Information and Support for First Year Students
Student Welcome Centre
Central to the Student Support service at Aberystwyth University is the Student Welcome Centre located on Penglais Campus. The team at the Reception desk offer services such as form filling as well as signposting to appropriate support provision in the following areas – finance, disability, health, childcare and learner support. The Centre is open between 9.00a.m. and 4.30p.m.on Monday to Thursday and between 9.00a.m. and 4.00p.m. on Friday. There is also a ‘drop in’ session on Wednesday afternoon between 2.00p.m. and 4.30p.m. Contact the Reception Desk on 01970 621761. Please follow link for general information regarding student support:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/student-support/
Support from Welsh Department Staff
Welsh Department Secretary – Miss Rhian Haf Owen – your first point of contact for any enquiries (rho@aber.ac.uk / 01970 622137)
Head of Department – Professor Aled Gruffydd Jones
Director of Undergraduate Studies – Dr Huw Meirion Edwards your contact for all academic matters.
Disability Co-ordinator – Dr Mihangel Morgan
Personal Tutors – Your personal tutor will be noted on your student record.
Your Personal Tutor
As part of the Welsh Department’s pastoral provision each student will be assigned a Tutor from amongst the Department’s staff. Your Tutor will arrange to see you during the first fortnight of term (you will be informed of the date and time by means of a letter or card left in the pigeonholes outside the Departmental Office).
Students will normally have the same Tutor throughout their undergraduate careers, unless they submit a request to the Head of Department to change Tutor. Your Tutor will ask you to come see him/her at least once a semester, usually during the first weeks of the semester. In addition, Tutors will designate an hour (or more) per week when they will be free to meet students without prior notice.
If you need to meet your Tutor urgently at any other time you can, of course, arrange a meeting. If you have difficulty in contacting your Tutor directly you are advised to arrange a meeting through Miss Rhian Haf Owen, the Department’s Secretary (01970 622137).
The Personal Development Plan
Support regarding your Personal Development Plan is available from members of staff through our Personal Tutorial scheme, and specialist advice on careers is available from the University’s Careers Service. The PDP is incorporated within Blackboard so you have direct on-line access to resources which will support your transition from home to university, studying skills, academic work and career planning.
Follow this link for instructions on how to start your PDP:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/careers/docs/HowToPDP_en.pdf
(Departmental English Introduction to the Personal Development Plan to be arranged)
For Welsh second language students, one aspect of the PDP will be completed as an assignment required for the CY12220 Cymru Iaith a Diwylliant module.
For more PDP information please see:
Resources in the OldCollege
The Computers Room in the Old College is located in South Room 2 and is available during term time between 9.00a.m. and 21.45p.m. during the week.
Hugh Owen Library
http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/library/hughowen/
http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/help/newstudents/
The National Library of Wales
There are unrivalled collections of manuscripts, books and journals available in the National Library, along with two very pleasant Reading Rooms. Follow this link for details about obtaining your Reader's ticket