Almost from its inception, Sheffield City Polytechnic has operated a system whereby each academic department allocates to every student a "personal tutor," who provides academic, professional, and personal assistance throughout the student's course of study. In 1988-89, in response to fiscal constraints, a number of departments made no…

Until recently, the model of student support operating at Sheffield City Polytechnic (SCP) in England involved pairing each student with a tutor, defining an entitlement of time for the student, specifying a minimum time commitment for which the tutor is required to be available, and leaving it up to the tutor and student to get together as best…