What is an Academic Adviser?
An Academic Adviser is an academic member of staff assigned to you as soon as you start university. They are specifically chosen for you by your School and have specialist knowledge in your area of study. They provide you with personalised one-to-one academic advice and guidance to help you meet your study needs.
Each Division/School’s Academic Adviser process may look slightly different, but they will contact you early in your first term to arrange a meeting and regularly throughout the year, so keep checking your emails!
Find your dedicated Academic Adviser in your student handbook and KentVision profile.
What's in it for me?
Your Academic Adviser will support you throughout your degree journey. They provide you with structured academic advice at key points in the year, help you prepare for exams, and this is a big one – write your references and guide you on career decisions. Based on your meetings and Progress Profile attendance and attainment data, they will support you in gaining a deeper understanding of your learning journey.
If you are struggling to settle into university life, need tips on the modules you are studying or want someone to signpost you to support you may need – then your Academic Adviser is your go-to person. They will explain assignment feedback to help you pinpoint what you did well and understand how to improve your next assignment.
An Academic Advisor is invaluable in helping you to regularly reviewing how you are getting on academically, helping you reflect on what good progress looks like, suggesting ways to boost your progress even further such as referring you to the Skills for Academic Success team or specialist liaison staff in the library and personal student support. So, it is really important you get to know each other well by attending all your scheduled meetings and book one when you want extra support. They are there to help you have the absolute best learning experience possible.
Examples of when you should see your Academic Adviser
Yes, we recommend you go. These meetings are scheduled for your benefit so make sure you attend.
See your Academic Adviser. They will not tell you what to choose, but you can pick their brains about what the modules contain.
Have a chat with your Academic Adviser. They can help you understand what you did really well and how you went off course so you can start to figure out how to approach the next piece of work with confidence.
This is one for your Academic Adviser. They can help you identify what parts of your course you enjoy the most and where you can access additional opportunities.
See your Academic Adviser and they can discuss those circumstances with you and work out how to best manage the situation for example apply for an extension if appropriate or refer you to another university service who can support you.
Taking time to meet your Academic Adviser, as well as making use of all the services, apps, tools, and systems available to you here at Kent, will help you get the best learning experience possible. And remember, they can also be your academic reference when you apply for jobs or further study, so it's worth working on that relationship now!