Support for Commencing Students at Risk
Policy | All Undergraduate courses3 |
The University is committed to being student-centric and to providing a high quality learning experience.
The University also takes a proactive approach to the monitoring of the progress of students to ensure that those enrolled make satisfactory progress.
Specific processes are designed to identify students in need of specialist support and advice, especially with regard to:
- students being able to maintain academic success and esteem;
- maximising student retention (avoiding the negative impact of failure on students and the costs of attrition);
- assisting students' commencement in tertiary study at the University (and consequently reducing the costs and pain associated with unsatisfactory progress);
- delivering on the University's moral and legal obligation to students and society.
Dedicated Student Advisers are responsible for a number of interventions conducted throughout the lifecycle of a student from application to graduation, in order to provide targeted advice and support to students.
Entering tertiary study poses many challenges for new students, such as managing increasingly complex and competing tasks, understanding the implicit conventions of the academy and studying independently, to name just a few. All students commencing tertiary study may be directly targeted with the offer of support to assist this process.
One aspect of this intervention will focus on students who, by virtue of identifiable characteristics, are likely to gain particular benefit from specific enrichment or well-being services and, consequently, be more likely to make satisfactory progress through their course. Another aspect will recognise that commencing students, although capable of study at a tertiary, may not have developed all the skills required to meet the associated challenges.
The 'Student Advising Model' provides additional information on processes for providing support and advice to students throughout their studies. The Transition and Orientation Programs Office coordinates orientation & transition programs more generally.
3 This policy does not prescribe an approach to providing support to students commencing studies in a course at a postgraduate level. Graduate Schools have responsibility for ensuring that suitable transition and orientation programs are in place for their students. This may involve a program that offers targeted support similar to those recommended for undergraduate degrees. A University policy with regard to support programs for graduate students entering higher study for the first time may be developed over time.