University of Bradford >> LSS >> Thinking of studying at Bradford
The facilities are really good and the
library is one of the best things
about the whole University. The ratio
of PCs per student is also really high.
Thinking of studying at Bradford
We are delighted that you are thinking of studying at University of Bradford. With increasing numbers of graduates to choose from, employers value personal skills just as highly as subject knowledge. Learner Support Services (known as LSS) has a wide range of quality services to aid your development. Here's a brief outline of how we can support you; extra tips and resources to help you prepare for starting University are given on our Preparing for studying at Bradford page.
IT provision
IT is an important aspect of daily life and whatever your career path, you will undoubtedly use IT. IT Services provide one of the highest ratios of PCs to students in the country and several innovative schemes that enable you to keep the information you want at your fingertips and to communicate with your peers and tutors, whether you are working on campus or from home using Internet access.
- LSS supports PC clusters in most
buildings; those in the library are available 24 hours a day Monday to Friday
during term time. Room F42 in Richmond Building is a leading-edge 100-seat PC cluster for teaching, learning and computer-based assessment, and is available
24 hours a day, all year round.
- Using RoamNet, our FREE roaming network that offers cabled or wireless Internet access, you can connect your own laptop or handheld device to the University network from all the libraries, foyers and social spaces of all major buildings.
- You can get discounts on software from educational software suppliers.
- Blackboard is the University's virtual learning environment. Nearly all lecturers will use this to post material and information for your course; some Schools also use Blackboard for posting announcements.
- Your University email account is used for all communications relating to your study as this reduces the risk of important information not getting to you if you do not have or change a personal email account.
- Our facilities are provided with accessibility in mind. All the PCs we support have the standard Windows Accessibility features enabled. In addition, a number of useful software packages are available from the Disabled Users folder on the start menu.
- If you are an international student, we always make sure there are PCs available for you to email home without any delay to let family and friends know that you have arrived safely.
- If you are connected to the Internet on a mobile device use www.braduni.mobi to
check PC availability, search the Library catalogues, get directions to guide
you around campus, check the status of IT services, develop your study skills
and more.
- If you need assistance with using our IT facilities, you can ask at the Library and IT Help desk situated on the ground floor of the J B Priestley Library. Our trained advisers can help you with access to information resources and use of IT facilities from 9.00 am to 8.00 pm from Monday to Friday. Support is also provided at weekends during term-time. If you are not on campus, you can contact them by email or 'phone.
Please see our Questions and
Answers page about
IT at the University of Bradford.
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The Library
Whether you are studying on campus or at a distance, the Library is one resource you will need to use on a regular basis. J B Priestley Library sits in the heart of the city campus. There is also a dedicated subject librarys at the School of Management. However, many of our services are available via the Internet 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, so you can conduct research, make reservations or renewals and look at information databases on a range of subjects whenever you choose and from wherever you are via the Internet.
- The Library has around 600,000 volumes, over 1,100 printed periodical titles and over 7,000 electronic journals. There are also newspapers, reports and government publications and documents from the European Union and a wide range of Special Collections.
- J B Priestley Library is open 24 hours per day Monday to Friday during term with more limited opening hours during vacations.
- The libraries provide silent, quiet or group study areas, PC clusters and plug-in points and RoamNet access for your own laptop.
- If you are registered on an eligible distance learning course you can request
postal loans and photocopies of articles, access a library nearer to your
home and access information and services especially for distance
learning students.
- Magnifying equipment, both black and white, and colour, which focus on and enlarge text, daylight reading lamps and TFT PC screens are available throughout the three libraries. Service points and teaching areas in the libraries are fitted with a hearing loop and a textphone service is available.
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Developing your skills
Starting a new course at University can be an exciting challenge but it can also feel a little overwhelming at times. LSS offers a range of services to help you develop your study skills, exploit technology to enhance your learning, and equip you for employment. The services outlined below can offer you more individual, specialist support; however, we offer all students:
- Workshops - a comprehensive, integrated programme of workshops to support your personal, study and career development.
- SaPRA - a skills and personal reflective activity to help you idenitfy which skills you are confident in and which you might need to focus on in order to develop more confidence.
- PebblePAD - your own private online space to support your personal development planning. You can use it to reflect on your skills and experiences, plan and track your progress, create a blog, or share a webfolio of your abilities and competencies with your personal tutor or a prospective employer.
Learner Development Unit
Supporting students in their learning is one of the most important things the Learner Development Unit (known as LDU) does. They provide all sorts of resources to support you in developing and enhancing your academic skills, eg learning, reading, writing, maths and numeracy. As well as workshops, they also provide email advice and one to one support.
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Developing your career
Career Development Services
Career Development Services is responsible for the majority of the specialist activity relating to your career planning. Whatever your careers query, the Careers Service can help.
- Our Advisers can give you confiential, impartial careers guidance at any time during your studies. You can discuss any aspect of your career planning from finding out about vacation work in your first year, getting advice on a placement application in your second, or working out what to do with the rest of your life in your final year. They can also help you weigh up the pros and cons of a gap year, before, during or after study.
- Our dedicated careers information room will provide you with up-to-date information on occupations, further study, work and travel abroad, prospective empoyers and job vacancies. Our needs based website delivers information on all aspects of career planning, and gives you acccess to our 'Careers Advice via Email' service where we promise to respond to any queries with useful information and advice within three working days.
- When you are ready to start looking for a job, our Jobs Online system will give you up-to-date information on opportunities, including part-time work, placements, vacation work and jobs for after graduation. You can get practical help on essential job-hunting skills, including CV writing, interview technique etc. You can even use your career development work towards your final degree by taking employment-related academic credit-bearing modules.
- We organise and deliver innovative skills workshops, projects and other specialised services including online chat sessions to inform you about opportunities and help you develop your skills. We also organise recruitment fairs and visits from a wide range of employers, enable you to meet recruiters face-to-face, find out about their opportunities and apply for them.
- The ability to earn while you learn is increasingly important to today's students although we recommend that you work no longer than 15 hours a week so as not to affect your studies. We can also help you look for vacation work opportunities, both locally, nationally and internationally as we belong to a network of similar JobShops in other institutions around the country.
UCAN Volunteering Centre
Although not strictly within LSS, we also encourage you to develop links with the wider community through our UCAN Volunteering Centre that has 100s of volunteering opportunities, and 100s of volunteers. UCAN projects consistently win national awards and volunteers find volunteering highly rewarding.
- Opportunities are suitable for volunteers who have any time to spare, any skills, any experience, and a willingness to give it a fair shot.
- All support and training is provided; some training can be done to NVQ 2 and 3 standards and higher.
- Volunteering can be related to your course and provide you with valuable experience as well as doing something that you may never have had the chance to do before for free!
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Health and well-being
Starting University brings many life changes; whilst these are often exciting and bring lots of opportunities to make new friends, there are times in all our lives when we may need a helping hand. There is a network of experienced and sympathetic people on campus so there will always be somebody you can speak to during your time at Bradford.
Counselling Service
Confidentiality is the cornerstone of the Counselling Service and all that takes place during counselling is treated with respect and discretion. We offer a helpful, understanding and confidential environment for the discussion of any matter which is causing you concern. There is a team of counsellors, qualified or in training, who are experienced in responding to issues such as anxiety, bereavement, depression, family problems, fear of failure, loneliness, personal growth or relationships.
Disability Service
Disabled students will also find a very supportive environment at Bradford. We have a strong commitment to making all aspects of student life accessible for everyone, and the Disability Service has a great reputation for taking a holistic approach to the needs of every student we work with - providing the equipment and advice to help you get the most out of your time here.
- Applications to the University from disabled students are positively welcomed and will be considered purely on the basis of academic criteria. If you indicate that you are disabled on your UCAS form, you will be invited to contact the Disability Service to discuss any adjustments needed and will receive more detailed information about our facilities, and on the Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA). Our aim from the time you join us is to work collaboratively on your behalf with academic and other departments to make sure that any adjustments that are needed are put into place.
- The Disability Service operates as an outreach centre for an accredited Assessment Centre.We can carry out assessments of needs for applications for Disabled Students' Allowance which is available to eligible undergraduate or postgraduate disabled students and to part-time undergraduate disabled students who are studying at least 60 credits a year. We can also make recommendations for a range of adjustments such as extra time in examinations or note-taking support in lectures.
- We have a range of equipment and furniture for disabled people to try. We have technology available to loan out to students who are not eligible for DSA which includes portable induction loops for students who wear hearing aids, recording devices for lectures, PCs and laptops with assistive software and a variety of keyboards, mice, trackballs and other input devices.
- There are exciting developments currently going on around the campus and, alongside this, constant improvements are carried out to make buildings more accessible, and there are a number of modified rooms in the halls of residence. Many lecture theatres have infra-red loops, and Deaf Alerter has recently been added to the fire alarm system and installed across campus.
Health & Safety
We want to do all we can to help you work safely and to keep your work secure. Our regulations and policies are as much about protecting you as they are about ensuring that your use of our facilities meets internal, external and legislative requirements.
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How does LSS differ from the Hub?
Generally speaking, LSS focuses on the process of learning. So, we provide you with the information resources to help you increase your knowledge. We also supoort:
- you to develop skills for making the most of your studies and securing employment;
- your lecturers to provide innovative and engaging ways to inspire your learning;
- researchers to develop methods that ensure the quality and reliability of their findings;
- all members of staff to build their interpersonal and workplace skills so they can help you in a competent and efficient way.
The Hub provides the services that facilitate study life. So, you need to go there for enquiries relating to registrations, finance, accommodation etc.
