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10.0 Work, particularly manual work, de-stresses most people; studying means continual exposure to new ideas, deadlines and financial pressures and these can increase your stress levels. Many students cope well, but all will get fed up at some stage during their studies. Get help when you need it.
10.1 Yourself. Get organised and tackle any problems early. Write them down to get them in perspective, in order and under your control. Share your concerns with friends and your tutor. Don't internalise your problems - this will make them worse.
10.2 Your Director of Undergraduate Studies will guide you in your choice of subjects (if any) and can advise you on general matters such as degree and examination regulations. Make sure you provide required information promptly e.g. change of address, a passport-sized photo with printed name on the back, completed module option forms, etc. so that accurate records can be kept.
10.3 Your Lecturers will be pleased to help you with specific problems related to the modules they teach. Such problems should be raised at seminars, or exceptionally, by appointment. Don't expect a drop-in service or them to be on-call 24 hours a day!
10.4 Your Tutor will help you with any outstanding problems (academic or personal) and you should make contact every 2-3 weeks during term time. Your tutor must be informed of any mitigating circumstances affecting your studies or exams, which MUST be followed by documentation (e.g. self-certification form, medical certificate etc). It is your responsibility to provide this written documentation to the Course Director. Failure to do so will mean that the Exam Board will be unable to take it into account. You cannot submit mitigating circumstances retrospectively i.e. after the Exam Board. Your tutor, or your Course Director, should also be told of any permanent, protracted or recurrent problems (e.g. dyslexia, disability or injury) so that we can form an accurate picture of your academic abilities. This information will be treated confidentially, but may be raised in broad outline at an Exam Board unless you specifically request that it is not.
You are recommended to submit ALL mitigating circumstances, whether or not you think you will pass; it is your right to do so. You should bear in mind, however, that although you will be treated individually and fairly by the Exam Board, our decisions are normally based overwhelmingly on the evidence of your marks; mitigating circumstances will normally only make a difference in borderline cases. It is also worth bearing in mind that the Exam Board has a responsibility to you to ensure that you are prepared academically for the next level of study; mitigating circumstances cannot make good any deficit here.
Discuss your exam results and choice of optional modules with your tutor. Discuss your hobbies and interests too, if only so that your tutor can write an informed reference for you. Your tutor will help you prepare a perfect C.V. and advise on other aspects of job hunting - keep him/her fully informed.
10.5 The Class Representative is an elected student member of the class who can approach the department on your behalf if you have any problems.
10.6 Your Classmates can also be a great help in your studies. Discussing work with them fills in blanks and gives fresh insights.
10.7 Remember
See also the International Students www page on http://www.brunel.ac.uk/international/contacttheinternationaloffice which has a lot of advice on living in the UK and being a student at Brunel.
10.8 The Language Centre currently run the following courses (1 hour per week) which you should consider attending to improve your English, even if it's your first language:
If you do not get on with your tutor, you have the right to change tutor; to do so, see the Senior Tutor.
See their web site: http://www.mastersportal.eu/students/browse/programme/14389/english-language-courses.html
10.9 The Careers Service (Library Basement) will provide advice on all aspects of job hunting and information on companies you are interested in. They have a selection of sample videos and C.V.'s. Make an appointment to see them and visit their www page at: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/pcc/
Another www page worth visiting is the London University Careers Service at
http://www.careers.lon.ac.uk/ .
You should also look at Kompass (which routes through to Key British Enterprises KBE) for company information on the CD-Rom Dataset Software Group on the Brunel Windows Network. For undergraduate and postgraduate taught course information see Ecctis (also in this group) which links to www pages of each university for more up-to-date information.
10.10 Information Services. The Library will help you find what you need or order it for you. Most course books are available here. Ask at the Issue Desk about the Library Tour (both physical and online). See also http://www.brunel.ac.uk/life/study/library
User Support will help you with any software (and sometimes hardware) problems and advice, and they can usually retrieve deleted files from backups in an emergency. There is a lot of information on computing at: http://www.brunel.ac.uk/life/study/computing
Email ccuspsm@brunel.ac.uk.
If you suspect your files are being tampered with, see User Support IMMEDIATELY.
There is a great deal of useful remedial and advanced software on the network, particularly in mathematics, and most of it freely accessible to all. Type menu at the h:> prompt for DOS software; double-click the install departmental software icon in the Network Programs group for Windows software and follow the instructions. The Maths Software group has a Software Guide icon which tells you what each Maths package does (both DOS and Windows).
On the web, a really great web site is Mathcentre at Loughborough University. This will allow you to download leaflets on a wide range of maths topics in pdf format.
10.11 Learning Difficulties.
Some of you will come to university with no idea that you suffer from a learning difficulty until you start your course. DO NOT PANIC. Whilst this happens to some students, it could be that you are not, for example, dyslexic and are just finding the work harder than you anticipated. If you think it is more that that then you should discuss your case with one of the disability officers, email disability@brunel.ac.uk who can, if needbe, arrange for an assessment.
Learning Difficulties encompasses a wide area of learning impairment such as
"I have found that in order to survive University, you have to do a few things, much of which has already been stated in the past pages of this guide.
At Brunel you can access some special needs software - see http://www.brunel.ac.uk/~mastmmg/studinfo/softguid.htm for details.
You might find the Dyscalculia and Dyslexia Interest Group's web site interesting and useful although this is targetted more at (maths) teachers than students. If you see something there that might help you, ask your teacher/lecturer to implement it in your classes/exams.
Finally http://www.dyslexic.com/ is a commercial company selling specialist software for disabled students.