Meet our tutors and advisors
Here at the University of Stirling, we have a dedicated team committed to your academic success. Contact us by email: sls@stir.ac.uk.
Rhea Swinson Fitzpatrick
Head of Student Learning Services
Rhea’s background is rooted in developing and supporting educational opportunities in the USA, Ireland, Scotland, and the Middle East. Her career includes community education, international development education as well as working as an academic teaching research methods, history and academic skills to undergraduates. She also developed and taught the Post Graduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at Bahrain Polytechnic. With a History BA, a Masters in Community Development and a Doctor of Education, Rhea is committed to capacity building for students of all backgrounds and at all stages in their educational journey.
As a Senior Fellow of Advance HE, her role as Head of Student Learning Services at the University of Stirling, includes providing strategic and operational oversight of the service while also providing tutorial support, staff development and input into institutional projects and policies. Her teaching and learning interests include educational transitions, learning development, and critical pedagogy.
Jamie Macpherson
Academic Skills Adviser - Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Jamie earned a BA (Hons) in History from Stirling, an MSc (Edinburgh) and a PhD in eighteenth century history (2020). He has taught students across three institutions in history, politics and academic writing and worked as an Academic Skills Support Officer at Stirling (2021). His interests are working with international students and postgraduate researchers. Jamie was appointed as an Academic Skills Adviser in August 2021. This current role rests on supporting student progression and retention, developing resources, working closely with programme directors across the university and enhancing the student experience. Jamie is currently the named contact for the faculty of Arts and Humanities for the Student Learning Services.
Fiona Mayling
Student Learning Services Coordinator
Fiona is the Student Learning Services Coordinator and has worked at University of Stirling in different admin roles since 2004 and for Student Learning Services since 2017.
Jeff Meadowcroft
Academic Skills Adviser – Stirling Management School
Jeff gained a BA (Hons) in Modern History from the University of Leicester in 2004, before going on to complete an MPhil in Central and East European Studies (2005) and a PhD in 19th and early 20th century Russian Labour History (2011) at the University of Glasgow. Jeff has previously taught and coordinated modules at UG and PG-levels in Social Sciences, Politics, Management and Academic Skills at Glasgow International College, as well as teaching at the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Leicester.
Across his career, Jeff has contributed to research projects on Student Voice, Academic Literacies, Team Teaching and Learning Technologies. His current role focuses on supporting and enhancing academic skills provision within the Stirling Management School, and he is the named contact within the Student Learning Services team for the SMS Faculty.
Joshua Thorpe
Academic Skills Advisor - Faculty of Natural Sciences and Faculty of Social Sciences
Joshua has been involved in academic support and development since 2008, working for several universities in both Canada and Scotland. He holds a BFA and MA in Fine Art, is a Certified Practitioner of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education, and is currently pursuing a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching. Josh works primarily with the Faculties of Social and Natural Sciences, aiming to bring eclectic, student-centred, and experiential teaching principles to the teaching and support of academic literacies. Josh has a number of interests in both research and practice, including accessible teaching design, creative approaches to writing and academic work, and writing as a social and material practice (any of which he will happily discuss further if prompted).
David Tiseo
Academic Skills Tutor
David has worked as an Academic Skills Tutor for Student Learning Services for two years. As well as this role within SLS, he also works within Accessibility & Inclusion as a Study Skills Tutor, Personal Learning Assistant, and Proof Reader. As a Study Skills Tutor he works one-to-one with students with learning difficulties and disabilities; having this experience of knowing how to personalise tutorials and communicate with students with a variety of needs has really helped in SLS. Likewise, as a Personal Learning Assistant, David gets to attend classes with students, getting the opportunity as a ‘fly on the wall’ to appreciate what the learning environment at the University of Stirling is for students in practise – an insight that has proven truly beneficial in his SLS work. David’s background is in creative writing, with a BA in Scriptwriting for Film & TV from Bournemouth University.