About Us

Academic Services is responsible for Aston's central academic administration and supports the work of Colleges, and the University's regulatory, quality assurance, planning, and academic decision-making processes.

Stakeholders

Academic Services provides services for a wide range of stakeholders including staff in Colleges and central departments, students, employers, sponsors, funding bodies and other external agencies.

Location

We are located on the ground floor of the Main Building. The Hub is the front line reception to our services and aims to provide an attractive and accessible point, at which students, prospective students, staff and general visitors are able to:

  • access authoritative, professional and comprehensive advice and assistance on a range of student related matters
  • contact the Hub by telephone, e-mail, post or in person
  • conduct University administration efficiently in one place
  • access all key support services provided for students by the University.

 

Student and Academic Services Key Contacts

Alison Levey

Associate Pro Vice Chancellor (Students)                         

a.levey@aston.ac.uk


James Holmes

Academic Registrar                                         

j.holmes3@aston.ac.uk


Elizabeth Hobday/Gemma Dawson

Academic Services Manager/Discipline Officer             

e.a.hobday@aston.ac.uk

Secretary to the Academic Appeals Committee                 

g.dawson@aston.ac.uk


Yvonne Henderson

Graduate School Senior Administrator                             

y.henderson@aston.ac.uk


Lesley McCarthy

Examinations Officer                                                         

l.m.mccarthy@aston.ac.uk
 

Our Approach to Service Delivery

We aim to meet the requirements of our stakeholders, by regularly seeking to establish and understand their needs and by seeking their views on the quality of our services, through informal processes (eg meetings with key stakeholders and focus groups) and more formal mechanisms (staff and student surveys).

Staff within academic services have close links to colleagues within Colleges in order to facilitate good communications and more customer-focused delivery of services. The team have varied and specialist knowledge in many areas of the student journey.

We aim to provide a high quality and professional service for our stakeholders and expect staff to be approachable, courteous, well-informed about current matters and future developments, to act with integrity and honesty, and to provide accurate and timely information. Staff are encouraged to appreciate that individual interactions with service users are likely to impact on their views of the University as a whole and their long-term relationship with/attitude towards Aston (as well as potentially affecting the views of their family and friends for many years).

Mission and Objectives

Mission

Academic Services' mission is to facilitate the delivery of the University's mission in its pursuit of excellence in teaching, research and community engagement by providing high quality administrative support that is efficient, flexible, accessible, and responsive to the needs of all our users wherever they are located, whether on campus, at a distance or at our partner institutions.

Objectives

Academic Services' objectives are:

  • to liaise with Colleges and other central departments in developing an excellent University student management information system, that will underpin academic administration; learning and teaching; and research supervision activities across the institution, and ensure that decision-making is informed by timely and accurate management information
  • to ensure that the procedures for the assurance and enhancement of academic quality and standards are fit for purpose, effective and robust.
  • to recruit and retain an excellent team of staff and to improve its effectiveness in delivering the above objectives through the provision of appropriate professional training and development.