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This paper examines the changing role of academics in providing support to students. In doing so, it argues that locating practice in higher education in a historical context gives a new perspective to current issues. In this case, the role of the residential warden is compared with the role of the personal tutor in higher education in the UK. These roles co-existed until the decline of the role of the warden from the 1960s onwards (Silver 2004). The paper asks whether the parallels extend to the eventual abandonment of the personal tutor role in the way that the residential warden role was abandoned. Three parallels will be discussed: first, in relation to non-traditional students, second, in relation to the teaching/research relationship and third, the evidence base for the efficacy of the role.