Staff members should be prepared to advise students generally. Formal training is not necessary. What is necessary is concern about the welfare of students and interest in helping students optimise their academic development and personal growth during their years at NUS.
Your faculty may have in place a mentorship scheme whereby a group of new students is assigned to a member of staff. Given the size and impersonality of the campus relative to the teacher-directed and stable-group classroom ethos which students have been accustomed to in school, it is felt that students would benefit from having someone they can turn to when needed. In some instances, the mentoring continues throughout a student ’s entire programme of study.
Even where such a scheme does not formally exist, you will probably find yourself providing advisory and other support on an unofficial basis.