This handbook has been compiled with the help of several serving departmental tutors in the School, the Student Services Centre and the Teaching and Learning Centre. It acknowledges that practices may differ between departments and that the size of the department, along with the extent of administrative support available, will greatly impact on the nature of the departmental tutor's role, as well as responsibilities of academic advisers.
However, there are core duties associated with these roles and there are also many similarities between departments, as shown in the section called 'a year in the life of a departmental tutor and academic adviser'.
The handbook is not meant to be prescriptive and is considered to be a living document that should be added to and developed by departmental tutors, academic advisers and those involved in supporting them. Its purpose is rather to help all those new to these roles to understand the job the School asks of them and to provide a common point of reference for departments through which issues can be highlighted and good practice shared.
This handbook includes details about LSE100 The LSE Course: Understanding the causes of things| which has been a compulsory course for incoming first year undergraduates from the 2010/11 year. Support from students' academic departments and in particular from departmental tutors and academic advisers has been crucial to the successful implementation of this course. We hope the 'At a glance' section| will be useful to you and we welcome feedback on the guidance provided.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Dr Kate Exley, Consultant in Higher Educational Development, who was the primary author of this handbook when it was first published.
Many thanks also to those departmental tutors who gave their time and experience in compiling and editing the first edition, especially:
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Dr Alan Marin (Economics)
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Professor Jan Van den Heuvel (Mathematics)
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Dr Roman Frigg (Philosophy)
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Dr Elisabetta Bertero (Accounting and Finance)
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Dr Michael Mason (Geography and Environment)
and to Mark Hoffman and Mark Maloney.
Further thanks, for help with this edition, to Dr Peter Howlett, Dean of Undergraduate Studies; Dr Sunil Kumar, Dean of Graduate Studies; Christine Child, Head of the Student Services Centre; and Gavin Eves, Student Advice and Reception Manager; and Dr Claire Gordon, Teaching and Learning Centre.