What is the role of tutoring at university? Models and perspectives under discussion at Católica
“Education is not merely the transmission of knowledge, but the learning of virtues”; guided by the reflections set out in Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic letter, the Universidade Católica Portuguesa organised the Tutoring4Success Conference: The Present and Futures of Tutoring in Higher Education on 3 June.
Organised as part of the UCP4SUCCESS initiative, the conference brought together lecturers, researchers, leaders and staff from higher education to reflect on the role of academic tutoring in the contemporary university context.
The main aim of the event, held at the Faculty of Human Sciences (FCH) in Lisbon, was to promote discussion on the place of tutoring within the higher education ecosystem, through the analysis of models and approaches underpinned by scientific evidence, institutional experiences and practices implemented at various Portuguese universities and polytechnic institutes.
The opening session featured addresses by the President of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Isabel Capeloa Gil; the Pro-Rector for the Braga campus, Paulo Azevedo Dias; and the Director of the FCH, Catarina Duff Burnay.
The guests launched a discussion on the current challenges facing higher education and the growing importance of tutoring in supporting students. The meeting highlighted the importance of a humanistic approach to education, emphasising the idea that the university should contribute to the holistic development of the individual.
This perspective was linked to the thinking of John Henry Newman, who, in his work The Idea of a University (1852), states: “The true purpose of the university is to cultivate the intellect and develop rational and well-rounded human beings, rather than to prepare students narrowly for a specific profession or trade.”
The morning continued with the round-table discussion ‘Deconstructing: What if there were no tutoring?’, in which representatives from various higher education institutions shared experiences, challenges and best practices relating to tutoring programmes.
Among the topics addressed were the difficulties in implementing these programmes and the strategies adopted to strengthen student support.
The first panel of the afternoon, entitled ‘Integrating and systematising – tutoring within an ecosystem’, reinforced a key conclusion: tutoring is a unique space for building relationships, fostering a human touch and facilitating non-formal learning.
The meeting emphasised the need to view tutoring holistically, not as a complementary or one-off measure, but as a fundamental component of the academic experience, integrated into universities’ educational strategy and underpinned by consistent institutional policies.
The need to clearly define the role of tutors, to invest in specific training for teaching staff to carry out these duties, and to create rigorous assessment mechanisms capable of measuring the impact of tutoring on students’ academic performance, well-being and integration was also emphasised.
The conference was brought to a close by the four coordinators of the UCP4SUCCESS project: Armanda Gonçalves, Célia Ribeiro, Cristina Palmeirão e Susana Costa Ramalho.