Middlesex University Dubai and is a Fellow at the Higher Education Academy. Faiza also holds a certification in the Teaching of English as a Foreign Language.
Her research interests include Transformational and Blended Learning as well as the teaching of English as a Foreign Language.
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