Engaging Communities: designing

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Engaging Communities designing delivering
effectively targeted support to humanitarian
entrant students.
Student Services First Year Retention Team
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Student Services First Year Retention Team
Engaging Communities Authors Brian
Sweeney CALD Program Matthew Hingston CALD
Program Presenters Alison Poot First Year
Co-ordinator Jane Rienks Catalyst Program
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Student Services First Year Retention Team
Setting the Scene
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Student Services First Year Retention Team

• Session Outline
• Who are they?
• What do they need from us? Why?
• What have we done to support them?
• How have we done it?
• What have we achieved?
• What themes have emerged?
• Is the approach broadly applicable?

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Student Services First Year Retention Team
Context Who are they? CALD Culturally
and Linguistically Diverse Domestic not
International Students Humanitarian
Entrants - mostly refugees - trauma
torture - collectivist cultures - priorities
are safety, family education
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Student Services First Year Retention Team
Context UTAS Client Group UTAS 2007 more
than 500 who identify Mostly African Sudan,
Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, Eritrea. Also
Latin America, Central Asia and the
Balkans Client group growing steadily since 2004
and will include significant numbers of Burmese
by 2008
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Student Services First Year Retention Team

• What do they need from us?
• Cultural Connection Welcoming
• Help with welfare issues accommodation, part
  time employment, finances, health care access
• Learning Skills Support
• - Computer skills
• - Information literacy
• - Language skills
• - Enhanced foundation learning
• - Transition to different
  teaching/learning style
• - Understanding of universitys
  expectations

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Student Services First Year Retention Team

• The most important thing they need is
• Acknowledgement of their past and present
• experiences..

Life of Safety Certainty
Crisis/Trauma
Refugee Life
Settlement Journey
Lifelong redefinition of and search for safety
certainty
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Student Services First Year Retention Team
What have we achieved? Successful first year
CALD students up from 35 in 2005 to more than
75 in 2006. Extensive networks with community
service providers. Support of Humanitarian
Entrant communities, government agencies,
schools, TAFE, UTAS community.
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Student Services First Year Retention Team
How have we done it? Profiling to understand
client group data, focus groups, critical
reflection Early intervention to influence
pathway planning and preparedness outreach,
community networks Parallel tutorials content
focussed driven by immediate student
needs Cross-cultural workshops fact
sheets 1-to-1 support of academic and general
staff Focus on shift to self-sufficiency in
university wider community environments TERROR
truth, empathy, respect, reliability,
originality resilience
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Student Services First Year Retention Team
Themes 1 Shift in process from reactive/generic
to early/anticipated/flexible/targeted. Program
based on key community partnerships and human
connection Core experience of officers
experience of the outsider with freedom to be
creative in developing support options for
students and staff
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Student Services First Year Retention Team
Themes 2 Move to independence refugee
experience requires dependence on aid workers.
Important same dependence not transferred to
UTAS staff. Cultural awareness own others
for both hosts newcomers is critical in
effective interaction Understanding supporting
true settlement is fundamental for effective
service design.
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Student Services First Year Retention Team
Themes 3 The program is underpinned across all
of these elements by the need to Engage
Communities - Migrant communities -
University staff general and academic -
Service Providers - Broader community -
Business community
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Student Services First Year Retention Team
Broader applicability Other equity groups
officers believe acknowledgement of human
commonality and cultural adaptability can be
central to service design for Low-SES and
Disability students. Well-being holistic
nature of program lends itself well to
complementing well-being approaches to the
university experience. Consistent with other
UTAS FY approaches like the Catalyst Program.