 Advisory Service to Institutions:
Background
The Advisory Service consists of a group of experienced, accredited practitioners working in further or higher education institutions who provide information and guidance for AUCC members and their managers relating to counselling in colleges and universities. We meet once a term and can be contacted by telephone or email at our workplaces. The Advisory Service aims to keep abreast of all professional issues relevant to the FE and HE sector. Much of our work involves responding to enquiries from individuals who contact us for advice to help them deal with a particular situation, or are seeking clarification about their legal or ethical position. Most commonly we are contacted on issues such as service reorganisation, the impact of wider institutional change, data protection, training placements, legal and ethical requirements regarding confidentiality. In addition to answering individual enquiries, we sometimes circulate written guidelines to the membership, usually when new legislation or policy has a wide impact in our sector, and we also provide articles for the AUCC journal. Our publication
Guidelines for University and College Counselling Services clarifies the role of a counsellor in further and higher education, the activities they undertake and the working structures required to maintain good practice. This can be purchased from the BACP online bookshop
www.bacp.co.uk/shop or accessed on line by AUCC members from the Members Area (click link above). How we can help you
AUCC members have often found it helpful, when faced with institutional change or difficulties, to talk with a member of the Advisory Service who is able to act as an experienced sounding board and give a considered response to the issue. Where appropriate, the Advisory Service is also able to write to institutions to underline professional standards required for counselling services. Membership
We are currently looking for new members to join the Advisory Service. Applicants need to have substantial experience of counselling in FE or HE settings and be accredited practitioners. If you would like to learn more about the nature of this committee and the application procedure, please contact Barbara Lawton. Current members of the Advisory Service are: Barbara Lawton: Counsellor, University of Leeds (Chair)
B.A.Lawton@leeds.ac.uk
0113 343 4630
Mark Fudge: Counsellor, Keele University
m.l.fudge@acad.keele.ac.uk
01782 733022
Frances Kelly: Counsellor, Queen Margaret University
fkelly@qmu.ac.uk
0131 474 0000 
Conference Sub-Committee:The function of the conference sub-committee is to organize the annual conference of the AUCC. Our annual conference is the heart of our organization. It is a chance to: - meet and network with other counsellors from FE and HE around the country
- hear keynote speakers of the highest calibre on a topical theme
- attend workshops and seminars to enrich our work and count towards CPD requirements
It is a lively and well attended event held at the end of the academic year (late June). The Conference Sub-Committee Members currently are: - Charlotte Joseph (Chair)
- University of Wolverhampton -
C.Joseph@wlv.ac.uk
- Charlotte Snoxall (Vice Chair) -
University of Cambridge -
ces52@cam.ac.uk
- David Glyn
- City University, London
- Stephen Messinger - Roehampton University
- Ronnie Millar - University of Edinburgh
- Susie Shepherd - Coleg Gwent
- Tina Usherwood
- University of Bangor
Research sub-committeeAims of committee - To collect and collate information about the operation and management of counsleling in F and HE in the UK and from time to time commission a report from that information
If you would like to contribute to this endeavour, click here to download the spreadsheets for submission of data from 2008-9 and 2009-10 academic years:
and to promote research into: - the practice of counselling in further and higher education in the UK
- the conditions of work for those counselling
- any related area of research that could inform AUCC members.
Completed projects - Review of published research relevant to counselling in UK colleges and universities (1998)
- Compilation of references of published research in English language relevant to counselling in UK colleges and universities (2001)
- Template for evaluating client satisfaction in student counselling services
- 'Categorisation of Client Concerns' (1998, revised 2000 and now published 3rd revision 2009) which provides useful criteria for counsellors to classify clients' presenting issues and degree of distress (see also Degrees of Disturbance document)
Current projects - Annual Survey of Counselling in Further and Higher Education - published in May for the previous full academic year
- Membership of "Unicore" group monitoring and developing the use of "CORE" outcome measures and software in the management of counselling services and counselling practice
- Working group researching relevant evaluation measures applicable to assessing effectiveness of counselling interventions in tertiary education
- Divisional representation on BACP Research Committee
Ideas for future research projects - Bullying
- Evidence-based research to investigate use of psychological interventions in supporting students
If you would like to contact the research network either with a view to joining the network, or with ideas for future projects etc. please e-mail:
aucc-rscrch-sub-comm-request@jiscmail.ac.uk Research sub-committee members: The following will act as network/forum members: |
