The 2003 UK's government White Paper on the future of higher education (DfES 2003) included the broad statement that 'all students are entitled to be taught well, and to be given the support they need to learn effectively.' But quality teaching--in the sense of quality in the classroom or online--is not the whole story, according to the author, and it is clear both from the broad vision set out in the White Paper, and from the work various organisations, that a focus on student support needs to be given an equal level of priority. A specific recommendation within that report was that HE institutions should ensure co-ordination between different support services, particularly between academic and other kinds of student support. This paper presents a structure for such academic support staff development and discusses costs and benefits.