Job Description
POST TITLE:
Postgraduate Teaching Support Volunteer (2 roles)
RESPONSIBLE TO:
Postgraduate Quality Co-ordinator
MAIN PURPOSE:
Provide support to post graduate students to help create
healthy feedback processes, group dynamics, culture, and
communication with others within and outside the College.
Provide support to the teaching and administrative staff of the
postgraduate programmes, assisting where needed on
programme administrative tasks.
TIME COMMITMENT:
30 hours per week, three days holiday per month in addition
to weekends free
August 27 2015 – April 27, 2016
January 4 – August 4, 2016
PRINCIPAL RELATIONSHIPS

The Students: You will be directly responsible for two cohorts of students, either those starting in
September 2015 (Holistic Science and Economics for Transition) or those starting in January 2016
(Ecological Food Systems and Ecological Design Thinking).

The Teaching Staff: One member of the teaching team from each of the postgraduate programmes that
you are linked to will be appointed as your principal point of contact, though you will have close working
relationships with all members of the teaching teams of these two programmes.

The Administrative Staff: You will have a close working relationship with the Postgraduate Quality Coordinator and will support this role to ensure critical quality processes are maintained and enhanced
within the respective programmes.

The Postgraduate Teaching Support (PTS) Volunteer: You will work closely with the other PTS Volunteer
to ensure coherence, fairness and integration across programmes

The wider College Community: In supporting the integration of the students within the broader College
community you will likely develop close working relationships with the Facilities Manager, the Community
Co-ordinator and the Volunteer and Rotas Co-ordinator amongst others
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Support Student induction
Provide support as necessary to the team holding the induction of new students
Keeping the Pulse
Keep aware of individual and group dynamics, catching issues as they arise, and bringing these to other
college staff as needed.
Feedback
Help strengthen, enrich, and quicken both formal and informal feedback process between post graduate
students, their immediate teaching staff, the postgraduate administrative staff and the rest of the college.
Document qualitative and quantitative feedback and assist in the development of annual action plans
emerging from this feedback
Culture
Help incoming post graduate students integrate into and participate in a lively Schumacher post graduate
culture whilst maintaining space and time for reflection and learning
Emotional Spaces
Where appropriate, facilitate processes and open spaces where students can share their emotions and
feelings, and where their broader learning journey can be honoured and supported
Support Person
Be a clearly defined “support person” for post graduate students – able to point students to sources of
further support/information within the College.
Facilitate Communication
Facilitate communication and linkages between the post graduate students and staff, volunteers, short
course participants and longer-term students, and local community, relevant networks and alumni.
Admin support
Support the gathering of information from amongst the post graduate students for administrative
purposes.
Support the students to fully participate in Schumacher’s on-going quality assurance processes
Help faculty members as required in course/class preparation (including field trips, VLE, photocopying,
etc.)