Faithful to its foundational principles, UCAM Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia has shown a practical concern towards the student, which translated into the careful attention given to each person. For this reason, the tutoring function offered to our student has its origins in the moment the University was born itself.
The group of tutors includes persons with a training level that is in line with the functions they must carry out, and that is adequate to the degree in which they carry out their work. They are mostly persons who show a clear spirit of service and commitment to others.
This service that we offer to our students has its raison d’être in the fact that the mission of the University is not exclusively academic. In other words, it does not just involve the transmission of theoretical and practical knowledge inherent in the degree to which the student has registered. The most important thing, in fact, is to help with the integral training of each student. This implies to look after the diversity of the student body, to improve its academic and professional development and to develop all those abilities that represent an authentic education for life.
Tutoring offers a monitoring role on qualitative aspects that are important in the educational proposal; among others, the education to values, the teaching of learning strategies, or the ability to make decisions.
Regarding the students, tutoring is a right and never a duty. Therefore, it is voluntary. The tutors will try to make the attendance to work sessions beneficial and useful, especially in the initial years; but, ultimately, the students will decide if they want to receive tutoring or not and if they want to continue their relationship with the tutor during their university studies.
In the development of their competences, the tutors assume and carry out three functions:
- The preventive intervention; that is, the one that, by preventing a possible starting point of future difficulties, anticipates the occurrence of elements or circumstances that might be an obstacle for the global and optimal development of the person.
- Corrective and intervention function on problems and lacks.
- The intervention of development, meant as the actions that tend to maximise the personal and group abilities.
They carry out all of these functions in the framework of some ethical principles that have their roots in the fundamental knowledge of the virtues and of the goods that enlighten the behaviours. In their work, the tutors must always respect the rights of the student as a person and as a student, which implies the fact of taking into account his/her personal beliefs.
We also consider that one of the missions of the tutors is to serve as mediators between the University and the parents of our students.