You told us, so we are

Over the past few years many students missed being able to come to campus to study, connect with their peers and take advantage of the on-campus experience.

So we are….

Reinvigorating campus life and giving you more opportunities to connect. 

• Bringing the life and FUN back to our campuses by holding regular face-to-face events, providing you with opportunities to connect with your peers. Kicking off with It’s Go Time! 2023 which created re-engagement opportunities for all students and welcomed commencing students.
• Reintroducing face-to-face learning in all courses, while exploring opportunities for flexible delivery options to suit your diverse needs.
• Providing peer-to-peer learning experiences that both enhance your knowledge and skills and help you build connections.
• Investing in student-led initiatives like clubs and societies to give you even more opportunities to connect. 

Students want better access to services and support that will help them succeed in their studies.

So we are….

Opening the door to more types of personalised support, available anytime, anywhere. 

• Continuing to provide access to 24/7 wellbeing support via the free and confidential Student Wellbeing Support Line to make sure you have help when you need it.
• Establishing a multipurpose Careers and Employability space on our Wollongong campus.
• Continuing to provide peer-to-peer support via the Students’ Hub on our Wollongong campus.

• Streamlining access to the Student Support Coordinator team. There is now a single email contact for the team support-wellbeing@uow.edu.au, previously there were seven email contact options.

• Re-imagining how we support students with disability, moving towards a strength based approach to Student Accessibility and Inclusion. This includes launching a new service that allows students to self-manage adjustments and make appointments.
• Reaching out to students who have submitted academic considerations, who have experienced three adverse events.

Find out about the full range of services and support available for students.

Students want systems and processes that are easy to use and understand.

So we are….

Improving our administrative processes, systems and learning platforms, and upgrading our technology. 

• Working on improving the tutorial enrolment process, including streamlining enrolment times across UOW. 
• Undertaking a review of our learning platforms including Moodle, Echo360, Turnitin and a range of other software, plugins and integrations. 
• Reviewing processes and looking at ways to simplify them so they’re easier to follow.
• Improving the Digital Skills support for students with the Digital Skills Hub (DSH). The DSH helps you evaluate your digital capabilities and develop new skills, so you can feel confident you have the digital skills needed to thrive in your future career.

Students want a more active role in contributing to the decisions made by the university.

So we are….

Creating more opportunities for students to voice their opinions and engage in decision-making. 

• Investing in Student Representation and promoting opportunities to more students across all campuses.
• Creating a Students as Partners framework and toolkit which will strengthen the relationship between the University and students, and provide a greater student voice in University governance, curriculum, content delivery and decision-making.

Students value the flexibility of online learning, but want the option to study on campus.

So we are….

Keeping flexible options

• Continuing with the Blended Learning Enhancement Initiative to maintain the balance between face to face and online classes and learning content.
• Continuing to use online exam invigilation to uphold academic integrity, while allowing you to sit exams where you feel most comfortable.
• Making it easier to study in the Library, with more powered desks and a BYOD Docking Monitor Service. We have also put into place services such as the online occupancy counter, virtual service points and a UOW Borrowing mobile app for the safety of staff and students.   

Students want relevant and constructive feedback on assessment tasks that gives them the tools they need to improve.

So we are…

Putting guidelines and tools in place for teaching staff, and giving students access to online feedback tools 

• Embedding feedback guidelines for teaching staff in all courses to improve the practice of giving feedback on your assessments 
• Providing you with access to Studiosity, an online feedback tool which provides constructive writing feedback in less than 24 hours, or live chat for one-to-one help in real time.
• Improving the practice of giving feedback on your assessments and using innovative tools to enable more relevant feedback from your teaching staff.
• Reviewing and improving assessment practices, including addressing your concerns about ‘over-assessing’ and removing high stakes final exams, unless they are absolutely necessary.

Students want increased community awareness and prevention training on sexual violence and to have input on what student safety looks like at UOW.

So we are…

• Holding UOW Respect Week every year as an opportunity for the UOW community to talk openly about what respect looks like, feels like and sounds like to each of us.
• Continuing to train staff, student leaders and placement providers in providing appropriate first response support to anyone disclosing incidents of sexual harassment or sexual assault.  
• Partnering with the Wollongong Liquor Accord to develop an online training program called Set The Bar for staff working in licensed premises.  
• Continuing to work with student representatives on our Safe and Respectful Communities Advisory Group. 
• Making the Consent Matters module compulsory for all students, to raise awareness around consent, bystander intervention and how to report incidents of sexual assault and sexual violence.

Students want to develop work-related knowledge and skills that they can apply in their chosen careers. 

So we are….

• Reinvigorated our flagship Graduate Careers Expo, bringing the largest number of employers ever to UOW.
• Working to create more opportunities within courses for students to engage in work-integrated learning experiences.