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UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES)

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Support, Wellbeing and Community

This page contains information on how SSEES and UCL can help support you and your wellbeing during your studies. Please take time to look at the resources and support available.

Welcome to the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES)

SSEES sign

Starting a course at a new university, possibly in a new city or even country can be a daunting experience and starting your studies this year will be a unique experience. We are committed to ensuring that despite the ongoing circumstances, you will still experience the highest-quality teaching and support that we deliver to our new students every year. The most important thing to remember is that there are many sources of advice and support available for every aspect of your life at UCL from the moment you arrive until you graduate and beyond.

There is a lot of information to take in in the weeks running up to the start of university and once you are here. We recommend that you Start Here before going onto to reading the rest of the information on this page.

Sources of Support Within SSEES

During your time at SSEES there are a number of different people whom you can contact if you have queries or concerns about your studies, personal circumstances or anything else that might be affecting you. You will find details about these individuals and how they can help you below. 

Personal Tutor

Each student is assigned a Personal Tutor, who acts as their Academic Mentor throughout their time at UCL. Details of your Personal Tutor will be communicated to you at the start of induction week. Your Personal Tutor can provide academic and pastoral support for you during your studies and you will be required to meet regularly with this member of staff during term time. Please read the following How to Succeed Guide for more details on how personal tutoring at UCL could help you while studying at UCL. You may also like to look at Things To Talk about with your personal tutor for information on how they can support you during your studies.

General Enquiries - Education and Student Support Office

If you have a general enquiry, you can send an e-mail or call our Education and Student Support (ESSO) Office below. 

Email: ssees-student@ucl.ac.uk   Tel: 0207 679 8770

Student Support Officer

If you wish to request an extension to a deadline, wish to change your course, interrupt or withdraw from your studies, or need advice or guidance on extenuating circumstances, illness or personal issues, you should contact the Student Support Officer.

Email: ssees-extenuating-circumstances@ucl.ac.uk   Tel: 0207 679 8772

Programme Administrator

You can contact your dedicated Programme Administrator if you need advice about module registrations or if you are unable to attend a class or lecture or need course or assessment information. To see how to contact your respective programme administrator, please see the key contacts section below.

Transition Mentors

The Transition Programme supports new first-year students, ensuring they settle in quickly and are able to achieve their potential.

Every first-year student is assigned a Transition mentor for their first term at UCL, who will be a current student from within your department. They will work with you and other first-year students in small groups on a weekly basis throughout the first term, helping you to get to know UCL and London as well as covering issues relevant to your degree programme.

You will meet your mentor online at a scheduled session on Tuesday 28th September.

Student Adviser

UCL Student Advisers are the key contact for first-year undergraduates in your department for any wellbeing, support and student experience matters. Our dedicated SSEES Student adviser is Alison Davies and you can schedule a meeting with her via the booking system here

Key Contacts

There are a number of key contacts you should keep a note of during your time at SSEES. These are listed below for your information. If you are dialling telephone numbers from outside the UK, please use the +44 Dialing Code. 

Economics and Business

The Programme Administrator is Sasha Aleksic 

e-mail: ssees-eb@ucl.ac.uk 

Tel: 0207 679 8773

Languages, Culture and History

The Programme Administrator is Ben Chatterley 

For Languages and Culture e-mail : ssees-lc@ucl.ac.uk

For History e-mail : ssees-history@ucl.ac.uk 

Tel: 0207 679 8771

Politics and Sociology

The Programme Administrator is Angela Nnamchi 

e-mail: ssees-ps@ucl.ac.uk

Tel: 020 7679 8598

History, Politics and Economics

The Programme Administrator can be contacted at:

e-mail: ssees-hpe@ucl.ac.uk

Tel: 0207 679 8778

PhD, Research and MRes

The Programme Administrator is Svetlana Smirnova 

e-mail : ssees-research@ucl.ac.uk 

Tel : 0207 679 8754

International Masters in Economy, State and Society (IMESS)

The Programme Administrator is Svetlana Smirnova

e-mail : ssees-imess@ucl.ac.uk  

Tel : 0207 679 8775

Academic Administration Manager

The Academic Administration Manager is Michael Wozniak

e-mail : m.wozniak@ucl.ac.uk

Affiliate Students

e-mail: ssees-affiliate@ucl.ac.uk

Student Academic Representatives

If you want to change something about your education, or pass on feedback about your experience, you can contact one of our Academic Representatives. Every taught course has at least one Course Representative, with larger programmes having more. Together, these reps gather your opinions and work with the staff at different levels of the university to act on your priorities and make your education better.

We are looking to recruit new student representatives across all programmes/levels and would love to hear from all interested students. Consider putting yourself forward. Details of this will be communicated to you during the induction week. You can read more about being a student academic representative here.

SSEES Student Society

The SSEES Student Society is made up of SSEES students who represent your interests and work to organise and run exciting social and careers events throughout the academic year. You will have an opportunity to meet members of the SSEES Student Society in induction week as well as at various other planned events and activities that they will be hosting in the following week too. You can find out more about the Society Instagram at @sseessoc and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sseessociety

Some of our SSEES Student Society members have put together a video on their best pieces of wisdom and advice for new students joining this year which we encourage you to view below:

YouTube Widget Placeholderhttps://youtu.be/r6TuuxZQnT0

 

Important Training for all Students - Please Act Now!

 

As part of the process of joining the UCL community and as part of our commitment as a university community to foster values of equality and fair treatment it is important that every new member of UCL undertakes the Active Bystander Programme developed by the Students Union. 

This programme consists of an online delivered course followed by scheduled live workshops. Completion of the programme is compulsory as part of your engagement with the UCL community so please do allow a good amount of time to engage with the programme. 

We recommend that you take the time to start the programme as soon as you can - especially as it will become difficult to manage your time in the first few weeks of university life. Access the programme by clicking here. 

Once you have done this, you are welcome to attend the in-person session that will be initially held on 29th September 2022. The details of timing and rooms will be distributed in your induction timetables. 

In addition to the compulsory Active Bystander Programme, we encourage all Students to also see the Sustainability Induction Course on Moodle accessed here in their own time too.

Beyond SSEES

Being a part of the UCL community gives you a huge choice of extracurricular activities and services to make the most of.

Here are some suggestions to get you started:

  • Consider offering your spare time, skills and talents for the greater good whilst meeting new people and gaining new experiences with The Volunteering Service
  • Sign up to one of 300+ Clubs and Societies at UCL. From Aikido to the Writers Society there truly is something for everyone. Access the listings here. 
  • Find time for your physical wellbeing and see what's on offer at UCL's numerous gyms, clubs and leagues here. 
  • Sign up to the TOTUM (NUS Extra) Card for discounts and savings during your studies. Find out more here.
  • You may not yet be thinking about career plans or you might have a very definitive plan in mind - UCL Careers will help you find your future. Find out more here. 

Sources of Support Outside of SSEES 

Student Support and Wellbeing services are here to support you throughout your studies. Their team of expert wellbeing, disability and mental health staff provide a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space, in which you can discuss any issues that may be affecting your ability to study. All of their support services are free of charge and open to all UCL students of all levels. Full details of the support available to you can be found on the New Student page. Your Personal Tutor will also be a key point of contact for you if you are experiencing any difficulties.

For international students, a great deal of support and information is available from International Student Support.

Do you have a disability or long-term health condition?

If you are disabled or have a health condition that you feel might impact on your ability to perform in assessments, you can apply for reasonable adjustments to your assessment(s). As a new student, we would strongly recommend you get in touch with our disabilities team as soon as possible to get these adjustments and support in place so you can start your studies with support available to you. We recommend accessing this support by following our simple steps outlined here 

If you need help urgently

If you or someone else needs help urgently in an emergency then you should always dial 999 - the Emergency Services - first and ask for assistance. 

In other situations where you or someone else needs urgent help such as in a mental health crisis then please see the key contacts listed here.

There is always help available.

UCL Student Support and Wellbeing also suggest other sources of support including:

Further Information

Need urgent help?

If you or someone else needs urgent help you should reach out immediately to get the support required. 

Get Help Here