Uni know-how project wins praise
Work to familiarise high school students in Northern Adelaide schools with university life and study won accolades for the University Orientation Program Team at the Chancellor’s Awards for Community Service.
In partnership with Fremont-Elizabeth City, Salisbury East, Smithfield Plains, Paralowie, Salisbury and Craigmore High Schools, and St Columba and Endeavour Colleges, the team has developed an 11 week program that brings local students onto UniSA’s Mawson Lakes campus to learn about university life.
Started in 2003 the project has grown with more schools registering interest each year. Year 11 students get to sit in on first year lectures and tutorials in subject areas from each of UniSA’s four divisions and then work on small research projects which they present to peers, university teachers and mentors.
In some cases their work is formally assessed by the schools and incorporated into a SACE unit. The program benefits students in the region, provides important information to teachers and excellent opportunities for undergraduate students, who act as peer tutors, to further develop their range of graduate qualities including leadership, communication and interpersonal skills.
The program was given special praise for its role in developing strong regional partnerships with schools in northern metropolitan Adelaide and for making university study worth serious consideration for hundreds of students in the area. Last year 86 students from eight schools took part in the project and in 2005 those numbers are expected to increase.
The project team was awarded $7,000 prize money to support transportation costs in this expanding program. The team includes Fiona Underwood, Amanda Walsh, Dr Ian Clark, Lorraine Connor, Scott Copeland, Jenny Davies, Esmond Dowdy, Andrea Duff, Sue Gilbert-Hunt, Ian Hamilton, Lyn Leaney, Roman Muller, Dr Jan Stanek, Aaron Agnew, Deidre Bilney, Michael Davis, Arthur Filippou, Mohammed Khazab, An Nguyen, Philip Pojer, Louisa Russo, Ryan Summerton, Lann Tay, Alexander Wiegand, and Sally Ziniak.