Program

Wednesday 26 October 

Day 1 conference presentations (14.9MB PDF)

Thursday 27 October - Day 2

Day 2 conference presentations (4.62MB PDF)

 

Download this year's program

2022 Program PDF (474 KB) as of 19 October (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Registration

In-person registration is now closed!

We are still accepting institutional registrations for online viewing.

Register your university here

 

Registration cancellation and refund policy for face-to-face delegates

• Cancellations must be notified in writing by email to sjs2022@usc.edu.au.
• We understand that circumstances can change. At any point prior to the event, you are welcome to contact us in writing to nominate a substitute delegate at no extra charge. Tickets will only be transferred on approval from the Symposium Convenor.
• A full refund less a $250 service fee will be issued for cancellations received on or before 10 October 2022.
• No refunds will be issued after Monday 10 October 2022 (including "no shows" at the conference). Non-payment does not constitute cancellation.
• Should COVID-19 Government restrictions come into effect that make it legally impossible for the conference to take place on the agreed date or limit the maximum guests allowed at the symposium SJS2022 will be in contact with you to arrange a transfer of your registration to the new dates or advise a change of program format to hybrid/virtual or facilitate a full or partial refund that will not incur a service fee. Should COVID-19 Government restrictions come into effect that make it not possible for you to attend the event from your Local Government Area a full refund will be issued that will not incur a service fee.

Registration cancellation and refund policy for virtual delegates

• Cancellations must be notified in writing by email to sjs2022@usc.edu.au.
• A full refund less a $250 service fee will be issued for cancellations received on or before Monday 10 October 2022.
• No refunds will be issued after Monday 10 October 2022 (including “no shows” at the conference). Non-payment does not constitute cancellation.
• Should COVID19 Government restrictions come into effect that make it legally impossible for the conference to take place on the agreed date SJS2022 will be in contact with you to arrange a transfer of your registration to the new dates.

Insurance

It is strongly recommended and is your responsibility to have insurance to cover medical, travel, and registration expenses in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

Organising Committee members

Australian Catholic University

Elizabeth Moon – Associate Director User Experience, Student Administration

Liz is the Associate Director User Experience at Australian Catholic University, where she leads a portfolio of operational teams and projects in the Student Administration Division with a focus on improving the staff and student user experience. Liz’s portfolio at ACU includes enrolment and student records, fees, scholarships, course completion, graduation and protocol and higher degree research administration. Liz also leads cross-university student experience research and initiatives, and oversees major change projects to improve the student key moments in the student journey. She is passionate about ensuring staff can access user insights to drive day-to-day interactions through to major change projects.

Flinders University

Annika Danielsson – Senior Director, Student Experience and Management

Annika has recently been appointed as the Senior Director, Student Experience & Management at Flinders University. As such, she is responsible for overseeing the end-to-end student experience from a services, planning and administration perspective for areas including student recruitment, admissions, student administration services, health, counselling and disability services, and student engagement and success activities including those of the Student Association. Annika has 18 years of management and leadership experience in higher education as well as expert delivery of innovation and change initiatives in a university context. She is an active member of sector-wide initiatives and has established a broad network of contacts particularly through her involvement with the Heads of Student Administration (HoSA) Board. She is also a non-executive Board member of Higher Education Services (HES).

University of South Australia

Vanessa Matthews – Students and Research Registrar, Student and Academic Services

Vanessa is the University of South Australia’s Students and Research Registrar and has extensive experience in student and academic services, human resource management, and customer service. Vanessa currently leads a large student services portfolio across 6 campuses including scholarships and prizes, student administration services and support, research student administration, student reporting and systems, and graduations and records. Vanessa has worked for UniSA for 20 years and is currently the elected Professional Staff Member on UniSA's Council, holds a Master of Human Resource Management and a Bachelor of Arts, and is an active contributor in the Australian and New Zealand higher education sector.

University of the Sunshine Coast

Tony Reed – Academic Registrar and Director, Student Services and Engagement

Tony is the Academic Registrar and Director, Student Services & Engagement at the University of the Sunshine Coast, a role he has performed since February 2016. Prior to that Tony worked at 3 metropolitan universities in Sydney and Melbourne in similar roles. Tony is an inaugural board member and current board director for the Heads of Student Administration (HoSA) Inc and the Director of Engagement of the Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association (ANZSSA).

Davina Johnson – Event Coordinator, SJS Symposium

Davina is an Office Administrator, Student Services and Engagement at the University of the Sunshine Coast, and has held this position at UniSC since October 2017. Davina is a highly organised and experienced administrative coordinator who has assisted in coordinating many events, forums and symposiums during her time at UniSC.

Anna Forbes – Event Coordinator, SJS Symposium

Anna has been an office administrator for Student Services and Engagement at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) over the past year. Prior to that Anna worked for the Queensland College of Teachers as a primary aged teacher. Anna received her teaching degree at the UniSC as an international student from Canada in 2012. With these experiences, Anna caries with her exemplary planning and organisational skills that have assisted in coordinating and executing many staff forums, events and conferences.

Presenters

Keynote Speaker, Dr Ella Kahu

Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Ella is an internationally recognised leader in student engagement research and her conceptual framework of student engagement is widely applied in practice and research. Her widely published research on student experiences followed a group of school leavers through their first year at USC. Ella's most recent publications explore first-year student engagement, student metaphors of learning and life, mechanism of student support, and student belonging. She is currently a Senior Lecturer at Massey University, New Zealand and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

1. Promoting success and retention through partnership

Sarah Rose, Associate Director, Student Experience, Australian Catholic University

Sarah has managed teams that are responsible for orientation, student leadership, and peer mentoring. She has been instrumental in evaluating and enhancing the student journey focussing on first-year student transition to higher education. Key to her work is the ongoing support for at-risk students. Sarah provides leadership and mentoring to student representatives and is enthusiastic about building their capacity as leaders. She works with both academic and co-curricular staff to promote strategies to enhance the successful transition to university and support throughout the first year.

2. Summer Start: transition powered by pan-university teams

Gemma Skipper, Summer Start Manager, The University of Auckland

Gemma is the Summer Start Manager at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, where she has held a variety of roles over the past 7 years and previously held roles at Charles Sturt University and Unitec’s student association.

3. Enhancing the transition experience of university students in the orientation period

Mrs Valerie Cleary, Head of Services, Academic Learning Centre, CQUniversity

Valarie has been an educator in a range of contexts for 40 years. Val has worked as literacy educator developing strategies and resources to assist adult learners to improve writing skills in preparation for successful undergraduate study. In her work she considers the broad experiences, beliefs and values that the diverse learners at CQUniversity hold. She currently works with the School of Access Education Academic Learning Centre (ALC) as Head of Services, leading a team of advisers who provide undergraduate students with assistance to develop academic skills across academic writing, computing, science, mathematics and statistics disciplines.

Mr. Larry Webster, Mathematics and Statistics Discipline Coordinator, Academic Learning Centre, CQUniversity

Larry leads a team of professional and dedicated academics who support the numeracy needs of undergraduate students. In 2018, after identifying low retention rates in the Diploma of Nursing due to poor numeracy skills, Larry developed and delivered workshops that positively impacted students’ outcomes. These workshops and others are now embedded in units across five degrees. Larry also introduced numeracy workshops during orientation week. Larry’s passion is to increase students’ outcomes by building resilience and confidence in numeracy skills.

Ms Julie Hilton, Discipline Coordinator: Academic Communication/Academic Learning Advisor, CQUniversity

Julie has worked in the tertiary education sector for over 30 years, starting as a lecturer at the University of Queensland (UQ) in European and Asian history with a special focus on India. She then moved to the Academic Learning Skills area, as an Academic Learning Adviser in the Academic Learning Centre’s Academic Communications area. Over the last few years she has combined this role with her position as Discipline Coordinator for the Academic Communication’s team. Julie is particularly interested in the transition experience of new students into tertiary education and in developing a range of strategies to facilitate that transition.

4. Using a Community of Practice model to augment academic staff capabilities supporting students transition into their first year studies

Lynn Riddell, Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Health Professor, Deakin University

Lynn is a committed educator with over 20 years experience within the higher education sector. She has worked in universities across New Zealand, United States of America and for the past 17 years, within Australia. Originally an educator and researcher in Nutrition Sciences, she is currently Associate Dean Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Health at Deakin University. As Associate Dean T&L she works to advance academic capabilities in learning design and delivery to ensure students experience a learning environment conducive to success. She aims foster teaching teams consisting of experts in learning design, academic skills development, digital education and discipline leads.

Janine McBurnie, Associate Head of School, School of Life and Environmental Science, Deakin University

Janine has worked in the higher education sector for over 25 years and is committed to making the student experience the best it can be. She is currently the Associate Head of School (Teaching and Learning) in the School of Life and Environmental Science and has been the Director of First Year in the Faculty of Science Engineering and the Built Environment for 4 years. Her overall aim is to support both educators and students, and to provide support to facilitate a positive experience throughout the student journey.

5. Te Herenga Waka

Angela Davies, Principal Advisor, Paerangi Totoko Centre for Student Success, Victoria University of Wellington

Angela Davies is Principal Advisor, Student Success and is on the leadership team of Tītoko - Centre for Student Success. Angela is the architect of Paerangi, and works with professional and academic staff to align the whole-of-institution student success activities. Angela is also undertaking doctoral research in the same field through Te Pūnaha Matatini Centre of Research Excellence.

Adrienne McGovern-Faircloth, Associate Director, Student Success, Victoria University of Wellington

Adrienne is Associate Director, Student Success and is on the leadership team of Tītoko - Centre for Student Success. Adrienne has many years’ leadership experience in the higher education institutions and was the business-lead on the development of the new holistic advising model.

6. Retention – Support and services offered during students’ first year of undergraduate studies

Danielle Clarkson, Academic Adviser (ALC), Associate Lecturer (STEPS), School of Access Education, Central Queensland University

Danielle Clarkson works in the School of Access Education at CQUniversity where she provides academic literacy support for undergraduate students. Danielle is an embedded academic literacy skills unit coordinator in several nursing units, and she assists in the online learning design and training of embedded unit coordinators. Her research interests are in enabling education and digital transformation.

7. Frameworks to support retention

Mara Eversons, Director, Student Life, University of Canberra

Mara is the Director of Student Life at the University of Canberra, is an experienced and respected leader within her field and prides herself on her positive and open leadership skills. Mara maintains her relationships with colleagues around the university by assisting all staff to work across units collaboratively. Mara is proud to be seen as a role model by her colleagues and enjoys mentoring and providing encouragement to staff across the University.

Mara is the Deputy Chair of the Respect Now Always Committee, working to improve safety, respect and inclusion within the University community, in part by shifting norms, attitudes and behaviours to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Student Panelists

1. Lynette Stevenson

Lynette is a non-school leaver student who began her higher education journey in 2012 and became an undergrad in 2013. During her studies she utilised the University’s support services to assist her in reaching her goals.

She is now nearing her completion of a Bachelor of Arts degree (Majors Music and Drama) and is in less need for support now from her successful prior engagements.

2. Isabella Goddard

Isabella is currently studying at the University of the Sunshine Coast in her second year of a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science (BBS) with a recent interest in minoring in biochemical pharmacology. Her university journey started two years after working full-time as a dental nurse within different clinics on the Sunshine Coast, and a growing interest to work with and help a diverse range of patients within the community. Being able to study full time has been an empowering experience and has enabled her to further explore her interests over the last 18 months.

3. Desiree Hunt

I am a mature-aged student currently studying a double bachelor's in psychology and counselling at UniSC, having recently completed a diploma in social and human services, and I am the first in my extended family to pursue tertiary education. I study part-time as I also work as an early-intervention specialist with autistic children at the AEIOU Foundation, onsite at UniSC. I have a supportive partner who is also studying, three adult children of my own, one adult stepchild and a grandson. Originally from New Zealand, I now reside in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Workshop Facilitators

Stage 1: Offer to Acceptance - The offer experience

Telena Thompson, Associate Director Student Experience, Student Services and Engagement
University of the Sunshine Coast

Telena is the Associate Director of Student Experience at the University of the Sunshine Coast where she has worked since early 2014. With a strong background in Change Management and Business Improvement, her current portfolio includes current student communication, orientation, business improvement, proactive student engagement campaigns and the front-facing student centres across UniSC’s campus footprint.

Stage 1: Offer to Acceptance – Early engagement

Kathryn Blyth, Academic Registrar and Director, Student Administration
Australian Catholic University

Dr. Kathryn Blyth has been Academic Registrar and Director, Student Administration at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) since 2011. At ACU, Kathryn is responsible for student administration activities that support the student lifecycle from Admission through to Graduation, as well as student information systems, student and course-related policies, and student complaints.

Kathryn is active in the sector, particularly in the HOSA (Heads of Student Administration) and ATEM networks, and has been a member of the ATEM Board since 2015. She served as the Regional Chair of the NSW/ACT Region of ATEM and is currently ATEM President for a two-year term.

Stage 1: Offer to Acceptance – Offer accepted

Michelle Wear, Director, Student Success
Griffith University

Michelle has more than 25 years' experience in the university sector, with a focus on building relationships both internally and externally, including developing and establishing a comprehensive partnership program with local high schools to benefit the University’s recruitment strategy and establishing a unit focused on student success, leadership and retention. Additionally, extensive experience in designing and delivering large and professional events, including national conferences as a Professional Conference Organiser and within the tertiary sector university Orientation and Open Days.

Stage 1 Online Facilitator

Pam Shih
University of Melbourne

 

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Stage 2: Getting started and orientation – Orientation communications

Nathan Seng, Manager, Student Transition, Mentoring and Financial Support
Griffith University

Nathan has 10 years experience working in the Higher Education sector. In his current role he supports student development, retention and success through the coordination of peer mentoring and learning, orientation activities and student leadership initiatives.

Nathan also manages the Scholarships and Student Financial Support office. A highlight of his career has been the creation of a community partnership with Westfield to bring accessible educational and community activities to the public. Nathan believes the nurturing of authentic relationships are key to success.

Stage 2: Getting started and orientation – Orientation delivery

Gemma Skipper, Summer Start Manager, The University of Auckland

Gemma is the Summer Start Manager at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, where she has held a variety of roles over the past 7 years and previously held roles at Charles Sturt University and Unitec’s student association.

Stage 2: Getting started and orientation – Orientation evaluation

Jodie Davis, Registrar, Student Life
Griffith University

 

Stage 2 Online Facilitators

Kristina Sokolova, Student Development Coordinator
Sam Duffy, Student Development Coordinator
Ronica Sami, Student Development Coordinator
Mags Chalecka-Harris, Student Development Team Leader 
Massey University

A bit about Kristina: Kia ora! I came to Aotearoa as an international student 9 years ago and it’s been home ever since. In my free time I love travelling, reading, crafting and upcycling. My main passion is woodcarving, which is something I also used to do back in my home country Bulgaria.

I am passionate about students and their positive experience at Massey. I feel privileged to be able to guide students on their journey to unpack their true potential and develop the skills that would help them thrive. The biggest possible reward for me is to see students successful in their chosen pathways. We constantly develop and tailor our programs to suit the needs of our diverse cohorts, which helps me genuinely connect with our students.

A bit about Sam: Kia ora! I connect back to Scotland and Ireland and grew up in sunny Whakatū, Nelson in Te Tau Ihu, the Top of the South. After leaving Whakatū for University, I've lived most of my life in Pōneke aside from a couple of years in Japan. I love playing board games and video games, gardening, and chatting. My background is in Psychology and I have mainly worked in education and mental health support settings.

I am passionate about empowering others and supporting them to live their best lives. If we are all empowered to live our best lives, we can build stronger communities and work collectively to look after the natural world around us.

A bit about Ronica: Kia ora and bula vinaka! I am originally from the beautiful Fiji Islands but have called Aotearoa my home for most of my life. My life revolves around my whānau. They keep me grounded and content. Being able to nurture and develop myself and others is my passion in life.

I want all our students to transition from university with the skills and confidence to be successful in whatever they choose to do. I am confident that through the development program our students will learn more about themselves, build meaningful relationships, explore their leadership potential and be active citizens who contribute to their community.

A bit about Mags: Lovely to connect with you. I hail originally from Poland, but I am proud to call New Zealand my home. I like the pace of life here, and the beautiful scenery that we take for granted. There are many things I’m interested in, but the main ones would be cooking and travel, or combining the two. When I’m not planning the next trip, or searching the net for new recipes, you will find me trying to grow new plants. Nothing gets me more excited than seeing the growth of plant from a little cutting.

My drive is to create positive safe environment for students where everyone can be themselves and where learning and growth happen almost effortlessly. We achieve this through adding fun, interactive elements to our workshops, but at the same time posing some deep questions. All parts of our programme speak deeply to me: Strengths@Massey and finding what are the talents we have and what are the things we are good at, then developing how to use them in our lives to the best of our ability; Leadership and growing the necessary skills that we can tap on to; Campus Co-Lab and the idea of empathetic human-centered approach to introduce changes in the world or Massey Guides and the idea of reciprocity.
My team is a real driver for me, we are super collaborative, we trust one another, and we are genuinely invested to provide the best quality stuff for students. And that care for students shows through anything we do. Such a privilege to work with a bunch of passionate dedicated people.

 

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Stage 3: Week 1 through to Census – Student communications

Lydia Dutcher, Head of Student Life
University of Sydney

Lydia leads teams that design, deliver, promote and evaluate support and co-curricular programs for diverse cohorts of students across their student life journeys.

Stage 3: Week 1 through to Census – Early intervention strategies

Alexandra Garcia, Learning Hub Lead (Academic Language and Learning)
The University of Sydney

Alexandra Garcia is the Learning Hub Lead (Academic Language and Learning) at the University of Sydney. The Learning Hub provides support in the areas of academic language and learning to UG, PG and HDR students. In addition to research in the field of academic support for tertiary students, she also investigates language and ideology from the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics and Corpus Linguistics.

Stage 3: Week 1 through to Census – Evaluation of interactions

Mara Everson, Director, Student Life
University of Canberra

Mara is the Director of Student Life at the University of Canberra, is an experienced and respected leader within her field and prides herself on her positive and open leadership skills. Mara maintains her relationships with colleagues around the university by assisting all staff to work across units collaboratively. Mara is proud to be seen as a role model by her colleagues and enjoys mentoring and providing encouragement to staff across the University.

Mara is the Deputy Chair of the Respect Now Always Committee, working to improve safety, respect and inclusion within the University community, in part by shifting norms, attitudes and behaviours to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Stage 3 Online Facilitator

Niccolo Palandri, Student Advisor
University of Melbourne

Nicco has worked as a Student Advisor in the Course Planning team at the University of Melbourne for about a year. Prior to joining Melbourne Uni he worked as an ESL (English as an additional Language) teacher for 5 years and also worked in hospitality management for many years before that. As a customer service specialist, he loves working with students to navigate the complexities of tertiary education and help them get the most out of their university experience. He graduated from Monash University with a double degree in Sociology and Human Rights Theory.

 

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Stage 4: Student Success and Retention through the first year – Post census interventions

Dr Sascha Jenkins, Director, User Experience and Planning
University of Technology

Sascha Jenkins has experience working within the higher education sector both within and outside of faculties. Sascha is well recognised for her work in creating both digital and physical user experiences to support client and community engagement. At UTS, Sascha was critical to the activation of the UTS Central building at the heart of the campus. She has also led University-wide strategic projects, such as establishing a service portal (Student Learning Hub) both on campus and online. This work has been critical in delivering the services that distinguishes the university experience as distinctly digitally enabled.

Sascha has qualifications in arts and business. She completed a PHD in history and worked in academia and heritage consulting, before moving into professional roles in the University sector. Her career has focused on enhancing the student experience, through positions in libraries, Faculty teaching and learning, work integrated learning, governance and curriculum review. She has a particular interest in the creation and activation of informal learning spaces and innovative service delivery.

Stage 4: Student Success and Retention through the first year – Job Ready Graduate – Low completion rate requirements

Jarna Baudinette, Team Leader, Student Communications and Events
University of the Sunshine Coast

Stage 4: Student Success and Retention through the first year – Trauma-informed organisations/student wellbeing

Jodie Zada, Director of Student Services
Flinders University

Jodie Zada is the Director of Student Services at Flinders University. This role is responsible for the Health, Counselling and Disability Service, Oasis Wellbeing Centre, Respect.Now.Always, Student Equal Opportunity and the Flinders University Student Association. Jodie has a social work background and is committed to a holistic and student-centred approach to student support.

 

Kate Graham, Student Support and Study Adviser, Student Services and Engagement
University of the Sunshine Coast

Research Higher Degree Candidate, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences
CQUniversity

Kate Graham is a Study Adviser within the Student Central, Student Services and Engagement team at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC).

In this professional role, Kate consistently strives to maintain an environment of excellence – one that places the student first, creates a positively memorable student experience with every interaction and supports students to flourish throughout all stages of their higher education journey.

Her primary research interests are the influences of positive psychology concepts on university student wellbeing, engagement, and persistence and she is currently undertaking doctoral research in this field with Central Queensland University.

Stage 4 Online Facilitators

Alexandra Sharp, Manager, Student Wellbeing
David Duncan, Student Health Coordinator, Student Wellbeing
University of the Sunshine Coast

 

Poster Session Presenters

Session Facilitator, Dr Catherine Picton

Student Success and Development Cooridinator, Student Services and Engagement, University of the Sunshine Coast

Cat Picton is a Student Success and Development Coordinator at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Her research interests are the influence of student support on the experience of university, academic student success advising, and student engagement. She has been involved in several research projects investigating equity and the Australian regional context of higher education. In her current professional role, Cat is implementing a whole of university, embedded approach to student support focussing on student development of co-curricular skills and competencies.

1. Designing and delivering a student-centric financial support program to support success

Dr Lydia Dutcher, Head of Student Life, University of Sydney

Lydia leads teams that design, deliver, promote and evaluate support and co-curricular programs for diverse cohorts of students across their student life journeys.

Sarah Morris, Student Life Lead, University of Sydney

Sarah oversees the Student Journey and Engagement team to ensure the timely, effective provision of student support programs, initiatives, events and communications across the student journey, including transition and financial support.

2. Stackable Learning: Designing new student journeys to accommodate emerging markets and models

Hannah Brown, Manager, Communications and Partnership, Global Studio, Deakin University

I am an impact-driven strategic innovation and change leader managing communications and partnerships across innovative EdTech projects. My focus is on championing some of the biggest strategic programs for the university, leading a team to design and implement new learning experiences for new emerging markets locally and globally.

I identify as an intrapreneur and with my experience, I hope to continue to support human-centred services by designing innovative solutions that leverage technology, commercial viability and provide desirable impact for the stakeholders they serve.

3. Preparedness and Wellbeing Assessment Pilot

Liz Hosking-Clement, Manager of Student Wellbeing and Care, University of Auckland

My role at UoA manages the Be Well Student Wellbeing Team and the Campus Care clinical case management service. I am a comprehensive nurse by background. I have worked primarily in the field of child and youth mental health across the DHB, NGO and Private sectors and across the spectrum of health promotion to secondary mental health crisis support. I have a keen interest in systemic practice, startup organisations and project delivery.

Melanie Shaw, General Manager, University Health and Counselling, University of Auckland

My role at UoA manages the student health centre and counselling service. I am a psychologist by background and have worked primarily in the mental health field across services both in the UK and in NZ. I am currently enjoying a secondment within the UoA tasked with reviewing access to support services, student wellbeing and staff training.

4. New resilience for the new normal: Online students’ early strategies for course persistence

Kate Graham, Student Support and Study Adviser, Student Services and Engagement, University of the Sunshine Coast Research Higher Degree Candidate, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity

Kate Graham is a Study Adviser within the Student Central, Student Services and Engagement team at the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC).

In this professional role, Kate consistently strives to maintain an environment of excellence – one that places the student first, creates a positively memorable student experience with every interaction and supports students to flourish throughout all stages of their higher education journey.

Her primary research interests are the influences of positive psychology concepts on university student wellbeing, engagement, and persistence and she is currently undertaking doctoral research in this field with Central Queensland University.

5. Delivering student success through targeted communications

Cassie Cleland, Process Analyst: Student Administration, University of South Australia

As a Process Analyst within the Student & Academic Services unit at UniSA I manage a broad range of administrative processes, analyse and develop solutions to business problems, help manage student support campaigns (including student communications) and provide process support to our Campus Central teams.

Working in a central unit, the processes which I am responsible for have impacts across the university. Operating in this capacity means I am often called upon by various teams for advice, support or collaboration on resolutions.

My journey to this position began in a student support role for three years before moving into my current role in 2019. I believe my direct experience with students has provided me with a unique insight of the student experience and allowed me to bring compassion and understanding from the student perspective to the position. Ultimately this has ensured that I continue to bring a student-centric mindset, with a focus on holistic support, to the work I have done and continue to do.

6. SCANA – Supporting students’ academic language development at The University of Sydney

Alexandra Garcia, Learning Hub Lead (Academic Language and Learning), The University of Sydney

Alexandra Garcia is the Learning Hub Lead (Academic Language and Learning) at the University of Sydney. The Learning Hub provides support in the areas of academic language and learning to UG, PG and HDR students. In addition to research in the field of academic support for tertiary students, she also investigates language and ideology from the perspective of Systemic Functional Linguistics and Corpus Linguistics.

7. iBelong at Deakin

Alcy Meehan, iBelong Project Officer, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Deakin University

Alcy Meehan is a Project Officer with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Deakin University. In this role she assists with the evaluation of the student equity program and works across the division to support initiatives relating to building knowledge and promoting inclusion. Alcy has a passion for helping others and a desire to assist in the progress of positive change.

Danni McCarthy, Project Officer with Diversity, Equity and Inclusions, Deakin University

Danni McCarthy is a Lecturer in Inclusive Education at Deakin University. In this role she provides evidence-based leadership towards the development of education environments that are intentionally designed and capable of maximising the participation and achievement of all learners.

8. Key indicators of success across the student lifecycle through engagement with student services

Telena Thompson, Associate Director Student Experience, Student Services and Engagement

Telena is the Associate Director of Student Experience at the University of the Sunshine Coast where she has worked since early 2014. With a strong background in Change Management and Business Improvement, her current portfolio includes current student communication, orientation, business improvement, proactive student engagement campaigns and the front-facing student centres across UniSC’s campus footprint.

9. Good Vibes experiment

Jodie Zada, Director Student Services, Health, Counselling and Disability Services, Flinders University

Jodie Zada is the Director of Student Services at Flinders University. This role is responsible for the Health, Counselling and Disability Service, Oasis Wellbeing Centre, Respect.Now.Always, Student Equal Opportunity and the Flinders University Student Association. Jodie has a social work background and is committed to a holistic and student-centred approach to student support.

Sponsors

Platinum sponsors

GFP Events

With more than 50 years' experience in the Graduation service industry, GFP Events offer a comprehensive range of services. We recognise that Graduation represents the culmination of years of study and effort, and Graduates deserve the best experience possible for their momentous occasion.
With this in mind, we ensure each of the services we provide represents value and relevance.

It starts with Pre-Ceremony Planning which consists of an Online Portal system accessible to all Graduates where they will be guided – step-by-step -through Registration, Academic Dress Hire, Ticket allocations, and any photography or other services for Grad Day.

Academic Dress is an important part of each Graduation and with our personalised Fitting service and long-term knowledge of all components, we ensure Graduates are dressed correctly for their ceremony.
GFP value the tradition and guarantee not to miss a beat when it comes to making each Grad feel special for their big moment on stage.

Before or after the ceremony Graduates and their families can visit our studios, and have professional photographers capture this milestone.
GFP do not only offer Studio and Stage Photography but VIP and Roving Photography as well as printing services.

In addition, we source and supply top quality Graduation Keepsakes – from cute bears to high quality frames & plaques – with many options to choose from.

We are committed to enhancing the Graduate experience with positive memories for thousands of Graduates and their families, easing pressures for our University partners by carefully pre-planning logistics and executing the event professionally.

With GFP now servicing around 100,000 Graduates per year, we are not only the largest provider of Graduation Events, but also the most trusted partner for many Universities with an overall satisfaction rating of 4.5 out of 5 from our recent Partner Survey.

KPMG Australia

In Australia, KPMG has a long tradition of professionalism and integrity, combined with our dynamic approach to advising clients in a digital-driven world. We have approximately 6,700 people, including over 400 partners, with offices around the country. Our extensive range of audit, tax, accounting and advisory services help in every stage of an organisation’s lifecycle - we give our Clients the confidence to focus on the things that will make an impact and help their business grow.

Our Customer team believe that growth comes from putting customers at the centre of every business decision. Our team will help your business operationalise customer-focused change, enabling you to stay a step ahead and the breadth and depth of sector knowledge is only matched by our human-centric design experts.

Beyond our clients we contribute in voluntary and honorary capacities to assist the wellbeing of the communities in which we live and operate. We work with community partners to help solve challenges, with a core focus on reconciliation with Indigenous Australia through our Reconciliation Action Plan. We value inclusion and diversity, fostering a positive and encouraging culture. As a result we attract passionate individuals who share a common purpose of ‘Inspiring Confidence and Empowering Change’ for their clients and the communities in which they live and work.

Amid times of economic change, technology advancement and industry disruption, KPMG has the depth of expertise, global reach, clarity of insight and strength of purpose to work shoulder to shoulder with our clients – now and into the future.

Gold sponsors

Hague Australia

Hague Australia is a trusted business partner to over 90% of Australian Universities offering a range of secure certificate printing, graduation folders, tubes, and dynamic software solutions.

Hague Australia’s certificate infill service manages the infill of Testamurs, Certificates, cover letters and folders. The infill service can take away the pain of in-house print services. We can provide a full-time infill service or as some Universities do, for busier times such as Graduation?

Our software solutions help Universities achieve efficiencies using the market-leading QLess student ‘virtual’ queue management solution.

QLess is changing the way that student service centres operate. QLess allows students to interact with the University Student Service Centre from their mobile phone, QLess App, University App, University web site, touch-screen kiosk, Concierge App, or real-time Appointment Booking. Providing real-time service data and student feedback helps University Student Services improve the interaction experience.

Hague Australia is part of Hague Group with a group turnover of over $100m.

Kapiche

Need an easier way to understand your student feedback at scale in order to retain students, improve completion rates and increase revenue?

Kapiche is a game-changing feedback analytics platform used by the likes of Western Sydney University, Colorado Technical University, Translink, NSW Government, Australia Post, ANZ and QBE.

The visibility you'll gain into your student's experience using Kapiche will give you confidence in your voice of student program, with the ability to drill down to specific schools, courses or units to identify and address areas of improvement and set 5-year strategy accordingly.

Empower Course Coordinators, Heads of School and the ELT with deep, actionable insights into student satisfaction and experience.

Compared to traditional methods, Kapiche will reduce your time to insights by 97%. We simplify how you unlock insights, with no manual coding, no pre-built industry models or hand-reading thousands of customer comments required. Ever.

Finally, a feedback analytics platform for universities that actually works.

MAKE Studios

MAKE Studios is an experience design company focused on the health and well-being of people, communities and the planet. We embrace the spirit of the curious scientist to solve complex problems and deliver real results.

Our way of working is collaborative and whole-hearted. We create value beyond profit by tapping into the purpose, ambitions and goodwill of everyone we work with. Authentic relationships are part of the cultural scaffolding required to build genuine, lasting change.

In partnership with our clients, we deliver honest outcomes that are truly beneficial and backed up by evidence. The MAKE team has expertise with inclusive design, behaviour change, living labs and measurement and evaluation. Our combination of qualitative and quantitative methods helps us turn innovative opportunities into inspired realities.

Reed Graduations

Reed Graduation Services (RGS), one of Australia’s most respected graduation service providers, is proud to sponsor your SJS2022 conference.

RGS provide a one-stop-shop, all-encompassing service suite to ensure smooth operations before, during and after graduation day. RGS’s proprietary Gradpak web solution, facilitates the student’s graduation booking requirements, whilst digitising the attendance processing on graduation day. This along with the company’s range of popular Photography, Livestream, and Merchandise services, offers clients the confidence and peace of mind of dealing with a single vendor.

Through a process of continuous improvements, adaptability, and willingness to embrace innovative technology, RGS offers an exceptionally comprehensive solution to the graduation needs of universities and other institutions. Our close-knit team are committed to achieving consistently high-quality graduation services in an enjoyable, friendly, and collaborative environment.

Please meet with Shamal and Simon at the RGS stand, who look forward to highlighting how we can partner with you for your next event and view our range of renewable regalia. There will be live demonstrations of our end-to-end software throughout the conference. For additional information, please visit our Reed Graduations website.

VYGO

Vygo believes that every human deserves a world-class education and that social experience is at the core of impactful learning.

The Vygo platform gives every learner a social education community. For learners, the Vygo platform organises their institution's ecosystem of mentors, advisors, tutors and other social support services at their fingertips. It gives learners the right tools to find and engage with the people they need, whenever they need them, wherever they are in the world. With Vygo, education institutions are able to reinvent their social support ecosystem online and ultimately improve their student outcomes and scale their impact. Vygo is working with universities around the globe that are pushing social education experiences into the future.

SEAtS Software

Since 2015, SEAtS Software has been helping institutions around the globe boost student retention rates and improve student and staff experiences. SEAtS began its journey collaborating with a single institution to manage student attendance. Today, we build education success software to manage learning, wherever it happens.

With enterprise grade software built on the Microsoft Azure Cloud and integrations to leading campus systems, like LMS, SIS, etc., our global customers benefit from solutions that bring siloed student data into one secure platform.

SEAtS Student Success solutions comprise of attendance management, learning analytics, case management, and an early warning system.

• Capture and report on engagement and attendance.
• Monitor wellbeing and academic progression.
• Boost retention and attainment.

SEAtS Campus Management solutions comprise of academic timetabling, building management insights, and compliance reporting.

• Schedule a semester of hybrid learning classes and one-off events.
• Manage space and resources with bookings, utilization, capacity management, and real-time overcrowding alerts.
• Satisfy all compliance obligations with out-of-the-box reports.

Silver Sponsor

ADCET

The Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET) collaborates strategically with the National Disability Coordination Officer (NDCO) Program to ensure that people with disability have equitable opportunity to access, participate and achieve their goals in tertiary education and subsequent employment. This is achieved by:

• Providing information and guidelines to support professional staff, educators, students
• Facilitating knowledge exchange on inclusive practice
• Building disability confidence through eLearn programs
• Consulting with and partnering on research to inform policy and practice
• Coordinating and testing the efficacy of pilot programs and initiatives

ADCET and NDCO are funded by the Australian Government Department of Education.

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Sponsorship packages can be organised directly via contact with the organising committee. Discussion on Sponsorship Booth position will be determined in due course, with preference given based on the class of sponsorship. A tax invoice will be issued and payment is due within 20 business days of your submission.

Please contact SJS2022@usc.edu.au for any sponsorship queries or call Tony Reed, Academic Registrar and Director, Student Services at USC on +61 7 5430 1212.

Sponsor workshops

Immediately before the commencement of the Symposium, a number of free, optional sponsor workshops will be taking place on Tuesday 25 October for delegates. These sessions will overview contemporary practice and support arrangements offered by the sponsor, linked to the Symposium theme.

The workshops will be included in the Symposium Program.

1. KPMG

Join KPMG’s customer experience experts for a hands-on session on all things student experience. This session will walk through why student experience has the potential to become your competitive differentiator, what strategic service design means in an education context, and how to apply service and experience design techniques to realise your student experience ambition.

This session will explore:

• Design thinking – what a human-centred design mindset can bring to higher education
• Service blueprinting and journey mapping – what they are and how to use them to improve the student experience
• Building empathy to frame innovation – how to take a design-led approach to build empathy and understanding with students, and techniques for framing challenges into people-centric innovation opportunities
• Co-design and collaboration – when and how to co-design with students and stakeholders.

Your facilitators will be KPMG’s Carmen Bekker and Kathryn Murray. Carmen Bekker leads KPMG’s Customer, Brand & Marketing Advisory team in Australia. She has more than 20 years’ experience advising leading international businesses in London, EMEA and Australia, and focuses on leading clients through disruption by helping leaders navigate the constant evolution in technology and expectations.

Kathryn Murray is a Director in KPMG’s CBMA practice and leads the South Australian practice. With a background in behavioural science and cognitive psychology, Kathryn brings more than 20 years’ experience as a marketing and CX leader and innovator. She is passionate about working with organisations to realise the benefits of a customer driven culture supported by a digitally enabled CX agenda to drive enhanced and sustainable customer and commercial outcomes.

2. MAKE Studios

Universities have always sought to help students thrive rather than just survive. Given the disruptions and challenges faced by students and staff during the pandemic, this goal is more important than ever.

In this hands-on workshop, strategic designers from MAKE Studios will share a practical and evidence-based approach to designing for the student experience. You'll learn how to introduce targeted interventions or implement major changes to your organisation, regardless of your prior experience in this field. We’ll focus on creating an inclusive environment of belonging and agency for students. MAKE will share tangible examples on how this can be achieved and provide you with a toolkit you can use after the symposium in your own organisation.

Facilitators Rupert Hetherton and Fiona Meighan each have a background in psychology. Rupert is a master of facilitation and designing inspirational futures. Fiona is passionate about open innovation and behaviour change. They look forward to meeting you.

3. Kapiche

Do we truly understand what matters most to our student populations? If not, how do we identify opportunities to improve their experience, increase retention, and drive better outcomes? 

While universities solicit huge amounts of feedback from students across a broad range of channels, the information tends to stay locked in silos and isolated in reports. The challenge is in the aggregation and synthesis of this feedback to uncover concrete insights.

In this workshop, we’ll break down methodologies for the three phases of turning feedback into insights: data collection, unstructured analysis, and sharing actionable results.

In an open discourse with Western Sydney University’s Dr. Colin Clark, we’ll discuss ways to analyse any form of student communication to gain a deeper understanding of the student experience.

We’ll share specific examples of how WSU is leveraging feedback analytics to better understand students in order to improve their experience, increase retention, and drive university outcomes.

Accommodation

The Sofitel Noosa is now fully booked.

Accommodation is not included. A special conference rate of A$309* per night (without breakfast) has been arranged with the Sofitel Noosa Pacific Resort. Please complete the booking form and return it directly to the Sofitel Noosa Pacific Resort to receive this rate.

* Please note there are limited rooms are available at this special price.

Upcoming Sunshine Coast events

Why not stay longer on the Sunshine Coast and enjoy the natural beauty and ambience of Australia’s most magnificent coastal and hinterland environment. More information can be obtained from the Visit Sunshine Coast website.

Note: The Noosa Triathlon is being held from 26-30 October and details are available on the Noosa Tri website.

Directions

The Sofitel Noosa is located just 35 minutes from the Sunshine Coast airport or is a 1hr 40min drive from Brisbane Airport.

Social platforms

To stay up to date with all the finer details leading up to the day and for announcements and insights during the event, please join our LinkedIn page and get familiar with our Twitter handle.

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