Job Description
New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling
Existential Academy
61-63 Fortune Green Road
London
NW6 1DR
Title of Post: Administrator to the Academic Team
Hours: 5 days per week
Responsible to: Co-ordinator of Masters Programmes and Academic Director
Salary: Grade 5 £28 864- £32 970 depending on prior experience
Expected starting date: 1 April 2023
The New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling is a post-graduate Higher Education and training college that provides degree courses in psychotherapy, counselling, coaching, pastoral care, autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions, diversity, and related topics. Two of these training programmes lead to doctoral degrees, jointly awarded by Middlesex University, and the remaining five lead to Masters degrees, validated by Middlesex University.
NSPC It is wholly owned by Septimus Ltd, which also owns Dilemma Consultancy Ltd, a sister company which provides psychotherapy, counselling, coaching, supervision and psychiatric assessment services, and provides a low cost clinic; Ask the Therapist, which provides an online environment (TheTherapy.Space) for therapy and supervision, including the supervision of many NSPC students; and the Existential Academy, a not for profit community interest company that provides educational services to the public and to the wider profession. Dilemma Consultancy’s low-cost clinic provides a placement for some NSPC students, and the Existential Academy also offers a foundation course and short courses, and also a clinical training pathway that, in combination to the MSc in Psychotherapy, constitutes the Existential Psychotherapy Training.
The Professional Doctorate in Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling (DProf) and the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy (DCPsych) were first started in 2008. Successful completion of the DProf and the Existential Psychotherapy Training are accredited by the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and the Universities Psychotherapy and Counselling Association (UPCA), leading to professional registration with these bodies. Graduates of the DCPsych are eligible for full membership of the British Psychological Society, and registration with the Health and Social Care Professions Council.
All of our courses involve some online modules. The MSc in Autism and Related Neurodevelopmental Conditions, the MSc in Psychotherapy, and the MA in Diversity are each taught solely online using our purpose-built Moodle-based VLE.
NSPC also provides online teaching and supervision via the online, Zoom-based platform TheTherapy.Space hosted by one of our sister institutions, Ask the therapist. Supplementary courses for some of our students are provided by another of our sister institutions, the Existential Academy. These include a training in psychotherapy supplementary to the MSc in Psychotherapy Studies, and training in autism diagnosis and autism coaching.
Supervised psychotherapy experience is also available for selected students in the clinic provided by another sister institution, Dilemma Consultancy.
For more information about NSPC and its courses see our website at: www.nspc.org.uk
Location and ownership
NSPC is based in West Hampstead in purpose-built premises within easy reach of West Hampstead Thameslink, West Hampstead Overground, and West Hampstead Jubilee line stations. The building is a twelve-minute walk from each of these stations. The 139 and 328 buses pass the front door. There are secure facilities for bicycles. NSPC has a green transport policy and encourages staff and students to avoid the use of private cars.
NSPC presently has a student body of about 350, 70 part-time self-employed teaching consultants, four core academic staff who are leaders or course leaders for our programmes, 30 part-time research supervisors, a part-time librarian, a receptionist, and four full-time administrative staff in addition to its two directors. Emmy van Deurzen (principal of NSPC) and Digby Tantam (deputy principal) direct all four companies.
Hours of work
Normal hours at NSPC are 9 to 5 (including a lunch break), or on half days 9 to 1, 2 to 5. NSPC supports flexible working, and this can be negotiated. Days for this role- Tuesday-Saturday preferable 9 to 5, but willing to discuss this at interview stage.
Qualifications
- Undergraduate degree
- Familiarity with the use of databases
- Detailed knowledge of and experience in the use of the Microsoft Office suite
- Experience of working in higher education desirable
Duties
- Organise meetings, prepare documentation and take minutes for the Academic Team, Ethics Board, Student Review meetings, Boards of Studies.
- Collate news items from the Academic Team and send out the Student and Faculty Bulletins.
- Coordinate the updates of the Programme Handbooks with the Academic Team and update the generic sections with the new template from Middlesex University, ensure consistency across handbooks.
- Administer aspects related to the faculty such as teaching allocations, running the virtual staff room, organise faculty training and ensuring the Academic Handbook is updated and sent out to new faculty members.
- Ensure feedback is received from students and graduates and produce statistics when necessary.
- Liaising with the Academic Registrar to gain a list of potential graduates for each graduation ceremony and confirm with the graduates if they are attending the ceremony and feedback to the Academic Team.
- Track students’ research journey and follow up research supervision progress forms that have been marked unsatisfactory by students.
- Provide administrative support with outcome research.
General
- You will be joining an active and committed team and as such you will be required to cover essential roles if another member of the team is absent.
- You will be flexible about taking on new roles that are commensurate with your terms of employment if these are proposed by one of the managers.
- You will look after the environment and culture of the college, which includes being courteous and helpful to all users of the building; giving timely feedback on matters that might need action such as potential improvements to our websites, our communication methods, the fabric of the building or any other issues that pertain to recruitment, to our reputation, and to the wellbeing of all the users of the building.
- You will produce timely and accurate reports at the request of the directors, attend meetings regularly, and take minutes if you are requested to do so.
- Attending staff meetings and the academic team meeting.
- Contributing to marketing strategy and using tools such as social media, blog posts, publications in relevant journals to promote NSPC and recruit new research supervisors.
Person specification
- The successful candidate must be able to work well in a small and cohesive team, in which many tasks are shared between academic and administrative staff.
- They must be able to be diplomatic and supportive when dealing with students and clients, who may sometimes be distressed or frustrated.
- They must be able to demonstrate experience of successful team working.
- They must have the aptitude to learn to use our bespoke student management system.
Applications:
Via our online application at https://nspc.org.uk/staffrecruit/
Further information about NSPC can be found at www.nspc.org.uk or by contacting Sarah Walton [email protected]
Please send your accompanying CV and Cover Letter directly via email to [email protected]
Deadline for applications: Friday 17thMarch 2023
Interviews: Friday 31st March 2023
Starting date of the position: 1st April 2023 or as soon after that date as possible
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interview.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Salary: £28,864.00-£32,970.00 per year
Benefits:
Schedule:
Ability to commute/relocate:
- London: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work Location: One location
Application deadline: 17/03/2023
Expected start date: 01/04/2023