A community in which students thrive
Our university is large and diverse. Of our more than 70,000 students, half have joined us for their first degree while the remainder are experienced learners working toward research, professional and personal goals.
Over the past decade, surveys of our students have shown that they are becoming less engaged with the University and university life, with the proportion of students who feel like they don’t belong doubling in recent years. This lack of belonging and difficulty forming connections is particularly evident among first-year undergraduates, many of whom report experiences closer to “surviving” than “thriving” during their transition to the University.
We will meet the evolving needs of our diverse student body, both in the design and delivery of our educational programs and in the essential services that underpin students’ university experience.
Our ambition
- A thriving scholarly community where individual students’ development and success is proudly held as our collective mission
- A stronger sense of belonging for all students, by encouraging and enabling deeper connections to their peers and staff
- A first-year transition into our undergraduate programs that gives students the time, space and structures to establish themselves academically, personally and socially
- World-class student services that embrace personalisation and respond to the distinctive needs of students of different disciplines, degree types and stages of education
- A diverse educational community where student and staff wellbeing are woven into the fabric of our day-to-day business.
Advancements
All undergraduate students in the first year of their undergraduate degree will be given the time and space to create connections with other students and develop a stronger sense of belonging within their discipline of study at Melbourne. Recognising how critical it is for commencing undergraduate students to transition well to university life, the first-year experience will be infused with more opportunities for students to connect and develop a sense of belonging within their discipline.
We will:
- Design assessment in the first year to actively enable and encourage exploration, connection and collaboration among students
- Enhance students’ peer connections and sense of belonging through broader adoption of intensives and cohort-building experiences
- Partner with students to design and implement student-led initiatives that improve commencing undergraduates’ transition to University.
For all students, not just commencing undergraduates, we will prioritise teaching and learning practices and curriculum structures that foster a sense of community in subjects and within the discipline.
We will:
- Embed more frequent small-group, inquiry-based learning activities within subjects, particularly medium and large subjects
- Offer more immersive group experiences at the subject or course level, such as camps, offshore and in-community experiences and field work
- Expand Peer-Assisted Study Sessions or similar programs to support students’ regular connections with peers in their discipline.
Recognising that physical and mental health is fundamental to student success, the University’s Student Wellbeing & Mental Health Framework will be implemented to build and embed wellbeing-supporting practice and services in university life.
We will:
- Ensure the University and our staff support students’ development of wellbeing and mental health knowledge and skills
- Offer enhanced mental health services and address common barriers to improve students’ access to mental health services
- Promote and support sport, culture, and co-curricular activities which enhance students’ wellbeing.
Students will be welcomed as partners into the University’s decision-making, to improve student agency and impact across all areas of the University.
We will:
- Embed broad-based student representation in all levels of University decision-making where students have an interest and contribution to make
- Provide induction and training programs to support students taking on significant roles across the University and recognise their contribution
- Demonstrate to students and the University community more broadly the ways in which student feedback is used and the impact it has.
In key areas of student support such as careers and employability, equity and disability, academic skills and course and academic advising, our services model will evolve to one of closer partnership between central services and faculties.
We will:
- Establish new partnership models between central services and faculties so that key services are as close as possible to students’ academic ‘homes’
- Connect the critical functions of course advising and academic advising so that academic advisers can refer students to specialist course advisers, and course advisers can seek academic input as needed for each student
- Ensure the services model supports students who study remotely, online and across different campuses and locations
Key issues in the delivery of centralised student services will be rapidly addressed.
We will:
- Improve contact channels and self-help information so students can quickly and easily complete simple administrative processes and seek the help they need
- Accelerate the roll-out and use of technology platforms and integrations that support students’ administration for teaching and learning
- Support student administration and services staff to excel by providing job security, career pathways and professional development.
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