First Year Experience at UWS

What this site contains

• The strategic imperative - How UWS prioritises improving the first year experience in its strategic planning.
• Accountability - How the responsibility for improving the first year experience is assigned across UWS.
• Best practice in improving the first year experience - Checkpoints of what we know empirically retains first year students.

The strategic imperative

Improving the first year experience is prioritised in the UWS 'Making the Difference' (MTD) strategy. Details of the first year experience strategy appear in the interactive MTD page (opens in a new window) (Staff login required). Furthermore, first year transition and retention are themes of our Cycle 2 AUQA audit (opens in a new window).

Accountability

UWS does not have a highly centralised first year experience program. Instead, improving the first year experience is an expectation of all those UWS staff members who have a direct or indirect role in providing services to commencing students. This includes staff in the Colleges and Schools, as well as in the Divisions. Broad oversight of the range of first year experience improvement actions is a responsibility of the Pro Vice Chancellor (Learning and Teaching), who is supported by an Expert Advisory Group of Senate Education Committee. This oversight is intended to track and evaluate our improvement actions, and to help scale up proven strategies.

Follow the link to access The Minutes of the Expert Advisory Group of Senate Education Committee

UWS is developing a team of First Year Advisors. Each School aims to have at least one academic staff member designated as a First Year Advisor.

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Best practice in improving the first year experience

UWS uses empirical data and current research findings to ascertain best practice in engaging students in productive learning and retaining them. A comprehensive reference is Professor Geoff Scott’s UWS First Year Exit Survey 2009 & Commencing Students Survey 2010: Consolidated Analysis and Implication (opens in a new window) (Staff login required) (please select Create a first year experience that optimises retention and success).

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Quality Management for the First Year Experience

As part of the 2011 AUQA Cycle 2 Audit, UWS developed a self assessment of Commencing Student Transition and Retention. The AUQA portfolio  (opens in a new window) Chapter 3 contains a comprehensive account of objectives, strategies and performance in areas related to the First Year Experience.

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