A centralised welfare training scheme for new college tutors is to be rolled out by the University in the next academic year, it was announced this week. This follows a CUSU campaign that highlighted the pitfalls and discrepancies in the college welfare system. Minutes from the CUSU council meeting show that CUSU’s Welfare and Rights Officer, Helen Hoogewerf-McComb, called this news “a win.”

Under the plans, new tutors will be invited to receive one day of training. There will be contributions from the Disability Resource Centre, senior tutors, CUSU and the Graduate Union. The University Councelling Service has also been invited by the Senior Tutor Committee to participate. It is hoped that this will better prepare tutors for dealing with welfare issues such as mental health, and provide a more “joined-up approach.”

Currently, welfare training for tutors is optional and infrequent, and some tutors receive no training whatsoever, despite often being the first point of contact for students facing welfare problems.

A spokesperson for the university explained: “In the light of feedback from participants on previous [tutors’ training] courses, and as part of our ongoing efforts to optimise welfare provision in the collegiate university, it was considered that a future expanded training session would be useful.”

In response to the announcement of greater training for tutors, the mental health campaign group, Student Minds Cambridge, announced that they were “delighted” with the plans for tutor training. “[We] are glad to see the University working to improve what could be a fantastic system,” a spokesperson said
However, criticism of the plans is already mounting, as the number of incoming tutors is small and the training will not be mandatory.

Chris Page, a former CUSU-Graduate Union Welfare and Rights Officer and a mental health activist, called this “only a small step”, despite applauding the progress made. He argued that “we must also not forget that tutor training alone will not resolve all the welfare problems in Cambridge,” and pointed to the “dire need for reform of intermission and how colleges respond to rape and sexual assault on campus.”

This sentiment was echoed by Hoogewerf-McComb, who said in a statement that “there is more work to be done to ensure that high quality, consistent pastoral support is available in all our college communities.”

CUSU now intends to encourage their college representatives to talk to the senior tutors to push for colleges to make welfare training mandatory for all tutors.