2024 O-Week Report

O-WEEK REPORT 2024

Hayley Butt Orientation & Student Welfare Coordinator

Excitement was palpable leading up to O-Week 2024. Students and staff alike were elated to be back on campus, welcoming new and returning students to another academic year! O-Week 2024 saw the Guild introduce new events and bring back favourites, such as Mates in Minutes and of course, the famous O-Week Festival.

The 2024 O-Week program focused on welcoming commencing students and introducing them to all the Student Guild has to offer. Campus activations included Campus Tours, an Outdoor Movie Night, an array of Come & Try sports events and multiple sessions of the coveted Mates in Minutes event.

The major event, the O-Week festival, was held over two days on the Monday and Tuesday of O-Week; this encouraged students to make the most of the festival and engage with all the stalls, services, and freebies available. The O-Week festival welcomed almost 4,000 students and provided students with a practical O-Week bag, filled with a notebook, pen, water bottle and voucher booklet to support students throughout their 2024 academic year.

The nightly social program provided students further opportunities to engage with on-campus life, meet new people and get to know their Student Guild. There was something for everyone during O-Week; each student could find an activity to engage with that would feed their hunger for university life, no matter if they preferred to spend their time on the court, partying or watching a movie with friends. The Guild also continued to offer multiple online workshops and information sessions, building on last years success by introducing sessions like ‘Master Your Productivity’ to help students build helpful study habits.

The electric atmosphere of the O-Week Festival exemplifies the start of university life. The O-Week festival provides student with the perfect taster of what can be expected during their time at Griffith; a market style, street festival vibe to bring new and returning students on to campus to soak up the vibrant Griffith University Gold Coast campus culture. Sprawling across the library lawn, down University Drive and all the way over to G40 the 2024 O-Week Festival introduced students to everything they would need during their student life.

The Festival opened with a Welcome to Country and Aboriginal dance performance then offered students a free breakfast before they headed off to join one of the 76 clubs on offer, go on a campus tour, learn more about on-campus support from the Student Guild and Griffith support stalls or grab some freebies from the corporate partner stalls, such as Red Bull or Cocktails Nightclub, all while immersing themselves in the fantastic campus culture and festival atmosphere.

Address from the Orientation & Student Welfare Coordinator Hayley

O-Week in Numbers

9,331

303 students took advantage of the free Cereal Bar*, offered by the Guild – where they could have a free cereal breakfast and grab some juice or a kombucha energy drink.

*not a previously offered O-Week service

* The decrease in reception enquires can be attributed to the two-day O-Week festival. The increase in out of office presence by Guild staff and volunteers likely led to more student enquiries outside of reception, that have not been captured by this data.

2023 / 2024 Comparison

The Academic Support portfolio did not run any O-Week events in 2023; thus, there is no data to compare to.

2023 / 2024 Comparison

The Careers & Employability portfolio did not run any O-Week events in 2023; thus, there is no data to compare to.

Commercial Outlets

Australia Post did not run any O-Week events in 2023; thus, there is no data to compare to.

gugcstudentguild.com.au

(07) 5552 8724

guildinfo@griffith.edu.au