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CommUniTI - engaging first year students
Conference presentation

CommUniTI - engaging first year students

Michael Christie and Sharn Donnison
USC Research Week, 2015 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 13-Jul-2015–16-Jul-2015)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2015
url
https://www.usc.edu.au/View
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Abstract

Specialist Studies in Education
The USC Gympie campus is situated in an area that contains potential university students that can be characterised as having low socioeconomic status (SES). Current higher education policy aims to be more inclusive of such groups (Read, King, & Whiteford, 2015). USC identifies accommodating such students as a priority and has funded a commissioned research project called CommUniTI which began at the start of 2015 and is reported on here. Gympie is situated in a local government region where educational levels and qualifications are significantly lower when compared to the rest of the state - 50% of its residents are in the most disadvantaged socio-economic sector and the unemployment rate is 8.1% (Queensland Treasury and Trade, 2014). The CommUniTI project adopts a fourth generation approach to inclusive and supportive first The USC Gympie campus is situated in an area that contains potential university students that can be characterised as having low socioeconomic status (SES). Current higher education policy aims to be more inclusive of such groups (Read, King, & Whiteford, 2015). USC identifies accommodating such students as a priority and has funded a commissioned research project called CommUniTI which began at the start of 2015 and is reported on here. Gympie is situated in a local government region where educational levels and qualifications are significantly lower when compared to the rest of the state - 50% of its residents are in the most disadvantaged socio-economic sector and the unemployment rate is 8.1% (Queensland Treasury and Trade, 2014). The CommUniTI project adopts a fourth generation approach to inclusive and supportive first year student experience (Penn-Edwards & Donnison, 2014). This means that our project identifies and responds to the above students' needs by engaging with the students' social and civic communities, their family and friends, and former or current school (in the case of potential university applicants). Although in its early stages our research is mapping student needs, taking into the knowledge, social and cultural capital that students bring with them in order to a Community of Practice (CoP) using methodology designed by Wenger (1998). Once established the CommUniTI CoP will help the recruitment and retention of students, many of whom are first in the family to enter a university. It will involve a range of interested stakeholders such as the institution, students, students' parents, friends and community members, who together will collaboratively design and develop transition and engagement support strategies.

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