Transition
This page outlines current JCU transition programs and provides links to transition and first year experience
programs in other Australian universities. Research papers, reports and links to conference sites are also provided.
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JCU Transition Programs
- Pre Orientation Courses
Kickstart - 3-day transition program facilitated by mentors in the week before
O Week for FAESS.
Kickstart Report & Evaluation (2003); Kickstart
Report & Evaluation (2004); Kickstart Report & Evaluation (2005)
Freshstart - 3-day transition program facilitated by mentors in the week before
O Week for FLBCA.
Freshstart Report & Evaluation (2003); Freshstart
Report & Evaluation (2004); Freshstart Report & Evaluation (2005)
Pre
O Week Study Skills courses - maths bridging, computers, writing, grammar.
AusAID - 5 week transition program and orientation for International students.
- Orientation
First year students can download a PDF version of the Orientation Guide for
both Townsville and Cairns.
- InfoHelp Programs
- information literacy skills, using email and computer labs, net for beginners,
Microsoft applications
- O
Week Information sessions - managing money, Student Association services,
careers, admin information, disability resources
- O
Week study skills sessions - time management, critical thinking, writing,
tutorials, notetaking, survival skills, mature age issues. Study
Skills Evaluation - Word document
- Welcomes, social activities, course information sessions, mentor tours
- Uniprep.
- a tertiary preparation course designed to assist people who are considering
enrolling at JCU, but who feel they need to acquire additional skills and
confidence beforehand.
- Thinking
About Uni - web and print guide to those thinking about study at university.
- ASPIRE
- aims to encourage aspirations towards, and participation in, tertiary
studies by students from groups traditionally under represented in higher
education.
- Options Program - provides young people with disabilities a way of finding
out about university life.
- Events, Tours & Career Markets
Find out about campus tours, on-campus events and information sessions throughout the year. See if JCU is attending a career market near you.
- Prospective Students
Web page information about studying at JCU - bridging courses, tertiary access
courses, how to apply, selecting courses, scholarships etc.
- International Students
UniGateway, English Language Centre, Programs etc.
- Retention Project: Stay and Succeed at JCU
A list of online resources compiled by Teaching and Learning Development at JCU as part of the Stay and Succeed at JCU project.
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Transition Programs of other universites
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Relevant Papers and Research
- Monitoring and assisting student academic progress: results of a student
progress initiative in the Faculty of Arts at Monash University (Powell & Peel, 2000)
This paper provides some evidence for the effectiveness of retention strategies such as the On Track program and was tabled at a JCU Student Retention Working Group meeting in 2001.
- Lasting the Tertiary Distance
Article from The Age, 19/02/03 - download as Word document.
- Transition from Secondary to Tertiary: A Performance Study
This project involved three coordinated studies whose objectives were to identify and develop measures contributing to successful secondary to tertiary transitions, and to investigate establishing funding rewards for institutions which most successfully handle the transition.
- Student engagement: The role of peers in undergraduate student experience (Krause, McInnis, & Welle, 2002)
- Transition: a learner's perspective
Presentation to Cairns Symposium June, 2003 - download as Powerpoint document
- Faculty Specific Transition Programs - replacing the traditional O' Week
Paper presented at the Language and Academic Skills in Higher Education National Conference, Adelaide, November 2003
- Peer interaction in the transition process
Paper presented at the Australia & New Zealand Student Services Association Inc. Conference, Moorabbin, December, 2003 and published in the April 2004 edition of the Journal of the Australia & New Zealand Student Services Association (JANZSSA).
- Student Retention
This paper by Peter Morgan was comissioned by the Business Education Support Team in the UK and seeks to use empirical evidence to identify the causes of student withdrawal, note potential solutions supported by the literature and identify some of the challenges ahead in increasing retention in business education.Tabled at the JCU Student Retention Working Group, October 2004.
- TLD transition programs 2004 (Kickstart and Freshstart)
Report tabled at the JCU Student Retention Working Group, October 2004, which shows significant improvements in retention for students who attended the programs in 2004. See above for the detailed reports for both of these programs in 2003 and 2004.
- The first year experience in Australian universities: Findings from a decade of national studies (Krause, et al., 2005)
- Engaged, inert or otherwise occupied?: Deconstructing the 21st century undergraduate student (Krause, 2005)
Conferences and Reports
- Pacific Rim First
Year in Higher Education Conference Proceedings (Past Papers 1995-2004)
- Conference Report - FYE 2002
Report and recommendations for transition programs at JCU - July 2002.
- Conference Report - ANZSSA 2003
Report which includes some oberservations on the evaluation of retention strategies.
- Conference Report - FYE 2004
Report and recommendations for transition programs at JCU. Tabled at the JCU Student Retention Working Group, August 2004.
- 9th Pacific Rim First Year in Higher Education Conference: Engaging Students 12-14 July 2006
