Academic Support

2,119+ Total student engagements

The Academic Support portfolio provides students with a range of services designed to contribute to a successful student journey, with a focus on minimising stress and maximising academic results.

Two thousand and twenty-three was a year of development with background content being researched and collated for the soft launch of the Learning Hub. This content included general academic skills that were used universally by students throughout their degrees such as note taking, productivity, scheduling, group work approaches, referencing, and study techniques. The first three components to roll out with students occurred in Trimester 3 with two workshops and a trial of the new Schedule Assist service. This included interactive timetable templates guided by peer mentors to help students incorporate well organised research, and draft and review phases into their planning alongside a range of other academic support opportunities.

One such support program was Assignment Help which remained in steady demand throughout 2022 with 918 appointments attended. The average service rating was high at 4.73 out of 5 stars and is a testament to the long-term knowledge and experience of the staff facilitating the service. In less fortunate news, the Guild’s previously successful and long-term peer-to-peer tutoring service was forced to close due to changes in the technical capabilities of the digital platform service provider, Vygo. This has been a major setback with students unable to receive subject specific tutoring at affordable rates, however the portfolio will endeavour to source an alternative option in 2023.

With less focus on tutoring, a lot of thought and planning was successfully implemented in raising the profile of the Student Advocacy service. A total of 272 appointments were made in 2022 constituting a 143% increase on the previous year. This was achieved by innovative marketing and promotional strategies including gamified pop-up stalls which helped students understand the scope and potential of Student Advocacy. In addition to the individual consultations, two new aspects of Student Advocacy were also introduced with the help of a newly expanded team structure. Online self-help and explanation resources were expanded receiving 858 visits to the website. The team also trialled a new Student Advocacy approach through facilitating a case review of inter-club conflicts, with 11 consultations and 32 hours of advocacy support provided to Guild affiliated clubs. This service will be expanded in future to continue the Guild’s support for the safe and sustainable operation of student clubs.

The advocacy team is very supportive and gives the most engaging and heartfelt assistance. They are definitely any students go to for the range of services they offer. I would highly recommend it to other students. (Student advocacy service feedback)

It was a wonderful experience, they made me feel stress-free with their guidance. (Student advocacy service feedback)