Teacher, mentor, counsellor, coach? Thinking creatively about the role of the academic tutor and how it enhancesthe student learning experience.

The changes to the HE landscape are placing a greater emphasis on the student learning experience and leading to increased student expectations of academic practices. As a result the role of the academic is shifting and may require skills additional to those needed in the traditional sense, such as coaching, mentoring and counselling. Can and should academics aim to take on all these roles? What can academics learn from professionals in areas such as coaching to improve the student experience? As part of this discussion we will reference a pilot project that explored the impact of coaching on a group of second year undergraduate design students