Mental Health Assistant in Birmingham

We are seeking a Mental Health Assistant to join our Student and Academic Services department. The Directorate of Student and Academic Services (SAAS) leads on the development and provision of outstanding student facing services. The Directorate is responsible for ensuring that students have an excellent experience and provides services across the student and academic lifecycle from enrolment to graduation, covering everything from wellbeing services to ensuring new courses are set up correctly. The Directorate is at the centre of a transformation programme as we seek to make services which underpin our student experience more efficient and effective.

The postholder will provide comprehensive administration support to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Team, including maintaining client records, booking appointments for advisors and counsellors, corresponding with clients, and preparing reports and support summaries. You will provide initial and ongoing advice to students and applicants with mental health difficulties enquiring about support and answering and referring general queries made to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Team. The Mental Health Assistant will play a key role in ensuring the University meets its duties towards students with mental health difficulties under our duty of care and the Equality Act 2010 and provide support to specialist advisers when students present in crisis/emergency.

• Respond appropriately and efficiently to queries from students, University staff, parents, and external organisations in person, by telephone, via email and the University’s enquiry management system, referring enquirers on to other members of the Student Services and DSaAS teams as appropriate.
• Create and maintain accurate, confidential, chronologically ordered client files, in accordance with the University’s data protection and confidentiality policies; entering details of telephone, email or written correspondence with or about clients into the team’s client relationship management system, including funding support details.
• Screen referral forms for signs of risk and escalate these to the appropriate duty worker for priority action.
• Monitor and allocate concerns to duty and safeguarding clinicians and provide assistance to the first responder.
• Support students to arrange Disabled Students’ Allowance needs assessments and other appointments for students in liaison with other teams and external providers, including the booking of suitable rooms and making access arrangements where necessary.
• Ensure the timely and appropriate dissemination of Disability Support Summaries and Library Support Forms to students and faculties and provide advice to students and academic and support staff on the implementation of support.

• Educated to GCSE level or equivalent including English and Mathematics at Grade C or above.
• Experience of working within a busy office environment dealing with multiple tasks, queries, and deadlines.
• Experience providing customer-facing services.
• Strong IT skills including Microsoft Office is essential, and experience of using Case Management systems is highly desirable.
• The ability to recognise a safeguarding concern and seek appropriate support/guidance.
• A good working understanding of confidentiality and data protection issues.
• Superb organisational skills and accurate record-keeping.
• Well-developed interpersonal skills, including the ability to work collaboratively to achieve mutually agreed resolutions.

We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and to an environment that supports lawful free speech and academic freedom. We will continuously review and improve our policies, practices, and procedures to ensure that we are promoting these in all aspects of our operations. We believe that by working together, combining our many different backgrounds and life experiences, we will empower each other to reach our full potential.

The appointed candidate will normally be employed through our subsidiary company BCU Support Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Birmingham City University. Appointees with prior LGPS membership who wish to enter the LGPS scheme will be able to do so and will be employed by Birmingham City University directly.