Returned from exchange

Welcome back!

This page has information for students who have just returned from an exchange experience. There is useful information on how to settle back in to life, as well as detail on how to finalise your exchange credit transfer back to UWS.

Re-adjusting to life in Sydney

While many at home will want know about your adventures abroad, some may be less interested. Re-entering the home culture can be a similar pattern of adjustment to when you first arrived in the new culture. It is not unusual to feel disoriented when you return home. In many ways, home may not have changed – but you have. You might like to re-read the stages in the process of cultural adjustment in your predeparture guide for a look at how people feel in a new environment. Much the same applies to re-adjusting to your home country.

How to finalise credit transfer

Your Return Action: Be aware that you are responsible for making sure that all of your unit results from the host university are correctly put back into the UWS system. Your Academic Course Adviser or Director of Academic Program should know how to do this, but if not, direct him or her to UWS Study Abroad and Exchange Office.

Contact the UWS Study Abroad and Exchange Office once you have returned from overseas. You need to check and see if a copy of your academic transcript has been received by the UWS Study Abroad and Exchange Office to assist with your credit transfer.

1. When you have received a copy of your academic transcript, you will need to make an appointment to see your Academic Course Adviser or Director of Academic Program. Please take with you any correspondence relating to your credit transfer arrangements (ie. Academic Approval form). Your Academic Course Adviser or Director of Academic Program will need to cross check all completed subjects on the transcripts with those formally approved either prior to departure or within 10 days of your classes commencing at your Host University.
2. When your Academic Course Adviser or Director of Academic Program has compiled the result, he/she is then required to submit that result to the administrative course officer in the School via a Change of Grade Form, who must then notify Examinations unit for updating. Please DO NOT complete an Academic Credit Application Form from the Student Centre as the process for obtaining academic credit from a non-exchange partner institution differs and does not apply to you.
3. Please keep in mind that your Academic Course Adviser or Director of Academic Programs generally expected to submit a grade of “S” (Satisfactory) against your generic enrolment in your “Exchange Subject” if you passed the unit undertaken on exchange at the Host Uni overseas.  This result will update your credit points but will not impact your UWS Grade Point Average (GPA) in any way.  Please note if you fail the unit at the Host Uni then you will be awarded a fail grade at UWS.

Tell us all about it!

On your return, we would like to catch up with you and discuss your exchange period. Please bring your photographs with you! We welcome a donation of one photograph to place in our photo album or use on our website.

If you have not already done so, please complete the Progress Report [PDF, 40.3Kb] (opens in a new window) from your stay overseas. Students in receipt of any government or university funding are required to submit Progress Reports on a semesterly basis.

Please also update UWS Study Abroad and Exchange Officewith your local contact details as we encourage you to explore options for promoting exchange at UWS and we hope that you will consider becoming a mentor for international exchange students should you be returning for further study.

Join the UWS Study Abroad and Exchange Social Network

Get involved in the UWS Study Abroad and Exchange Social Network and use your experiences abroad to help Welcome and get involved with our study abroad and exchange students from our Partner Universities around the world who come to study at UWS every semester. Also use your mentoring skills to give encouragement to our recently joined exchange students who are beginning their process of applying for exchange or in the process of preparing for their adventures overseas.

Contact us:

Email: exchange@uws.edu.au

Phone: 02 4620 3486 or 02 9685 9052 (exchange office)