UNSW STUDENT SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT 2006 - myUNSW

UNSW STUDENT 

SERVICES 

ANNUAL REPORT 

2006 

August 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Mission Statement UNSW Student Services …………………………………………... 3 

UNSW Student Services organisation chart …………………………………………... 4 

From the Director …………………………..…………………………………………... 5 

Student Support Central ………………………………………………………………… 7 

Student Administration and Records (STAR) …………………………………………. 16 

Student Systems and Business Solutions (SSABS) ……………………………………. 25 

Accommodation Services ……………………………………………………………… 30 

Counselling Service ………………………………………………………………….… 34 

Careers and Employment ……………………………………………………………… 47 

2

UNSW 

Student Services 

Mission Statement 

To enhance the overall student 

experience by: 

‣ developing and maintaining 

effective partnerships with the 

UNSW community 

‣ empowering students to achieve 

their academic and personal goals 

‣ providing a professional and 

responsive service to staff, students 

and all those with whom we interact 

‣ striving to continuously improve our 

services 

3

DIRECTOR 

Jane Gatwood 

Executive Assistant 

Financial Officer 

STUDENT 

SUPPORT CENTRAL 

Kathryn 

Whittingham 

CAREERS AND 

EMPLOYMENT 

Taye Morris 

STUDENT 

ADMINISTRATION 

AND RECORDS 

Kathy Keane 

STUDENT SYSTEMS 

AND BUSINESS 

SOLUTIONS 

Robert Morrell 

COUNSELLING 

SERVICE 

Annie Andrews 

ACCOMMODATION 

SERVICES 

Stephen Ryan 

Admissions 

Scholarships and Financial 

Support (SAFS) 

[Scholarships, AusAID, Prizes 

and Loans] 

ESOS 

Student Central 

Enrolments 

Examinations 

Records 

Academic Progression 

Commonwealth Support and Fees 

Ceremonies 

Graduations 

Student Systems 

Scheduling and Academic 

Requirements 

Student Portal and Publications 

4

From the Director 

Student Services made significant progress in many areas in 2006. Following the Miller 

Review in 2004/05, which resulted in significant organisational change, 2006 was a 

year of consolidation, challenge and achievement. 

In July we farewelled Professor Robert King who had initiated the Miller Review and 

whose support we greatly appreciated, and welcomed Professor Richard Henry to the 

post of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic). We also farewelled senior officers, 

Melissa Hankinson, who took up a position at UNSW Asia, and Lene Jensen, who took 

the position of Manager, UNSW Hong Kong Office. 

Throughout 2006 a major focus was preparation for the opening of the UNSW Asia 

campus. This required not only close co-operation with academic and professional 

staff of UNSW Asia, in particular with Maria Spies, Sue Bennett-Williams, Professor 

Yoke Kai Chan and Hon Thin Woon, but adjustments to many of our processes to 

accommodate the needs of the new campus. It was certainly a challenge but also a 

very rewarding experience. 

Some Student Services achievement highlights: 

• New and enhanced admission processes, such as using bulk email to send PDF 

correspondence to applicants, including offers of places. By doing this we have 

substantially improved response times; 

• Implementation of a new ACCESS allocation methodology for undergraduate 

students and a common selection algorithm for UAC applicants; 

• The launch of a completely new Scholarships website and completion of Phase 1 

of the scholarships / NSS integration project; 

• Installation of new call centre software to monitor and improve telephone 

response times in Student Central; 

• Online provision of various forms and advice for Commonwealth Supported 

Students; 

• System changes required due to the introduction of Voluntary Student Unionism 

legislation; 

• Introduction of ‘tamper-proof’ testamurs. Our lead is now being followed by 

other members of Go8; 

• University-wide timetabling in place for 2007 enrolments (go-live date 11 

December 2006); 

• Agreement for a major refurbishment of student apartments at 46 High Street; 

• Enhancement of online services in the Counselling Service and Careers and 

Employment to support individual assistance provided to students face-to- face. 

A cross-department Communications team has addressed issues and barriers to 

effective communication within the Department and between the Department and 

other UNSW units. This small representative group has actively engaged in fostering a 

greater sense of community within the Department. The group has produced action 

papers on matters ranging from our Mission Statement, to style guides for email and 

telephone usage, business process mapping, document templates and client surveys 

and provided advice to the Department on issues arising from the State Records Act. 

Thank you to all for participating, and to the Chair of the Group, Clare Buckley. 

5

I would like to thank and congratulate all staff of the department for their support and 

tireless efforts for students and our colleagues across the University, and Elizabeth 

Davis, my executive assistant, for her editorial work in putting this Annual Report 

together. 

The 2006 Annual Report is provided in two versions – a printed copy and an electronic 

version. The electronic version can be found at: 

https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/Staff/AnnualReport2006.pdf 

With my best wishes 

Jane Gatwood 

Director 

6

STUDENT SUPPORT CENTRAL 

Report from the Deputy Director of Student Services, 

Kathryn Whittingham 

OVERVIEW 

2006 saw the consolidation of the teams that emerged from the 2004/5 Miller Review 

of Students Services to form Student Support Central: Direct Admissions, UAC 

Admissions, Scholarships & Financial Support (SAFS) and Student Central. 

During the year the teams were faced with significant challenges as a result of changes 

to external legislation and University policies. The ‘birth’ of UNSW Asia continued to 

impact on the resources of a number of teams, whilst pressures on staff to improve 

business efficiencies were ongoing throughout the year. Nevertheless, most, if not all, 

of the challenges were addressed, and significant developments in business and 

systems functionality mean the Office is better placed to meet customer and 

stakeholder expectations. 

Each team contributed representatives to the Student Services Level 3 OH&S 

Committee and Communications Group. 

Following the University’s decision to offer Voluntary Redundancies, Student Support 

Central lost 4 positions (2 in Direct Admissions and 2 in Scholarships and Financial 

Support) 

Once again, all staff in Student Support Central should be highly commended for both 

individual and team contributions to the Office’s overall success in meeting strategic 

and developmental goals, whilst continuing to carry out operational processes with a 

high degree of skill, professionalism, camaraderie – and good humour. 

ADMISSIONS OFFICE 

The Admissions Office within Student Services is divided into two main teams, the 

Direct Admissions Team and the UAC Admissions Team. 

During 2006, both teams engaged with the University’s Internal Audit office in a review 

of business processes and record-keeping. The teams persevere in working on 

implementing and addressing the Audit recommendations, including conducting 

Privacy Act training and random assessment/outcome checking and sampling. 

7

Direct Admissions Team 

The Direct Admissions Team is responsible for the management of the admission of 

international undergraduate students and postgraduate coursework students, processing 

of electronic Confirmations of Enrolment (e-COEs) and other visa-related 

documentation for international students, liaison on admissions matters with recognised 

agents, such as IDP, and UNSW offices overseas. 

Statistics 

Semesters 1 and 2 2006 Applications Enrolments 

Postgraduate Local 5790 3632 

Postgraduate 

5975 1657 

International 

Undergraduate 

International 

5066 1288 

Communication 

• The team continued to work collaboratively with Student Systems & Business 

Solutions (SSABS), and enhanced the online content of myUNSW to provide 

information to prospective students regarding UNSW; 

• Supported Faculty and International Office colleagues on a number of overseas 

recruitment events by providing on-the-spot advice about qualifications and 

institutions, and expert guidance about processing issues relating to visas, tuition 

fee deposits, health cover and admissions processes; 

• Team members also expanded their interaction with agents and other overseas 

visitors, participating in meetings and other forums, reaffirming their crucial link 

in the recruitment chain; 

• Worked with the Student Recruitment Office on the production of various 

recruitment publications, and participated in a number of promotional events, 

such as Courses & Careers Day, Info Day, and the Postgraduate Expo. 

Operational and Process Initiatives 

• Admissions services for UNSW Asia went live on 3 January 2006 with the release 

of online applications; 

• During the year the team continued to support admissions services for UNSW 

Asia, including application assessment, staff training, and systems changes to 

Apply Online, NSS processing and reporting; 

• The team commenced an applicant status report cycle for all off-shore UNSW 

offices; 

8

• In conjunction with the International Office, Direct Admissions developed a 

system of Provisional Offers for use by Recruitment Teams at off-shore 

recruitment events. The process was refined and replaced in October by an 

extensive use of a ‘revamped’ Conditional Offer mechanism that minimises 

double-handling, and streamlines the application>offer>acceptance process; 

• Electronic application acknowledgements to all direct applicants were launched 

in June 2006; 

• After extensive development and testing, the team implemented a bulk .PDF 

email correspondence process, which allows offers and related application 

outcomes to be emailed automatically to agents/students on a 24 hour ‘sweep’. 

Quality Assurance 

• Direct Admissions worked with Institutional Analysis & Reporting (IARO) on the 

design and outcomes of a survey of all direct applicants who received an offer for 

admission in Semester 2 2006, but who did not accept. Over 1350 applicants 

were surveyed, with ‘Price’ and ‘Other Stronger Institutional Preference’ being the 

main reasons for not accepting offers; 

• The team made a significant contribution to the International Office’s 

‘Counsellor’s Manual’; 

• Continued membership of the Go8 Admissions Group enabled UNSW to engage 

in national benchmarking activities and the sharing of good practice. UNSW 

hosted a meeting of the Group in May 2006. 

Systems and Services Improvements 

• Further enhancements made to the UNSW online application system – Apply 

Online – for direct international, and postgraduate coursework applicants; 

• Implemented changes to the business and underlying technical system to support 

the University’s change of Preferred Provider for Overseas Student Health Cover 

to OSHC Worldcare; 

• Enhanced NSS functionality to improve data entry and reporting. 

UAC Admissions Team 

Working in concert with the Universities Admissions Centre (UAC), the UAC 

Admissions Team manages the admission of local undergraduate students, including 

the processing of credit transfer. The team is also responsible for the admission of Non- 

Award students (including bridging courses) and Honours applicants, and for the 

management of special admissions schemes, such as the University Preparation 

Program (UPP), the University’s ACCESS Scheme, Indigenous student admissions and 

the Early Entry Scheme for Exceptionally Talented Students. 

9

Statistics 

Semester 1 and 2 2006 Applications Enrolments 

Undergraduate CSP 8942 (offers) 5983 

Undergraduate DFEE 1114 (offers) 243 

NAWD – UPP 400 372 

NAWD – other (excluding 

ADFA) 

2168 1939 

Communication 

• Worked with Faculties to implement the recommendations from the Committee 

on Education’s Admissions Review Working Party. In particular, the team 

developed and implemented a common approach for the selection of non-school 

leaver applicants and an Internal Program Transfer Policy (to be applied for both 

local and international undergraduate admissions). Both processes involved the 

team holding consultative meetings with Faculties and other Student Services 

staff. In addition the development of the common algorithm involved extensive 

liaison with UAC; 

• Provided further support to the Faculty of Science in the implementation of 

revised provision in Optometry viz. the new BSc Science (Vision Science) and its 

relationship to the B Optom BSc program; 

• Provided advice to the Faculty of Medicine in relation to the Medical Science > 

Medicine lateral transfer process implemented for Semester 1 2007; 

• Continued to work collaboratively with Student Systems & Business Solutions 

(SSABS), and enhanced the online content of myUNSW to provide information to 

prospective students regarding UNSW; 

• Worked with the Student Recruitment Office (SRO) on the production of various 

recruitment publications, and participated in a number of promotional events, 

such as Courses & Careers Day, Year 10 Evening, Info Day, and the Careers 

Advisers Seminar. UAC Team staff were invited to make formal presentations at 

the Year 10 Evening and Careers Advisors Seminar and also presented several 

lectures at Courses and Careers Day; 

• Provided ongoing assistance to Faculty marketing staff in the preparation of 

Faculty prospectuses and websites and contributions to SRO's Careers Advisors 

Newsletters; 

• Updated and clarified UNSW’s English Proficiency policy and made this clear on 

the corporate website; 

• On behalf of the DVC (Academic), the team prepared and circulated 

communications to all UNSW Staff attending Courses and Careers Day and Info 

Day on admissions changes to improve the consistency of advice provided to 

prospective students; 

• Liaised with Faculty Managers and marketing staff to produce UNSW’s entry in 

the UAC Guide and other UAC publications; 

10

• Continued in the role of Chair of the UAC Educational Access Schemes (EAS) 

Subcommittee, and provided members to a number of other UAC groups, 

including the Common Assessment Procedures and Editorial subcommittees, and 

the Commonwealth Learning Scholarships (CLS) working party; 

• Hosted a forum in July to discuss strategic approaches to UAC Admissions. 

Opened by the Vice-Chancellor, the forum was attended by representatives from 

across the University, and broad agreement was reached on a number of 

strategies for 2008 admissions for local undergraduate applicants. This was 

followed up with a second forum in December 2006 to focus Faculties on the 

strategies to be implemented for 2007 and to steer continued work on 2008 

strategies. 


• Following Council approval, the UAC Admissions team worked with UAC to 

implement the revised allocation method for ACCESS applicants. This led to a 

very successful outcome for the University during the 2006/7 admissions cycle; 

• Testing and implementation of the common selection algorithm; 

• A new Internal Program Transfer process was implemented for Session 2 2006 

students following extensive consultation with Faculties. The agreement 

introduced greater flexibility for students to transfer between undergraduate 

programs within most Faculties; 

• Extensive review of UAC Course codes for 2007 to address historical anomalies 

and streamline the allocation process; 

• Research and preparation of policy papers on strategic approaches to UAC 

Admissions on behalf of the DVC (Academic) for consideration by VCAC and 

Academic Board; 

• Atax – implementation of new process for B Taxation applicants (all via UAC 

instead of direct) and briefing of new staff member now responsible for Atax 

undergraduate admissions; 

• Extensive consultation with/training of Faculty staff regarding manual processing 

for 2007 admissions and development of formal agreements. Development of 

flexible entry systems in the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences, COFA, 

Business, Science and for Health and Exercise Science and Atax for 2007 

admissions. 


• Developed an Internal ‘Access to UAC data’ system. 

Systems & Services Improvements 

• Initiated the development of business systems and processes (both internal and for 

UAC) to support the implementation of the University’s flexible entry for a 

number of programs to be further developed as HSC Plus during 2007; 

• Enhanced NSS functionality to improve data entry and reporting; 

• In collaboration with staff in IARO developed a computerised system for 

processing of flexible entry admissions for 2007 admissions. 

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Scholarships & Financial Support 

The Scholarships & Financial Support Team (SAFS) is responsible for the processing of 

all undergraduate and postgraduate coursework scholarships (excluding the Co-Op 

Program) for local and international students. The scholarships administered may be 

funded from a variety of sources, including internal UNSW funds, University 

Foundation, external bodies (in particular, the AusAID program funded through the 

Department of Foreign Affairs) and industry. The team is also responsible for managing 

the allocation of UNSW prizes to students, under the various prize collections, and for 

invoicing donors and reconciling donor accounts. 

During 2006, the team was responsible for assisting the University with compliance 

under the ESOS Act, and associated legislation. The team also administers the UNSW 

Student Loans Scheme. Loans of up to $4,000 are available to students in temporary 

financial need or to those wishing to purchase a computer. 

While many operational areas of the University experience an Internal and/or an 

External Audit on occasion, SAFS participated in no fewer than 4 audits during 2006. 

Very positive feedback was received from two external audits for AusAID Scholarship 

management, and the team also participated in an internal and an external audit 

relating to the University’s compliance with the Education Services for Overseas 

Students (ESOS) Act. 

The team moved to the Mathews Building during the latter part of 2006, which greatly 

improved space availability and working conditions. 

Semesters 1 and 2 2006 

Total Undergraduate Student Scholarships (including AusAID 

and Commonwealth Learning Scholarships (CLS)) 

1,200 

Total Postgraduate Student Scholarships (excl AusAID) 10 

AusAID Scholarship Holders 100 

CLS Scholarship Holders 386 

Total Annual Scholarship Expenditure 

- Undergraduate Scholarships 

- AusAID (estimated) 

$5.8 million 

$4.4 million 

Prizes 500 

UNSW Student Loans 

- Number of student loans 

- Value of student loans 

80 

$120,000 

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Communication 

• Delivered a new Scholarships web site to provide improved information and 

functionality for prospective and enrolled students, donors, and UNSW staff; 

• Initiated the Scholarships Interest Group to staff across the University who have a 

direct involvement with, and interest in, the promotion and processing of 

scholarships; 

• Worked with colleagues in the Student Recruitment Office, Equity & Diversity 

Unit and UAC Admissions to promote the new Scientia and ACCESS Assist 

Scholarships. (32 Scientia Scholarships were awarded; 20 ACCESS Assist 

Scholarships); 

• ESOS Awareness Information sessions were held across campus during July 2006 

to remind colleagues of several areas of compliance, identified by the 

DEST/DIMIA audit as being of particular significance. 


• In concert with SSABS, Solution Delivery Services and the Graduate Research 

School (GRS), delivered the first phase of a major project to integrate 

administration of scholarships within NSS. The change will support the 

University’s business needs for managing and promoting its scholarships; 

providing financial and/academic support to students of merit and/or need. 

Furthermore, the enhanced system and reporting functionality will meet the 

University’s financial and legislative obligations; 

• Phase 1 of the Scholarships Online system delivered – to be rolled out in 2007; 

• Opening and closing dates, and forms for scholarship applications were reviewed 

and streamlined; 

• Staff responsibilities were reviewed and aligned more closely with Faculties, to 

provide better customer service; 

• Continued to work with the University Foundation to review, develop and agree 

formalised processes for the management and administration of Foundation 

scholarships; 

• Worked extensively with UAC to implement centralised processing for 

Commonwealth Learning Scholarships. For the first time since their inception, 

the University was able to maximise the number of offers to eligible students. 


• A review of Faculty-based Honours and Vacation Scholarships was undertaken; 

• To mark the first six months of the Australian Partnerships Scholarships scheme, 

the AusAID team undertook a benchmarking/feedback meeting with IDP in July, 

and received very positive feedback on the performance to date. 

Systems and Services Improvements 

• Continued business process re-engineering in support of NSS Scholarships; 

• Launched new Scholarships website in September 2006. The team has received 

very positive feedback on the significant improvement on the former site. 

13

Student Central 

UNSW Student Central is the principal, front-of-house service for (prospective) 

applicants, students, and other customers of UNSW Student Services. Services are 

provided face-to-face, by email, and through a telephone call centre - both at the main 

Student Central centre at Kensington, as well as in temporary service centres, such as 

the Enrolment Support Centre in the University Library. Subject to periodic review and 

negotiation with other business units, it also provides a delivery service for a number of 

key administrative processes. 

Statistics 

Semesters 1 and 2 2006 

Telephone and Email enquiries 41,000 

In person enquiries 68,000 

Fast Service Transcripts 3,000 

Award/enrolment statements 4,500 

Change of name verifications 500 

Electronic Confirmations of Enrolment 1,500 

During 2006, Student Central upgraded their in-house developed ACCESS database for 

the recording of statistics. The Team hopes that this database may, in time, be replaced 

by a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for the purposes of providing 

richer data and more effective tracking of customer enquiries. 

Communication 

• Facilitated meetings of the Faculty Student Centre Managers network; 

• Initiated meetings with Faculty personnel to discuss new business systems and 

working practices; 

• Successfully negotiated with the Library to introduce permanent signage and 

document displays to promote the services of Student Central; 

• Extended the phone system to improve responsiveness to customers; 

• Installed high impact electronic signage within the counter area to broadcast 

important information and dates to students. 


• Managed a highly successful Enrolment Support Centre in the Library for Session 

1 2006 commencing and continuing students (12 December 2005 – 24 February 

2006); 

• Developed a Service Level Agreement with Student Administration and Records 

(STAR) regarding the production of Electronic Confirmation of Enrolment (e-COEs) 

for those students who require a visa extension, change their program, or are 

given advanced standing; 

• Following the relocation of Scholarships and Financial Support to the Mathews 

Building, Student Central staff were provided with training by SAFS staff to ensure 

continuity of service and to enable more enquiries to be answered at the Student 

Central counter. 

14


• A client survey was undertaken to identify what types of services students 

expected from Student Central and to gauge levels of satisfaction – very positive 

feedback was received; 

• UNSW Student Central was instrumental in establishing the inaugural Student 

Service Centre conference in Adelaide in July 2006. Over 90 delegates from the 

University and TAFE sectors, from both Australia and New Zealand, were in 

attendance, and the conference focused on customer service delivery in Higher 

Education and Further Education providers; 

• A comprehensive series of soft skills training sessions for Student Central staff 

were designed and facilitated by Organisation and Staff Development Services 

(OSDS). The team undertook 8 sessions of 90 minutes each, over a period of 9 

months. Topics covered werer: Working with Different Behavioural Styles, 

Working with Challenging Situations, Time Management, Dealing with Conflict, 

Increasing Versatility in Relation to Service Delivery, Dealing with Change, 

Dealing with Stress, and Handling Complaints. 

Systems & Services Improvements 

• New call centre software was installed to assist in managing inbound telephone 

calls. The software enables the team to see how many calls are held in a queue 

at any point in time, how many staff are logged-on to provide customer support, 

and how many calls are abandoned. The software will make it much easier to 

proactively manage the calls, and to improve service delivery; 

• Continued discussions with Enterprise IT Services on the feasibility of introducing 

Customer Relationship Management service for managing student enquiries and 

workflow; 

• On behalf of Scholarships & Financial Support, undertook Business Processing 

Mapping on Student Loans. 

15

STUDENT ADMINISTRATION AND RECORDS 

(STAR) 


Kathy Keane 

OVERVIEW 

2006 was a year of consolidation following on from the wider Student Services 

restructure completed during mid 2005. The review of UNSW Student Services 

completed in 2005 was the driver for the creation and implementation of a new 

organisational structure to provide enhanced management and better support the many 

business processes managed by STAR. 

The focus during 2006 for STAR was two-fold. Firstly, it continued to successfully 

manage a number of core activities associated with the academic progression of the 

University’s undergraduate and postgraduate student population. Major activities 

included: 

• Enrolment Support 

• Assessments 

• Examinations 

• Academic Standing 

• Student Financials processing 

• Graduations and ceremonial related activities 

STAR also contributed to the University’s response in relation to system development 

and ongoing changes brought about by the Higher Education Services Act. Staff also 

contributed to the planning work associated with student system and the provision of 

services for UNSW Asia. 

The other major component of our focus during 2006 was the ongoing planning and 

implementation of the new STAR structure. This process has involved all staff in 

documenting the numerous business processes and undertaking training in a number of 

new processes. Whilst immensely time and resource consuming, the end result has 

delivered a framework that better supports STAR staff, provides career progression and 

staff development opportunities, and creates an environment that allows STAR to better 

support and engage with the University community. 

This report provides operational data from 2006, details of key objectives for the Office, 

challenges faced in 2006 and those that we will need to consider in the future. 

16

SUMMARY OF 2006 ACTIVITIES 

Throughout 2006 work was undertaken in continuing to review and enhance a number 

of administrative processes as well as commencing planning for future years. 

Key Operational Data 

Please note that some prior year data has been included where possible for 

comparison. 

Academic Standing 

Assessment and Academic Progression 

Total number of Undergraduate & Postgraduate suspensions & 

exclusions 

2006 2005 

446 454 

Total student Appeals received 136 132 

Total students Readmitted 50 56 

Total students suspended and excluded 86 76 

Special Consideration Applications 


Applications received Session 1 3,682 3,259 

Applications received Session 2 3,401 3,200 

Applications received Summer Session 49 45 

Total 7,132 6,504 

Processing of Transcripts and Data Verification Requests 


Number of requests received 8,736 9,568 

Number of transcripts dispatched 37,389 43,387 

Review of Results Applications 


Applications Session 1 107 91 

Applications Session 2 80 74 

Applications received in Summer Session 9 2 

Leave and Discontinuation Applications 

Number of Undergraduate & Postgraduate Leave of Absence 

applications 

Number of Undergraduate & Postgraduate Discontinuation 

applications 


3,380 3,400 

1,139 1,287 

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Program enrolments by session 

Commonwealth Support and Fees 2006 

DEST reported students - 

Commonwealth Supported and FEE- 

HELP 

Session 1 Session 2 Summer Total 

19,070 18,074 2,920 40,064 

Local Fee Paying - Undergraduate 604 566 103 1,273 

Local Fee Paying - Postgraduate 3,095 2,939 504 6,538 

International Fee Paying 6,966 6,857 1,181 15,004 

Other – e.g. Employee Sponsored, 

Commonwealth Scholarship 

Recipients 

2,622 2,350 32 5,004 

Fee Statements processed manually by batch on NSS 241,000 

Commonwealth Assistance Notices (CAN’s) processed manually 

by batch on NSS 

40,064 

Examinations 2006 

S1 

S2 

Total number of exams 695 721 

Total number of students sitting exams 19,795 19,148 

Largest exam – ECON1101 1,517 

Largest exam – ECON1102 1,264 

Number of exams with over 500 students 10 9 

Number of exams with 200-500 students 51 42 

Number of exams with 100-200 students 98 112 

Number of exams with under 100 students 536 558 

Number of students with back-to-back exams 8% 6% 

The data above excludes examinations organised internally by schools. 

Graduations 

Number of graduation ceremonies 

2006 2005 2004 

Number of local graduation ceremonies 50 53 52 

Number of overseas ceremonies 2 3 4 

New degrees conferred 9,574 9,936 10,238 

Already conferred degrees 905 696 716 

Total degrees 10,479 10,632 10,954 

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Number of degrees conferred by Faculty 

Faculty 2006 2005 2004 

Institute of Environmental Studies 58 64 55 

Arts and Social Sciences 1,251 1,226 1,335 

Built Environment 439 530 495 

Business 2,157 2,514 2,571 

College of Fine Arts 544 576 556 

Engineering 1,828 1,994 2,129 

Law 975 995 921 

Medicine 582 330 628 

Science 1,147 1,157 1,035 

UNSW@ADFA 577 501 507 

Level of 

degrees 

conferred 

Gender of 

candidates 

Postgraduate 

Undergraduate 

Research 

Females 

Males 

2006 2005 2004 

3,431 

5,646 

497 

4,776 

4,798 

3,348 

5,696 

395 

4,797 

4,640 

4,096 

5,730 

412 

4,989 

5,249 

Residency AUS 6,371 6,387 6,499 

Awarding of Honorary degrees 

INTL 2,419 3,189 3,033 

PR 631 354 579 

NZ 126 114 112 

Unknown 27 163 15 

The following honorary degrees were conferred in graduation ceremonies in 2006. 

Candidate Degree Conferral date 

Rabbi Raymond Apple Hon.LLD 19 May 2006 

Mr Neil Armfield Hon.DLitt 26 May 2006 

Mr John Bell Hon.DLitt 23 May 2006 

The Hon. Bob Carr Hon.DLitt 26 May 2006 

The Hon. Sir John Carrick Hon.EdD 16 May 2006 

Mr Charles ‘Chicka’ Dixon Hon.DLitt 23 March 2006 

Mr Carrillo Gantner Hon.DLitt 5 May 2006 

Rear Admiral James Goldrick Hon.DLitt 13 December 2006 

Ms Elaine Henry Hon.DLitt 24 March 2006 

Mr Ian Kiernan Hon.DSc 30 March 2006 

Lady Susan Martin Hon.DLitt 26 May 2006 

19

Ms Irene Moss Hon.LLD 12 May 2006 

Professor John Shine Hon.DSc 22 September 2006 

Mr Robyn Williams Hon.DSc 30 March 2006 

Mr James Wolfensohn Hon.DSc 24 November 2006 

The Hon. Neville Wran Hon.LLD 19 May 2006 

Dr John Yu Hon.DSc 23 May 2006 

Academic Dress 

The Ceremonies Office, liaising with the relevant course authority, is responsible for the 

prescription of academic dress for new degree programs. In 2006, the following 

academic dress was prescribed: 

Degree Abbrev Description 

Master of Couple MCFT Old gold silk (BCC115) lined with powder blue silk 

and Family 

(BCC193) and edged to a depth of 5cm with pearl white 

Master of Financial 

Analysis 

Master of Financial 

Mathematics 

Master of Health 

Informatics 

Master of 

International Law 

and International 

Relations 

MFinAn 

MFinMath 

MHIM 

MILIR 

silk (BCC151) 

Old gold silk (BCC115) lined with cream silk (BCC3) 

and edged to a depth of 5 cm with powder blue silk 

(BCC193) 

Old gold silk (BCC115) lined with maize silk (BCC5) 

and edged to a depth of 5cm with kingfisher silk 

(BCC164) 

Old gold silk (BCC115) lined with petunia silk 

(BCC108) 

Old gold silk (BCC115) lined with beech brown silk 

(BCC69) and edged to a depth of 5cm with pearl white 

silk (BCC151) 

Note: BCC refers to the British Colour Council system. A full listing of UNSW 

academic dress is at https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/academiclife/AcademicDress.pdf 

Visits by International guests 

The Ceremonies Office assisted with a number of State visits including The Hon. Hua 

Jianmin, State Councillor, Secretary of State Council of People’s Republic of China and 

Secretary Samuel W. Bodman, Secretary of Energy, United States of America, on visits 

to the UNSW School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, on 11-12 

January 2006 and the visit to the campus by Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of the 

Republic of Singapore, on 15 June 2006. 

20

KEY OBJECTIVES IN 2006 

The following were identified as key focus areas for the unit in 2006: 

• Implementation of the Higher Education Reforms; 

• Enhanced communication and collaboration with Faculties, students and service 

providers; 

• Assisting to improve students’ experience of UNSW administrative processes; 

• Reviewing quality assurance; and 

• Reviewing and documenting internal administrative processes and procedures. 

Each of these areas is addressed in the following section, noting the various actions that 

were taken, and examples of procedures that have been developed and implemented. 

Implementation of the Higher Education Reforms 

• Implementation of stage 2 of the Higher Education Reforms which included: 

o Stage 2 of the online processing of Commonwealth Supported Student 

forms and FEE-HELP forms and associated NSS processes; and 

o Implementing legislative changes that impacted post-2005 permanent 

residents. 

• Communication to students and staff on the reforms included: 

o Review for students and staff of web information to communicate 

changes to students. 

o Involvement in the presentation of educational sessions for UNSW on 

Higher Education Reforms. 

• Despite the increased work load due to the implementation of the Higher 

Education Reforms STAR delivered services to staff and students within the 

required timeframes. 

Communication and collaboration 

In all areas, we have aimed to streamline and enhance communication with our key 

stakeholders. Providing relevant and timely advice is of paramount importance and in 

2006 we modified some of our communications strategies, particularly seeking to 

improve inter-department relationships (e.g. Financial Services, Faculties/Schools, 

Solution Delivery Services) to enhance the understanding of student administration 

processes across the University. 

Venue access 

An ongoing concern has been the restricted access to the Sir John Clancy Auditorium 

for scheduling graduation ceremonies. STAR has been working proactively with other 

key internal users of the venue, including the Music Performance Unit, to ensure that 

the needs of all users are met effectively, and where possible to plan schedules a 

number of years in advance. 

21

Religious Festivals Calendar 

The Graduation and Ceremonies Office created and distributed a Religious Festivals 

Calendar, responding to requests from across the University community for this 

information. This was emailed to senior administrative and marketing staff in Faculties 

and Divisions, and is located on the UNSW website at 

https://www.my.unsw.edu.au/student/resources/ReligiousFestivals.html . The Office 

will continue to produce and update this calendar on an annual basis. 

Protocol Advice 

Throughout the year the Graduation and Ceremonies Office has also responded to 

general protocol enquiries from various members of the UNSW community, including 

degree abbreviations, use of the University flag, postnominals, correct forms of address 

and orders of precedence. 

Improving students’ experience of UNSW administrative processes 

STAR’s commitment to improving service provision to stakeholders can be 

demonstrated through the following activities: 

• Developing processes to implement the annual schedule of postgraduate 

programs designated as Commonwealth Support only, including liaison with 

Faculties/Schools to ensure completion of Commonwealth Supported Student and 

FEE-HELP forms, mailing students to request completion of request form and 

Commonwealth Supported Student forms, and reviewing procedures and 

assessing postgraduate equity applications; 

• Establishing processes to reduce the numbers of Commonwealth Supported 

students cancelled after census date; 

• Continued data entry and verification of historical student records into NSS. 

Quality assurance and fiscal prudence 

The University had become concerned over the increase in the presentation of 

fraudulent documents, including testamurs. In 2006, STAR worked closely with an 

external security document provider to develop a solution and as a result, from August 

2006, a more sophisticated testamur paper with enhanced security features was 

introduced. 

One example of STAR seeking feedback to assess the quality of service provision was 

the creation of the graduation survey. Students attending graduation ceremonies were 

sent a survey covering all aspects of the graduation process and associated services. 

The results have confirmed the value of a number of new initiatives implemented in 

2006, in particular the creation of the Graduation Information Guide and more targeted 

information online. 

22

Internal administrative improvements 

Throughout 2006, STAR staff continued to document all business processes undertaken. 

This documentation is now used in training materials and to ensure that processes are 

undertaken efficiently and accurately. 

Issues and Challenges in 2006 and Beyond 

Many of the processes for which STAR has responsibility require the input of various 

academic units. In 2007 STAR will be seeking to work proactively with other areas to 

better ensure compliance across the University community. STAR has also played a 

role in the operational planning associated with UNSW ASIA 

Examinations 

STAR administers formal end of session examinations in Summer Session, Semester 1 

and Semester 2. During 2006 more than 1,400 examinations, involving almost 40,000 

candidates in up to 40 venues and employing over 100 casual examination invigilators, 

were co-ordinated by the Examinations Section. 

The efficient management of formal examinations is constrained by several issues; 

• lack of suitable large flat floored rooms on campus; 

• the impact of the on-going construction program on possible examination venues; 

• the quality of Faculty/School set up of course examination details on NSS; 

• the quality of examination papers submitted by Schools; and 

• the delayed submission of examination papers. 

Another major issue is the poor quality of preparation of examination data and papers 

by academic units which requires the Examinations Section to undertake substantial 

additional checking which gives rise to long lead processing times. During the 

preparation for the Session 2, 2006 examinations more than half of the 721 

examination papers had errors requiring re-submission prior to the examination and 

many examination papers were queried during the actual examination by candidates 

who were unable to understand one or more questions. In a minority of cases, the 

referee who had been nominated to answer such queries was not able to be contacted 

in a timely manner. 

The Examinations Section will be preparing an issues paper detailing the current issues 

and constraints faced by staff in the management of the examination process. 

In late December 2005, amendments made to the NSW State Records Act required the 

University to review its practices in relation to the retention and storage of examination 

papers. Further investigation is required to ascertain the full impact on the examination 

process. This issue will be addressed as part of the issues paper noted above. 

23

Academic Calendar reforms 

Three of the major impacts associated with the move in 2008 to a 12 week Academic 

Calendar are on the student financial billing and census date cycle, the scheduling and 

management of examinations, and the timing and nature of graduation ceremonies. 

Preliminary planning work commenced in late 2006 to ascertain the impacts and 

changes that will be required both from a system and business process perspective. 

Major changes will be required to student financials processing to ensure compliance 

with legislative requirements. 

It is hoped that the restructure of the Academic Calendar will create a timeframe for 

processing that will ensure increased compliance with the submission of course results, 

thereby assisting academic standing, graduation and other academic progression 

processes. The changes to the calendar may allow for graduation ceremonies to be 

scheduled closer to the completion of studies. 

Preservation of historical student records 

During 2006 STAR commenced work on its document scanning project in relation to 

historical student records held by UNSW. Phase 1 involved the successful scanning of 

electronic and paper based records held at COFA. The University has a legal 

requirement to ensure that these records, which became UNSW’s responsibility 

following the merger of a number of institutions, are kept and maintained in a safe and 

secure environment and importantly, comply with the NSW State Government Records 

Act. 

Phase 2 of the project will be completed during 2007. 

24

STUDENT SYSTEMS AND 

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS (SSABS) 


Robert Morrell 

OVERVIEW 

In 2006 SSABS continued to initiate and lead policy and business process reviews 

aimed at enhancing student and academic administration, including support for the 

Academic Calendar review. It also managed a number of initiatives to introduce new 

services, in particular for centralised timetabling and student services for UNSW Asia. 

The framework of the SSABS organisational structure was bedded in, and good 

progress made towards recruiting staff to fill new roles. A number of positions were 

filled in mid-2006, including those of student systems specialist, user education 

training and support, security and audit, and portal as a whole team in a contiguous 

suite of offices on the twelfth floor of the Mathews Building, in August 2006. 

Against these successes, a number of priorities for reviewing and enhancing student 

and academic administration services have been delayed because of lack of funding, 

on the one hand, and the initiation of a new series of organisational reviews. The 

ITC review, commenced in mid 2006, had the most dramatic impact on the work 

and services provided by SSABS. While it is expected that the review will lead to an 

exciting new era of high-achievement and high-quality systems development and 

operations, in the short term there is the risk of a loss of strategic focus on widelyendorsed 

priorities. myUNSW stands out as a business solution that is at risk. As this 

report was being finalised, the ITC review was entering its second year, with at least 

18 months to run. It is imperative that the University not lose sight of high-value 

initiatives like myUNSW that enable the University to showcase its technological 

adeptness to prospective and enrolling students, and staff. 

About SSABS 

The Student Systems and Business Solutions group (SSABS) is the business owner of the 

major UNSW systems for student and academic administration: 

• NewSouth Student (the student administration system) 

• myUNSW (student portal) 

• Apply Yourself (prospective student services) 

• Student Publications Content Management System (through which the 

Online Handbook is published) 

• Syllabus Plus Course Planner (application for scheduling classes and 

resource planning) 

• Academic Requirements Management System (planned) 

25

The Office is responsible for establishing the business architecture for student and 

academic administration systems and services. It has a quality assurance role for 

published information, data, processes, and user access and support for all of these 

systems and publications. 

NewSouth Student is the largest, most complex and critical University business 

application and is essential for the effective governance of the University’s teaching 

programs, and compliance with legislative obligations. NewSouth Student supports 

extensive student self-service access through myUNSW and thus is a strategic tool for 

delivering services to current and prospective students as well as staff. 

The Office has editorial and publishing responsibility for key student and academic 

publications, in printed and web media. It is also responsible for the systems used to 

define and manage the academic rules used to validate student enrolments and to 

determine progression and eligibility for graduation against award requirements. 

SSABS provides services to the University in the following domains: 

• Initiating and managing projects and other activities to improve existing or 

introduce new business or information services, including strategic planning, 

business requirements definition, and change management; 

• Providing leadership and operational support for core processes for managing the 

University’s academic program requirements and for timetabling; 

• Co-ordinating user education and support, training, and quality assurance for 

student and academic administration processes. 

To provide these services, SSABS liaises extensively with staff in other central units, 

Faculties, ITS, and with other universities, vendors, government agencies, and industry 

user groups. 

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS 

University-wide Timetabling 

The Academic Board adopted a policy and operational guidelines for timetabling in 

June 2006. These are available on the timetabling website: 

https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/Staff/UNSWideTimetabling.html 

The key objectives set for timetabling were defined in the policy as: 

• To produce a timetable that is equitable, effective and complete; takes into 

account the needs of both students and staff; and maximises the efficient use of 

space and resources; 

• To provide the best opportunity for students to fulfil their academic objectives by 

producing a student timetable which facilitates enrolment in core courses and 

maximises choice of elective courses where possible. 

The University adopted a “planning-based” approach to timetabling, where various 

requirements and constraints are defined as inputs to the timetable. These include 

information about courses and activities to be scheduled (and their resource needs); 

staff availability (including approved constraints on individual teaching staff); an 

26

inventory of physical teaching spaces (and their resources); and “clash free course 

combinations” (prioritised sets of courses that must or should not clash with each other, 

derived from students’ program requirements). 

The first centralised timetable – for Session 1 2007 (Kensington campus) - was 

published to students on 1 December, both in myUNSW and on the class timetable 

website www.timetable.unsw.edu.au. 

The timetable was based on information collected from Schools through customised 

term planning services built into myUNSW and pro forma schedules based on NSS data 

for 2006. Once reviewed and cleansed the data was exported to the Syllabus+ Course 

Scheduler software. Scheduling and Academic Requirements Unit (SARU) staff then 

proceeded through a series of macro and micro iterations of the schedule, using a 

combination of manual scheduling processes (based on degree of difficulty to schedule) 

and automated scheduling, in both cases using tools provided in the Course Planner 

software. School timetabling staff reviewed two drafts of the timetable and there were 

many discussions to resolve individual issues. Class scheduling information was then 

uploaded to NewSouth Student. 

Session 1 enrolments commenced on 11 December 2006, and students continued to 

enrol against the new timetable up until the start of classes in March 2007. 

The University’s initial central timetabling experience was characterised by a rapid and 

intense learning experience for all involved in timetabling and enrolment management 

activities, including SARU, CATS, ITS and Faculty administrative and academic staff. 

Centralised timetabling required new IT services to be built; the replacement of longstanding 

localised timetabling, staff allocation and room booking practices by the new 

centrally controlled service and the establishment of a new work unit to provide that 

service (SARU). Based on informal feedback and a smattering of formal comments, 

these administrative, technical and cultural changes have been regarded positively – 

welcomed - by many administrative and academic staff, but have caused discomfort to 

some others. 

There was less direct impact on students, partly because self-service class-level 

enrolment has been built into the core of myUNSW. In fact, students enrolled much 

faster than in previous years (up to 20% faster for the main enrolment weeks), 

potentially an indicator of the effectiveness of the timetable. For the first time students 

were only asked to enrol for Session 1 rather than the full year: this appears to have 

made it easier for students to enrol in Session 1. Further, the University enrolled 8% 

more students in Session 1 2007 than 2006 and, in retrospect, the timetabling system – 

including staff in SARU and schools - worked effectively in scheduling additional 

classes to meet the increased demand. Finally, CATS audits of room utilisation have 

shown that the percentage of unused booked teaching accommodation reduced from 

14% to 3.5% in Session 1 2007 compared to 2006. 

UNSW Asia Student Services 

In 2006, work was completed to enable the start-up of student and academic 

administration services for the new UNSW Asia campus, with the first students 

enrolling in December 2006 for the March semester. As the project progressed, it 

became clear that it would be possible to provide the majority of student systems-based 

services on an integration model, using established UNSW business rules (and UNSW 

27

policies, in most cases). Some modifications were required to support several specific 

student financial requirements for Singapore, but these were in production by Quarter 4 

2006. 

From December 2006 UNSW Asia students and staff were able to use NSS and 

myUNSW for core enrolment, fees, progression and reporting services, supported by 

online web content services (for the handbook, class timetable, and policy and service 

information). 

myUNSW Student Portal 

In early 2006, the University determined not to upgrade its Oracle / PeopleSoft student 

system in the next few years but instead to (1) stabilise the existing technology 

infrastructure and (2) to continue development of services myUNSW. It was expected 

that significant funds would be made available to do this, but in the event this has not 

yet happened, significantly retarding service development opportunities and placing at 

risk the “competitive advantage” UNSW had achieved through the release of the initial 

set of portal services in 2004. 

Apart from service development conducted as part of project work for centralised 

timetabling (focussing on the needs of academic and administrative staff in Faculties), 

and for UNSW Asia, a number of minor enhancements were developed, including the 

further integration of services for UNSW@ADFA and extension of Accept Online 

services. 

As the year ended, the SSABS team were completing arrangements for the release of a 

new graphic design for myUNSW. 

Student Publications 

SSABS, through the Student Portal and Publications team, continued to publish the 

Online Handbook, myUNSW service pages, and the University Calendar. The Staff List 

was removed from the Academic Calendar, and published as a separate document. It 

is expected that a new online staff directory will developed in 2007, under the 

direction of Human Resources, and that this will replace the Staff List. 

The 2007 Online Handbook was published in September 2006, in time for Courses and 

Careers Day. It continues to be a key resource for prospective students, careers 

advisors, current and former students, staff, and visitors. 10% of all UNSW internet 

traffic is to the Online Handbook. It is also an information hub – linking from and to 

myUNSW, the class timetable, Faculty and school websites, and other UNSW 

corporate websites. 

28

Student Systems Unit 

In addition to an ongoing program of enhancements and fixes to established NSS and 

myUNSW systems, the Unit provided the following services: 

• Operational management of the Apply Yourself prospective student and event 

management application; 

• A review of user access and profiles; 

• Development of user training, education and support documents and delivery of 

training for UNSW Asia (and staff at Australian campuses); scholarships; and 

Apply Yourself; 

• Reporting services for staff in Faculties and central administration units; 

• Analysis of options for reforming the UNSW Academic Calendar; 

• Support for a range of other projects and policy reviews (see below). 

Projects and Reviews 

In 2006 SSABS team members were project managers or team members on the 

following initiatives (listed in alphabetical order): 

• Academic Calendar Reforms 

• Academic Proposals Review 

• Apply Yourself (prospective student enquiry and event management system0 

• Identity Management Program 

• JULIA (data warehouse solution) 

• Non-Award Student Services 

• Scholarships 

RESOURCES 

Table: Web Resources 

Service / Resource 

Address 

myUNSW 

http://my.unsw.edu.au/ 

UNSW Apply Online http://apply.unsw.edu.au/ 

UNSW Online Handbook http://www.handbook.unsw.edu.au/ 

UNSW Asia Online Handbook https://my.unsw.edu.au/asia/oh/index.html 

Timetabling 

https://my.unsw.edu.au/student/Staff/UNSWideTimetabling.html 

Academic Calendar 

https://my.unsw.edu.au/unsw/Calendar.html 

Presentations 

http://my.unsw.edu.au/student/Staff/RecentPresentations.html 

29

ACCOMMODATION SERVICES 

Report from the Manager, Stephen Ryan 

Demand for the UNSW Student Apartments 

The demand for the UNSW Apartments during 2006 increased by 18% from the 

previous year. This growth in demand may be attributable to the following: 

• Decrease in the supply of private, affordable rented accommodation in the areas 

local to UNSW; 

• The appeal of the UNSW Student Apartment blocks based on their condition, 

facilities, location, reputation and competitive rents; 

• Continued growth in the number of UNSW International students. 

A breakdown of the demand for the UNSW Apartments for 2006 is shown in the table 

below 

HOUSING APPLICATIONS FOR THE UNSW APARTMENTS 

Classification Number of Applicants % of Total 

Local Male Undergraduate 106 38.7% 

Local Male Postgraduate 33 12.0% 

Local Female Undergraduate 106 38.7% 

Local Female Postgraduate 29 10.6% 

Total 274 

International Male Undergraduate 231 29.5% 

International Male Postgraduate 145 18.5% 

International Female Undergraduate 206 26.3% 

International Female Postgraduate 201 25.7% 

Total 783 

Total Number of Applicants 1057 

Applicants from Africa 10 0.9% 

Applicants from North America 52 4.9% 

Applicants from South America 2 0.2% 

Applicants form South East Asia 526 49.8% 

Applicants from Central Asia/Middle 

East 90 8.5% 

Applicants from Europe/UK 88 8.3% 

Applicants from Australia/NZ/South 

Pacific 289 27.4% 

30

Lettings at the UNSW Student Apartments 

The apartments maintained a very high level of occupancy during the 2006 academic 

year. The annual occupancy rate for both the Barker and the Mulwarree Apartments 

increased by 3 % compared to the previous year. During the Semester periods there was 

virtually 100% occupation in both blocks. The details are as follows: 

Mulwarree 

Rooms 

Occupied 

UNSW APARTMENT LETTINGS 2006 

Mulwarree 

Barker 

Occupancy Rooms 

Rate 

Occupied 

Barker 

Occupancy 

Rate 

Jan 109 58% 173 74% 

Feb 153 82% 180 78% 

Mar 185 100% 227 99% 

Apr 185 100% 229 99% 

May 183 99% 230 100% 

Jun 176 95% 227 98% 

July 178 96% 205 89% 

Aug 181 98% 227 99% 

Sept 182 98% 230 100% 

Oct 183 99% 227 99% 

Nov 173 94% 215 94% 

Dec 173 94% 215 94% 

The UNSW student apartments at 46 High Street which were occupied by Foundation 

students for a number of years were fully decanted by February 2006 in preparation for 

refurbishment of the block. Following the upgrade, the nine 2 bed units and six 1 bed 

units will be allocated to UNSW postgraduate and undergraduate students at the 

commencement of Session 1 2007. 

Rents at the UNSW Student Apartment Blocks 

A decision was made not to increase the rent levels at the UNSW Student Apartments 

during 2006 for the following reasons: 

• NSW Real Estate Institute advised that the abundant supply of rented 

accommodation at the start of 2006 in a stagnant Sydney housing market had 

continued to stabilize rent levels; 

• Other NSW Universities had decided not to increase their student 

accommodation rent levels; 

• Current UNSW student rents compared favourably with those in the private 

sector; 

• Relatively low CPI during 2006. 

31

The details of the 2006 rental charges at the UNSW Student Apartments are shown in 

the table below: 

UNSW STUDENT PARTMENTS 

2006 RENT LEVELS 

Apartment Block Property Type Weekly Rental 

Mulwarree Apartments 185 x 5 bed units $127 

Barker Apartments 39 x 5 bed units $144 

1 x 3 bed unit $445 

1 x 3 bed unit 

(two singles plus studio) 

1 x 2 bed units (upgraded) $380 

6 x 2 bed units (large) $352 

4 x 2 bed units (small) $310 

7 x bed-sits $228 

Studio $211 

Two single rooms $163 each 

There were no evictions relating to non payment of rent at the UNSW Student 

Apartments during 2006. 

The details of the total rent collected and transferred to Accumulated Funds during 

2006 at the UNSW Student Apartments are as follows: 

UNSW STUDENT APARTMENTS 

TOTAL RENT COLLECTED AND ACCUMULATED FUNDS 

Apartment Block Total Rent Collected Accumulated Funds 

Mulwarree Apartments $1,080,142.00 $763,517.00 

Barker Apartments $1,641,822.00 $1,227,464.00 

Repairs and Maintenance at the University Student Apartments 

At the Barker Apartments two major repairs contracts were completed during the year 

as follows: 

Window Fascia Removal Program 

This involved the removal of 150 external concrete window fascias which had been 

included in the original design of the building for aesthetic reasons. A number of 

fascias had become dislodged from the external brickwork which created a serious 

health and safety risk to the residents. The cost of removing the fascias and cleaning 

the affected brickwork was $97,116. 

Roof Repair Program 

Following a series of serious floods at the apartments during periods of heavy rain, a 

decision was made to carry out a major roof repair program at a cost of $191,937.47. 

In December 2006 the aforementioned refurbishment of the UNSW Student Apartment 

block at 46 High Street commenced. The program, which eventually cost $437,988, 

included the installation of new bathrooms, doors, kitchen units, communal laundry, 

entry phone system and furniture. Each of the units and the communal landing areas 

were also repainted. 

32

A firm of consultants has produced a 15-year Planned Maintenance Program for the 

UNSW Student Apartments. This plan, which was put in place at the end of 2006, 

should prove to be cost effective in managing repairs and maintenance in the long term 

and will increase the lifespan of the buildings. 

Tenancy Management at the UNSW Student Apartments 

There was only one recorded neighbour dispute at the apartments during 2006 which 

was resolved without having to institute eviction proceedings. The level of anti-social 

behaviour and neighbour nuisance at the apartment blocks was minimal; however, we 

did receive one report of a burglary during the year. 

Accommodations Services Listings Service 

The Listings Service continued to play an important role in making local, affordable 

privately rented accommodation available to those UNSW students who were either 

unable to be accommodated at the UNSW Student Apartments, or chose not to apply 

for them. The details of Listings activity during 2006 are as follows: 

• Total number of new listings – 2,327; 

• Total number of re-listings – 5,200; 

• Listings enquiries received (emails/phone/reception counter) – 33,526. 

33

COUNSELLING SERVICE 

Report from the Director, Annie Andrews 

PREAMBLE 

GUIDING STATEMENT 

The UNSW Counselling Service/Compass Programs provides counselling/psychological 

interventions and personal development opportunities for enrolled students. 

We work to actively enhance the mental health and general well being of UNSW 

students and to assist them to participate fully in campus life, make the most of their 

time at UNSW and intelligently prepare for life post university studies. 

We work to contribute to the psychological and personal resilience of our clients 

(UNSW students) in ways that offer skills and understandings that will contribute to the 

success of their personal and professional lives beyond their UNSW experience. 

As a team we consult with and support student leaders, academic, professional and 

technical staff in the very important goal of providing UNSW students with an 

outstanding learning and extra-curricular experience. 

MISSION 

To provide high quality, cost effective and relevant professional counselling and 

psychological services to UNSW students and to assist students to find their full 

academic potential. 

To assist the University to achieve its strategic objectives through program planning, 

and development, consultation with Faculties and Divisions and participation in the 

implementation and evaluation of student support strategies, policies and programs. 

VALUES 

• Values of professionalism (especially with regard to empathy for the student, both 

collectively and individually), ethical behaviour, ongoing professional 

development and learning are embraced by the staff of the Counselling Service; 

• Recognition of the creative power of the individual, and of cultural, social and 

religious diversity within communities; 

• Recognition of the contributions of staff in both individual and team contexts; 

• Creativity and innovation in service design and delivery; 

• Respect for the process of self - actualisation and the capacity of the individual for 

independent learning; 

• Commitment to the principles of: Performance, Reporting, Evaluation and 

Planning; 

• Accountability and transparency in the workplace; 

• Supporting equity and access initiatives; 

• Maintenance of emotional and physical health; 

• Recognition of the creative, social and educational impact of the UNSW 

community within society. 

34

Service Tag Lines: 

Helping Students to Help Themselves 

Staying on Track 

Helping Staff to Help Students 

Outreach Logo: 

Service Delivery Model - 6 Important Clusters of Service Activity 

• Help Your Self Services 

• Outreach - Community Intervention and Collaboration 

• Education - Seminars and Training 

• Services delivered one-to-one 

• Referral 

• Professionalism and Quality - Service Delivery Planning, Across UNSW 

Collaboration, Career and Professional Development 

The UNSW Counselling Service uses a service delivery model that is based on the 

concepts of stepped care intervention and the service works with reference to research 1 

that is evidence based for the model of service delivery. The model of service delivery 

is chosen and designed with the aim of providing support for the largest number of 

students with the resource allocation. 

One-to-one service delivery strategies are capable of reaching only a relatively small 

percentage of the more than 40,000 students enrolling at UNSW. Therefore strategies 

and interventions that target specific sections of the student cohort or the entire 

enrolled cohort have been progressively implemented over the last 7 years. Deliberate 

attention to quality processes, professional and career development, continuous 

planning and collaboration underpin all the service activities. 

STAFFING 

Family-friendly practices have made it possible to allow counsellors in continuous 

positions to take maternity and family care leave, plus leave without pay over the last 6 

years. This has had an impact on the composition of the staffing and has increased the 

use of fixed term appointments in both full and part-time positions. In 2006, 

1 Bower, P & Gilbody, S (2005) Stepped care in psychological therapies: 

Access, effectiveness and efficiency. Narrative literature review. British Journal of Psychiatry, 186, 11-17 

Retrieved May 24, 2006 from 

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/186/1/11 

Mead, N., MacDonald, W., Bower, P., Lovell, K., Richards, D., Roberts, C., & Bucknall, A. (2005) The 

clinical effectiveness of guided self-help versus waiting-list control in the management of anxiety and 

depression: a randomized controlled trial. Psychological Medicine, 2005, 35, 1–11. Retrieved May 31, 

2006 from http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstractfromPage=online&aid=324198 

35

professional staffing across the team included 3 full time and 12 part-time staff 

employed on either continuous appointment, with reduced hours or fixed term contacts 

of less than 35 hours per week for various periods of time ranging from 6 to 12 months. 

The need to balance family-friendly flexibility for staff whilst providing continuity of 

service delivery required careful management during 2006. 

Table 1 Ratio 2 of EFT counsellor to actual student enrolment (excluding ADFA) 

Year 

Total Student Enrolment 

(excluding ADFA) 

Professional Staff 

(Counsellors) 

Counsellor : 

Student Ratio 

1998 29519 7 1:4217 

1999 31412 8 1:3926 

2000 33531 8 1:4191 

2001 35903 8 1:4488 

2002 39041 8.5 1:4593 

2003 39335 8.5 1:4628 

2004 38534 8.5 1:4534 

2005 40643 8.5 1:4781 

2006 39899 8.5 1:4694 

The counsellor to student ratio (1999-2006) has been impacted negatively as student 

enrolments have increased while staffing levels have remained static, with the ratio for 

2006 remaining above both national and internationally recognised professional best 

practice. 

During 2006, unless allocated to a specific project for a fixed period of time, 

Counselling Service staff had duties allocated according to the following guide: 

Resources allocated to 1-1 Counselling: 

• Each counsellor is required to provide 20-25 hours per week in 1-1 counselling 

activities 3. 

2 

Recommended Counsellor to Student Ratio for Higher Education sector and Australian Best Practice Benchmark 

Benchmarks - counsellor to student ratios as recommended by international and national entities, i.e. International 

Association of Counselling Services (IACS), an accrediting entity for university counselling services, and the Australian 

and New Zealand Student Services Association Inc. (ANZSSA Inc) offer the following benchmarks: 

IACS 

1 counsellor to 1000 students 

ANZSSA * 1 counsellor to 3000 students 

* The Australian Vice-Chancellor’s Committee endorsed the ANZSSA Code of Best Practice 1994 recommendations. 

These Guidelines were revised in 2004. See: Guidelines for the Provision of Counselling Services in the Post- 

Secondary Education Sectors of Australia and New Zealand available as a download from: 

http://www.adcet.edu.au/uploads/documents/ANZSSA%20Counselling%20Guidelines.doc 

3 

20 hours per week is the client engaged time per week recommended by the Australian Psychological Society. 

36

• Senior counsellors provide 10-15 hours per week (or more) in 1-1 counselling 

activities. 

• The Director also provides one-to-one counselling and offers 6-10 hours per week 

or more, subject to unmet student demand. 

The remaining hours 10-15 hours per week for each staff member are divided between: 

• Workshops and other outreach activities; 

• Records management and administrative duties and meetings; 

• Professionally required supervision; 

• In-house training and professional development; 

• Consultation and communication required of the counsellor, senior counsellor 

and director roles with student leaders, academic and general staff. 

The number of counselling hours available to meet service delivery needs is capped by 

the number of equivalent full-time (EFT) counsellors employed. During peak periods of 

demand the number of counselling hours available for students from within the staffing 

establishment is inflated to accommodate urgent and crisis appointment needs and the 

additional demand inspired by special consideration requirements, the increase in 

student stress levels and assessment loads. During these peak demand periods 

activities other than 1-1 counselling are reduced or stopped. 

Psychology Student Interns and Counsellor Internships 

There were three masters level psychology students offered supervised placement 

opportunities within the service during 2006. 

Quality Focus 

Professional Registration is a quality strategy 

All persons appointed to professional positions within the Counselling Service are 

required to be fully registered as psychologists in NSW. 

Psychology student interns must have conditional registration. 

Peer consultation and supervision are considered essential to quality of service 

provision 

All professional staff participated in professional peer consultation provided within the 

team. 

Supervision is offered on a one-to-one basis for all commencing staff for a period of 

time dependent on the staff member’s professional needs during the first 6-12 months 

of employment. 

Professional supervision is provided separately to line management discussions. 

Career and Professional Development is essential for the provision of a quality service 

A budget allocation of $500 per year for each EFT professional employee (pro rata for 

part time employees) and Counselling Service staff are encouraged to engage in career 

development activities relevant to the strategic and operational directions of the 

service. 

37

During 2006 three members of staff continued their enrolment in higher degrees 

relevant to their work within the Counselling Service. Two of these enrolments involve 

active research components and both research projects are relevant to the student 

experience. Martin Healy presented preliminary findings of his PhD on “Adjustment 

and attachment of first year students” to the team and also its planning process. Liesel 

Berling completed her Master in Clinical Psychology at Macquarie University in 

November 2006. Georgina Barratt-See completed a Master in Education Administration 

at UNSW, graduating in September 2006. 

During 2006, the staff development allocation was fully utilised and all staff 

participated in at least one professional development opportunity funded through the 

Counselling Service budget. 

In 2006 the Counselling Service undertook regular monthly “In House” professional 

development meetings/seminars. This new initiative was designed to extend the 

professional development/learning opportunities of the whole team, to encourage 

sharing of learning within the team and to support the professional staff in attaining 

required professional development obligations. 

This initiative provided two avenues of additional learning. The first provided a 

dedicated time in which external practitioners could be invited to offer professional 

development directly to the whole team. For example, in 2006 Dr Karen Baikie was 

invited from Black Dog Institute, Prince Of Wales Hospital, to present a seminar on 

“The use of therapeutic writing in counselling”. Similarly this initiative provided an 

opportunity for the Counselling Service to host a joint meeting with Dr Geoff Hansen 

(Director, UNSW Health Service), Francis Chan (Coordinator, Eastern Suburbs Mental 

Health Acute Care Team) and Ann Hallard and Cath Henry (local Early Psychosis 

Intervention Team), to discuss “Managing Mental Health Crises”. 

The second avenue of expanding learning opportunities for the whole team has 

involved individual staff members presenting to the rest of the team on a selected topic 

related to external professional development activities attended or undertaken. For 

example, in February Penny Shores attended a workshop on Positive Psychology by 

world-renowned psychologist and researcher on depression, Martin Seligman. A few 

weeks later, Penny presented a summary and evaluation of Seligman’s model to the rest 

of the Counselling Service staff. Similarly, Dr Michelle Holdsworth presented a 

summary on the workshop she attended by Reid Wilson on Brief Treatment of Anxiety 

Disorders. 

This in-house/on-site professional development presentation format has allowed us to 

minimise time spent away from the service, and maximise the number of staff able to 

access such an opportunity. 

38

Listening to the student voice – Counselling Service Client Satisfaction Survey 2006 

Toward the end of 2006 a client satisfaction survey was conducted. The survey was 

administered using an interactive web interface. This saved considerable administrative 

costs compared to previous paper based surveys, e.g. distribution, collection and data 

entry. The response rate for the 2006 survey was lower than in previous surveys and 

this process will be re-examined before we proceed with the 2007 survey. Nonetheless 

the responses received provide valuable feedback and will inform planning for 2007. 

More detail can be obtained from the Client Satisfaction Survey Report for 2006, 

available from the Director. 

Feedback/evaluations on Seminars and Workshops 

Feedback is collected from students for every seminar and workshop offered. The 

student feedback is collated and presented in a statistical report, outlining the 

effectiveness ratings delivered by the students on value gained in attending the 

workshop. Suggestions for improvements and/or positive experiences are collected. 

This collated feedback is reported back to the presenter and then circulated to the 

team. 

Benchmarking against other University Counselling Services 

The Counselling Service regularly participates in benchmarking exercises with other 

University counselling services. In 2006, the Service participated in a benchmarking 

exercise coordinated by the University of Sydney Counselling Service that included 10 

Australian Universities including five from the GO8. As is frequently found during 

these benchmarking exercises, considerable variation was noted in Student Services 

structure, Counselling Service activities and staffing within the Counselling Services. 

The University demonstrating the strongest similarity to UNSW’s Counselling Service 

was the service at University of Melbourne. 

In June 2006, Annie Andrews, the Director of the Counselling Service, was invited to 

be the keynote speaker at the Conference of the Confederation of Student Services 

Ireland. During the visit to Ireland, an opportunity was taken by her to visit the 

Counselling Service at Trinity College Dublin and to renew previous contacts with 

colleagues from Dublin City University (DCU). It was pleasing to note that UNSW’s 

Counselling Service was on a par to that offered by Trinity College and DCU in terms of 

activities and direction. Of specific interest was the burgeoning numbers of ‘academic 

advisors’ employed within Student Services at Universities in Ireland. Academic 

advising was clearly a new role/direction being mapped by the higher education sector 

there. 

In November 2006 the Director also took an opportunity to visit and interview 

Directors and staff members of Counselling Services located at four Melbourne 

Universities and one mental health service (Orygen) that is renowned for its innovative 

clinical services and research focus directed to young adults and adolescents. 

Discussions were held about staffing, focused use of resources, risk management issues, 

39

supervision processes, outcome measures, business systems and data, and records 

collection and other professional issues. 

COUNSELLING SERVICE ACTIVITIES 

1-1 Counselling activities 

Students who have utilised the 1-1 counselling service numbered: 1754 

Total occasions of service offered numbered: 5351 

An occasion of service average per student client was: 3.05 

(This figure excludes occasions logged as a participation in a workshop but includes 

telephone consultations, email exchanges, written communication and communication 

with third parties.) 

More detail can be obtained from the Counselling Statistical Report for 2006, available 

from the Director. 

Outreach activities - Seminars and Workshops 

Location of 

Seminar/Workshop 

Number of 

Seminars/ 

Workshops 

Number of 

students 

participating 

Number of 

Seminars/ 

Workshops 

Number of 

students 

participating 

2005 2005 2006 2006 

Counselling Service 41 459 35 537 

Faculty/College 21 717 17 595 est. 

Mentoring Programs 

Training 

Partnered with a 

mentor 

24 350 34 440 

- - - 3500 

Total 86 1526 86 5072 

Differences between the number of seminars and workshops in 2005 and 2006 arise 

from: 

• The streamlining of workshops offered to students at the Counselling Service. We 

examined the enrolment of students in workshops and cancelled workshops 

where demand was low so as to maximise efficiency of the service provided. 

Students enrolled in cancelled workshops were subsequently offered individual 

sessions if desired; 

• In 2006, in accordance with our commitment to providing evidence-based 

service, one of our counsellors, Natalie Glaser, began offering multiple-session 

Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) therapy focused workshops (managing fear 

and anxiety) as part of her PhD. Other professional staff members were also 

involved in the research project and contributed as facilitators of Cognitive 

Behaviour Therapy workshops also focusing on ‘managing fear and anxiety’. 

40

Ethics approval from UNSW and University of Wollongong and participant 

consent and assessment for suitability were obtained for this practice-based 

research; 

• There was a marked increase in the number of Mentoring Programs Training 

offered. 

Workshop and seminar titles offered to all students in 2006 

• Phoenix Rising – for those ‘academically at risk’ 

• Understanding Low Mood 

• Managing Low Mood 

• Stress Management/Time Management 

• Preventing Procrastination 

• Exam Anxiety 

• Decision Making 

• Relaxation and meditation 

• Transition to University 

• The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator and working relationships 

Workshop and seminar titles offered to Postgraduate students 

• Inspiring the Thesis 

• Becoming a Researcher – stepping beyond an undergraduate identity 

• Goal Setting 

• Understanding Your Learning Style 

• Demystifying Student/Supervisor Relationship 

• Phoenix Rising Workshops (academic progress) 

Staff Focussed Seminars and Workshops 

• Academic Advisor Orientation 

• Students at Risk Seminar 

Help Your Self Services 

During 2006 the service website was maintained and regularly refreshed with current 

details about service delivery offerings. Additional resources were added to the student 

resource library, the self-paced psycho-education modules and the information sheets. 

In particular, modules on time management and internet addiction were updated. See: 

http://www.counselling.unsw.edu.au 

41

OUTREACH VIA UNSW-WIDE PROGRAMS 

Contributions to Improving the First Year Experience 

Mentoring Programs to Improve the First year Experience 2006 

Thirty-four mentor programs were offered across Faculties, Schools and Departments at 

UNSW in 2006. Approximately 440 students were trained to be mentors and 

approximately 3,500 first year students were involved in mentor programs across 

campus. 

The UNSW first year peer mentoring projects (Mentoring@UNSW) coordinator, Natalie 

Glaser (to June 2006) followed by Martin Healy (from July 06), with support from staff 

from the Counselling Service, worked collaboratively with the Faculty, School and 

Department mentor program coordinators to establish or continue already established 

first year mentoring programs, provide training and supervision for the mentors and 

provide support for the sustainability of the programs. 

Evaluation results indicate a statistically significant trend showing that the more a 

student took advantage of the mentoring available to them the more they reported 

satisfaction with their transition to University and the more they felt a sense of 

belonging within the UNSW community. This result is commensurate with findings 

from both the 2004 and the 2005 evaluations. 

Some programs were changed based on feedback from 2004 and 2005 evaluations 

which indicated students were experiencing some problems (e.g. timetabling 

difficulties, program poorly organised) with the mentoring programs. The 2006 

evaluations indicated changes made to programs were very effective as students 

reported experiencing fewer problems. 

The first year experience literature strongly supports mentoring as a strategy to enhance 

students’ transition to first Year University. However, there is limited empirical 

evidence on the impact of mentoring on first year experience, transition and retention. 

Therefore, the results outlined in the Peer Mentoring @ UNSW Report for 2005 and 

2006 are a valuable contributions to the scientific literature on the impact of mentoring 

on the first year experience. 

Peer Mentoring @ UNSW Presentations and Publications during 2006 

Students Supporting Students: The Effects of Peer Mentoring on the Experience of First 

Year University Students, Natalie Glaser, Ralph Hall and Steve Halperin. Journal of the 

Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association: Number 27, April 2006 

More detail can be obtained from the “Peer Mentoring @ UNSW Report for 2006”, 

available from the Director. 

42

U-CONNECT 2006 

U-CONNECT was originally written for the web as a brief online course in WebCT to 

complement the on campus O-Week activities. U-CONNECT combines an orientation 

to UNSW and an orientation and familiarisation with educational technology used at 

UNSW (WebCT - Vista). It was developed in 2002 as a pilot project and its structure 

allows for the presentation of information from Counselling Service seminars and 

workshops where appropriate. 

However the main focus of U-CONNECT is the online discussion forum where students 

can chat with other students who are not specifically related to their courses and 

programs, about things like starting Uni and getting to know one another. 

U-CONNECT specifically encourages connections between new students, especially 

the ‘hard to reach' ones like distance students and those students who are most at home 

in front of their computer. It is also aimed at the shy or socially anxious student who 

would like to overcome their reluctance to meet other students. Therefore it can also be 

described as an online tool designed to reduce ‘drop-out’ due to the feeling of ‘not 

belonging’. 

U-CONNECT as a service to commencing students provided by the Counselling Service 

will be reviewed in 2007 because the student organisation has commenced an on-line 

forum in 2006 for commencing students and this initiative may result in a duplication 

of services. Once the services provided by the new student organisation (established 

for 2007) are understood, the purpose and value provided by U-CONNECT to 

commencing students will be able to be assessed. 

O-Week 2006 

In 2006 the Counselling Service role as the co-ordinator of the integrated O-Week 

program (in conjunction with the Union and Faculties and other Services) was 

significantly changed due to recommendations attached to the Student Services Review 

conducted in 2005. Co-ordination of UNSW O-Week was allocated to Marketing and 

Development for 2006 who subsequently followed the previous established template 

for O-Week co-ordination and O-Week website development and student involvement. 

2006 Service Achievements across Service Delivery areas (Help Your Self; Outreach 

and Workshops/Seminars, 1-1 Counselling; Quality Focus) 

Outreach 

• Fostered collaboration within UNSW to “enhance the first year student 

experience”; 

• Coordination of an integrated approach to the student support services 

participation in Faculty Welcomes during O-Week; 

• Coordination of the student film competition for O-Week 2006 Student Services 

publicity; 

• E-mentoring used in the U-Connect program; 

• Mentoring programs offered across all Faculties; 

43

• Helping students stay on track or get back on track via activities targeting students 

‘at risk’ in academic progress, e.g. Back on Track workshop series and 

individualised support for failing Engineering students. While this program only 

enrolled a small number of students, those that participated demonstrated 

improved academic standing at the end of the next assessment period; 

• 16.4 % of the total student enrolment (excluding ADFA) participated in at least 

one of the services seminars, workshops or mentor training days or was paired 

with a mentor; 

• Introduction of therapy based workshops for students with a focus on group 

treatment for fear and anxiety. These workshops were offered in two therapy 

modalities (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behaviour 

Therapy). The participating students were invited to participate in a formal 

research evaluation which compared the effectiveness of these two approaches to 

group treatment. The study is forming the basis of a thesis for PhD candidature 

being undertaken by Natalie Glaser, a part-time contract counsellor employed 

within the service. The group attendance was as follows: 

• ACT therapy workshops beginning April 2006 - 19 participants (6 additional 

participants who did not complete the group); 

• 4 concurrent ACT and CBT therapy workshops held during Session 2 - 63 

participants (11 additional participants who did not complete the group). 

Help Your Self 

• The Counselling Service continues to expand its self-help resources available to 

students. The range of topics covered complement the issues that students 

identify in their presentation to the service, e.g. anxiety, depression, drug and 

alcohol addiction, communication and relationships, internet overuse/addiction, 

academic progress (including postgraduate) and anger management; 

• Information/fact sheets covering many topics including academic progress, 

alcohol and other drugs, depression, anxiety concerning tutorial presentations, 

anger, eating disorders/dieting/self-image and internet addiction were added to 

the service’s growing website. These sheets not only provided information for 

students, but also included resources (websites, books) that students could seek to 

borrow from libraries; 

• Ongoing updating of workshop material on website; 

• Additions of key resources were made to the biblio-therapy library available to 

students. To complement our existing library, additional publications on 

relationships, health/happiness, as well as academic support for doctoral students 

were added. The list of biblio-therapy resources available to students is on our 

website and is updated regularly with the new resources. 

44

1-1 Counselling 

• Crisis/urgent intake slots allocated across senior team members to allow rapid 

response to urgent presentations; 

• 4.4% of the total student enrolment (excluding ADFA) accessed the service for 

1-1 counselling during 2006; 

• The following equity group representation was indicated by those students 

attending for one-to-one counselling (Total N=1754): 

Equity Group 4 

Number indicating equity 

group identification 

2005 2006 

NESB students 550 495 

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander 19 22 

Female Student in Non-Traditional Area 83 93 

Student from Rural or Isolated Location 107 129 

Student from Low Socio-Economic 

Background 

163 176 

Student with Temporary/Permanent Disability 80 98 

Student Receiving Government Allowance or 

Pension 

455 469 

Quality Focus 

• Continuation of “Reflecting Team” – group format for peer-peer reflections on our 

counselling work with students; 

• Continuation of the Student Services Reference Group (SSRG) – 5 meetings in 

2006; 

• Collaboration with the Learning and Teaching Unit: in particular the 

reinvigoration of the First Year Experience Network and contributions to the 

content of the First Year website to support first year teaching staff and first year 

coordinators; 

• ANZSSA (Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association) involvement: 

• Three members of the Counselling Service professional staff held positions on the 

National Executive; 

• The Counselling Service Director continued in her role as web coordinator for 

ANZSSA - a pivotal role in providing ANZSSA members with articles, papers, 

news etc. relevant to student services in Australia and New Zealand;. 

4 Categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive. 

45

• Client Satisfaction Survey for 2006 conducted using a web-based survey form to 

reduce administrative costs related to data entry; 

• Ongoing commitment to staff career development and service delivery quality via 

staff development activities. Four of the professional staff formally enrolled in 

Master or PhD studies. Expansion of learning opportunities for all staff through 

sharing of individual professional development learning experiences at monthly 

Professional Development Summary/Feedback sessions. 

Publications 

Glaser, Natalie, Hall, Ralph & Halperin, Steve (2006). Students Supporting Students: 

The Effects of Peer Mentoring on the Experience of First Year University Students. 

JANZSSA, 27, 4-19 

Healy M., & Hussain R. (2006). Attachment and coping as theoretical frameworks for 

understanding adjustment to university for local and international students. Accepted 

for publication by Australian College of Educators. 

Conference presentations 

Andrews, A. (2006). Change and challenge in Higher Education: Scoping the 

implications and directions for Student Services from global to local. Key Note Address 

to 2006 Confederation of Student Services in Ireland (CSSI) Conference, Athlone, 

Ireland. 

Barratt-See, G (2006). The Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a 

Leadership Workshop for Third Year Deans Honours List Engineering Students. 2006 

ANZSSA NSW/ACT State Conference, Burradoo, NSW. 

Healy, M., & Hussain, R. (2006). Attachment and coping as theoretical frameworks for 

understanding adjustment to university for local and international students. Paper 

presented to the Inaugural Research Conference; Bridging the Gap between Ideas and 

Doing Research, 8-11 August 2006, University of New England, Armidale. 

International and Interstate Conferences attended 

Martin Healy attended the Leadership Educators Institute Conference at Arizona State 

University USA 11 -14 Dec 2006. 

Annie Andrews attended the June 2006 Confederation of Student Services in Ireland 

(CSSI) Conference, Athlone, Ireland and the Australia New Zealand Student Services 

Association (ANZSSA) 2006 Heads of Student Services National Forum, Melbourne, 

November 2006. 

Penny Shores & Martin Healy attended the First Year Experience Conference, Griffiths 

University Queensland, July 2006. 

46

CAREERS AND EMPLOYMENT 

Report from the Manager, Taye Morris 

MISSION 

Careers and Employment (C&E) assists students to choose academic programs which will 

lead to fulfilling careers and supports them with the transition from University to 

employment. 

C&E aims to empower students with the skills to successfully manage their careers. C&E 

aspires to raise the profile of careers in Faculties and to link employers with students and 

graduates. 

SERVICES FOR STUDENTS AND GRADUATES 

General Careers Education Workshops 

General Careers Education Workshops delivered by Careers Consultants were very popular 

in 2006. The number of attendees increased by 69% in 2006 with 3,058 students attending 

our workshops compared to 1,811 students in 2005. The 189 workshops delivered focussed 

on four core topics; resumes, cover letters, job search and interviews. In addition, 

Consultants also delivered specialised topics, typically reflecting the recruitment trends for 

the academic year. 

Student comments 

“Thank you very much for organising the interview workshop 

last Tuesday. It was a valuable tool and as a result I have 

passed through the interview stages with the Macquarie Bank 

summer internship and at the conclusion of my second 

interview they told me on the spot that I got through.” 

“I just wanted to thank everyone who helped me in my job 

search over the past few months. The workshops and resources 

were great. I recently accepted a graduate position with a 

government department.” 

Mock Interviews 

C&E continued with providing a video Mock Interview service to students in 2006. It offers 

the opportunity for students to further practice and receive feedback on their interview skills 

after attending the Interview Preparation and Practice workshop. This service has again 

being very popular, with sessions being booked immediately upon being opened for 

registration. Of the 31 sessions run in 2006, 59 students attended, giving a 94% attendance 

rate. 

47

Guest Workshops 

As in previous years, C&E invited guest presenters to deliver workshops as part of the Careers 

Education workshop series. In 2006 12 organisations presented 13 workshops on campus; 4 

more workshops than the previous year. There has been a 36% increase in the Guest 

Workshops attendance with a total of 787 students attending in 2006, compared to 582 in 

2005. 

Individual Assistance 

Attendance at Individual Assistance (IA) sessions in 2006 has been similar to the previous 

year. In total 1,941 students attended the 20-minute sessions for feedback and advice on 

career related issues. The average attendance rate has increased from 90% in 2005 to 94% 

in 2006. 

Student comment 

“I just wanted to thank you for hosting some excellent 

workshops and individual assistance sessions. After a long 

period of recruitment and interviews with some great 

companies, I was offered 3 of the big 4 companies (1 I didn’t 

apply to) and have accepted an offer with 

PricewaterhouseCoopers. I just wanted to thank you guys for 

all your help and great work - we are so lucky to have you 

guys there!” 

Career Education Workshops for Faculties 

In 2006 we continued to build stronger relationships with Faculties and as in the previous 

year, a Careers Consultant was assigned to liaise with each Faculty. The most successful 

workshops and activities were those that were scheduled as part of the curriculum and 

promoted by academic staff. Table 1 summarises the presentations for each Faculty. The 

reason for a decrease in the number of workshops in some Faculties is often that there has 

been a change in academic staff responsible for a program. This highlights the need for 

career development to be incorporated into the curriculum to ensure consistency. 

Table 1: 2006 Targeted Faculty Presentations – Summary Statistics 

TOTAL EVENTS 

TOTAL STUDENTS 

Faculty 2006 2005 2006 2005 

Arts and Social Sciences 11 8 303 472 

Built Environment 2 2 130 160 

College of Fine Arts 1 1 15 60 

Business 25 30 2,536 2,025 

Engineering 16 21 568 809 

Science 26 24 1,391 1,034 

Law 

Medicine 

0 0 0 0 

University College (ADFA) 

TOTALS 59 86 4,993 4,560 

48

Panel Program: Arts & Social Sciences, COFA and Science 

We continued with the Panel Program for Arts & Social Sciences, COFA and Science 

this year with 3 panels of employers and Alumni organised for the Schools of Social 

Science and Policy, Optometry and Psychology for 130 students. Panels were most 

successful when supported and promoted by Faculties. 

Career Education Workshops for Other UNSW Student Groups 

C&E staff regularly deliver workshops to specific groups of current students, alumni and 

prospective students. In 2006 20 workshops were presented to 1,265 international, 

postgraduate, ACCESS, Co-op and GERRIC students as well as graduates at the Prince 

of Wales Hospital. 

In order to develop relationships further and to extend the opportunities for 

collaboration, C&E hosted meetings with International Student Services, Student 

Central, Career Research and Assessment Service, Alumni, Counselling, the Arts 

Internship Program and the Learning Centre. 

CAREERS EXPOS 

Careers Expo 

A record 122 organisations participated in the eighteenth annual Careers Expo, held on 

23 March (12.00pm to 6..00pm). UNSW Admissions also attended to provide advice 

to students. 1,800 students attended, which was a reduction from 2005. This was 

partly due to our new off-campus venue and also our e-Newslist reminder service 

failing to reach 22,000 students due to a server problem. This was immediately 

rectified and our increased publicity for 2007 will ensure a larger number of students 

attend. 

Surveys of employers and students were distributed and statistics analysed. The new 

venue at the Randwick Racecourse attracted the most positive venue feedback in the 

history of the Careers Expo. Only 8% of employers commented on the reduction in the 

number of students attending compared with 2005 (employer survey response rate: 

52%). Instead, the feedback on our students was particularly positive; that they were 

excellently prepared and were very motivated to attend. Employers rated the overall 

effectiveness of Expo to be 4 out of 5 (1 = poor – 5 = excellent). 

The Priority Hour was introduced at the beginning of the Expo for students who had 

attended a Careers Expo preparation workshop. Previous feedback from employers 

indicates that students make the most positive impression if they are well-prepared. 

Employers commented very positively on how well prepared the students attending the 

Priority Hour were, and how they were excellent representatives of UNSW. Both 

employers and students rated the effectiveness of the Priority Hour to be 4 out of 5. 

49

Employer comments 

“Of all the fairs I have attended UNSW has by far been the most 

professional and well organised. The quality of your students was 

also a delight.” (Department of Employment & Workplace 

Relations) 

“Quality of UNSW students is excellent.” (Honeywell) 

“Excellent preparation of priority hour students. Excellent 

assistance by helpers.” (Sinclair Knight Merz) 

“The Priority Hour was excellent and gave both students and 

employers a chance to talk. Name tags for the students with 

their disciplines were an excellent way to identify who to target.“ 

(Transfield Services) 

Student comments 

“I found the preparation workshop and the Careers Expo 

extremely useful. I have been educated as to a number of skills 

and career options that I previously was unaware of. Thank 

you.” 

“UNSW Careers and Employment did an excellent job organising 

and managing it, shuttle buses, priority hour … top stuff!” 

“The Careers Expo was excellently organised and I can't really 

think of any improvements that UNSW Careers could do, only 

some improvements certain organisations could make.” 

“I was a Careers Expo volunteer and found that everything about 

the Expo ran smoothly.” 

Vacation and Internship Careers Expo 

C&E launched the inaugural Vacation and Internship Careers Expo to more effectively 

present employment options to non-final year students. Held in The John Niland 

Scientia building on 9 August, we attracted 38 organisations (11 new to our services). 

1,300 students attended, and again the assistance of 28 enthusiastic students on our 

marketing/research volunteer teams was invaluable. 

When benchmarking with similar events, we noted that when RMIT launched their 

Vacation Expo in 2005 they attracted 12 organisations and 1,000 students. Feedback 

from employers and students was also very positive and the event will be run again in 

2007. 

International Careers Expo 

Held on 23 August in The John Niland Scientia building, the International Careers Expo 

(ICE) attracted 15 organisations and 1,100 students. This represented a 50% increase in 

participating organisations and a 93% increase in students attending compared with the 

50

2005 event. 694 UNSW international students from 35 countries attended, as well as 

12 students from 4 other universities. 


“We are all very happy that our participation in the Careers Expo 

was a big success and very beneficial. PT Petrosea Indonesia 

would like to thank you and your team for all the support and help 

during the Expo.” 

“Thanks so much for yesterday. Our management team loved it 

and chatted to loads of students. Thanks once again and it was 

great to meet you.” 

EMPLOYER PROGRAMS 

2006 saw the employment market continuing to upturn with a record 1,848 

organisations using C&E’s services. This was an increase of 18% on the previous year, 

with 189 new organisations using our services compared with 88 in 2005. 

Table 2: Number of Organisations using C&E Services 

Year 

Organisations 

2006 1,848 

2005 1,564 

2004 1,313 

2003 834 

2002 750 

2001 800 

Graduate Recruitment Outcomes of Major Employers in 2006 

Currently 25% of organisations using C&E’s major employer services provide general 

statistics on their graduate recruitment and the number of graduates recruited from 

UNSW. An average of 90 offers was made by each organisation, which is an increase 

from the average of 32 in 2005. Starting salaries ranged from $36,000 (Sales) to an 

$85,000 package (Mining). Starting locations were within each state of Australia as 

well as internationally, and the range of professions was very wide, from education to 

mining. 

Employer Feedback 

“We specialise in assisting international students with 

internship opportunities, and UNSW has been an excellent 

source of quality international students,” 

“The standard of candidates from UNSW has been 

exceptional.” 

“Being a sponsor of the university we have found the uni 

provides quality students and provides them with solid 

foundation for work.” 

51

International Employment Program 

2006 saw the number of organisations participating in the International Employment 

Program reduce slightly from 49 to 47. 

Meetings were arranged with 16 organisations in Singapore, including Barclays Capital, 

Monetary Authority of Singapore, BDO Raffles, United Overseas Bank Ltd, ANZ, GIC, 

DBS Bank, Ernst and Young, CPA Australia, PricewaterhouseCoopers, 

STMicroelectronics Singapore, Citigroup Asia Pacific (cancelled), Shell Eastern 

Petroleum (Pte) Ltd, KPMG (cancelled), CapitaLand Limited, A*STAR (Singapore 

Institute of Manufacturing Technology. 

Meetings were arranged with 11 organisations in Hong Kong, including Ernst & Young, 

Macquarie Bank, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, Citigroup Asia 

Pacific, KPMG Hong Kong, Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific Ltd., Mass Transit Railway 

Corporation Hong Kong, Standard Chartered Bank, Deloitte. 

Jobs Online and Banner Advertising 

The number of job vacancy advertisements has consistently increased since 1997. 

While there was an overall increase of 4% (115 job advertisements) from 2005 to 2006, 

the most significant increase was in the area of part time jobs, which increased by 85% 

(517 advertisements). The number of full time jobs increased by 19% (98 

advertisements). 

Banner Advertisements are successful in terms of views and click-throughs, the take-up 

of this service has been slow. Increased promotion of this service, along with offering a 

package including Banner Advertising/Jobs Online, will be a focus for 2007. 


“Thank you for putting our advertising online. We have had 

phenomenal response - your site is 1000x better than 

seek.com!!” 

“Thanks for putting our profile up on your website. It looks 

great!” 

Employer Profiles 

The Employer Profile service is a centralised listing offering organisations the 

opportunity to raise their profile with students and to allow students to research 

organisations of interest more effectively. The number of Profiles increased by 34% in 

2006. Each organisation participating in the Careers Expo is invited to provide an 

Employer Profile at no cost. This is linked to the online listing of organisations 

participating in the Careers Expo. This encourages students to thoroughly research and 

identify appropriate organisations to approach at the Expo. 

52

Targeted Email/Mail Service 

2006 saw the largest number of UNSW students receiving employment information via 

the Targeted Email/Mail Service since the services began. A total of 73,498 items have 

been sent in 2006 which is an increase of 28% compared with 2005. 

Correspondingly, the number of organisations using the service was a record 177; a 

46% increase on 2005. 

e-Newslist 

Due to a marketing campaign organised by the Careers Consultants, numbers of 

subscribers to the fortnightly e-Newslist increased by 17%. The e-Newslist provides 

information on the current activities of C&E and advertises events and projects that will 

enhance students’ and graduates’ career paths. It includes listings of the most recent 

Jobs Online advertisements as well as Careers Workshops and Information Sessions. 

The increase in subscribers (64% of the UNSW student population) reflects the 

perceived value of the service, as well as its effective promotion. 

Student comment 

“The e-Newslist is awesome! Thanks so much for your help! I really 

appreciate it!” 

Information Sessions 

A record 69 Information Sessions were arranged by C&E in 2006. These sessions allow 

organisations to promote their employment opportunities to UNSW students. Weeks 2 

to 4 of Session 1 are the most highly-sought after by employers as the numbers of 

students attending in those weeks is the highest. 

Interview Facilities / Online Interview Scheduler 

The trend for organisations to interview at their premises has intensified over the past 7 

years. In 2006 the interview facilities were used by 26 organisations. As well as being 

more effective for management, employers also believe in-house interviews provide 

students with a valuable taste of their corporate culture. Fewer organisations also use 

the online interview scheduler. Often their online applications include a scheduling 

facility, or they wish to telephone the candidates to assess their oral communication 

skills as part of the recruitment process. 

Employer Liaison 

C&E attended 51 employment-related meetings in 2006. Meetings with employers 

focussed on strategies to raise their profile with our students/graduates and internal 

meetings focussed on raising C&E’s profile, and providing event management advice to 

student societies. 

53

In addition, on December 8 C&E co-hosted a Thank You Christmas Lunch at the Art 

Gallery of NSW for major users of C&E’s services and the Co-op Program. The lunch 

was attended by15 HR representatives, the Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice 

Chancellor (Academic). Organisations were appreciative of the opportunity to network 

and discuss upcoming events. 

Two cross-Faculty meetings were arranged by C&E to introduce senior managers in 

Alcan and The Boston Consulting Group to Dean’s representatives. 

Careers and Employment Online 

During 2006, there were 9.35 million page views on the main C&E website compared 

to 9.03 million page views during 2005. 5,732 new students registered to use our 

services in 2006. The number of subscribers grew from 21,836 in 2005 to 25,667 in 

2006. 

The follow features have been added to the C&E website and intranet during 2006: 

• Employer Database - The C&E Custom-Built Intranet for Employer Management 

was developed and implemented in 2006. The database dramatically improved 

the efficiency of managing employer information; 

• Online Workshops - Managed the generation and placement online of workshops 

on Resumes, Cover Letters and Interview Skills. Students are required to log-in to 

their accounts to access these workshops; 

• Employer Profiles - Enabled the easy creation and updating of online Employer 

Profiles with the number of Employer Profiles increasing from 77 to 103; 

• Information Sessions - Added registration facility to online Information Session 

listing; 

• Careers Expos - Created registration function and feedback surveys for the 3 

Careers Expos; 

• Other Website Content Changes - Added four star student profiles, resume 

competition winning entries, a search function to website and information for PG 

Research students. 

Initiatives in 2006 

Increasing Student Awareness of C&E Services 

A number of profile raising strategies were successfully implemented in 2006 including: 

• C&E URL included in Student Diary at Week 1 of each Session; 

• Held stall at O-Week to promote C&E to new students; 

• Held the “Win an i-Pod” competition between O-week and Week 3, contributing 

to a 17% increase in the total number of subscribers; 

• Promoted Jobs On Campus, Jobs Online and Volunteer Program via Admin Net; 

• C&E profiled in the June edition of ‘Graduate Research Student News’ online 

newsletter. 

54

Online Workshops 

With a focus on improving accessibility of information for students who are unable to 

attend workshops, C&E developed three interactive online workshops on Resumes, 

Cover Letters and Interview Skills. These are now online. 

Resume Basics 

Cover Letters That Impress Employers 

Pre-Interview Preparation 

Specific to the 

position 

Use relevant 

keywords 

Highlight 

achievements 

Remember the 20 

second cull 

2 - 3 pages 

Use consistent fonts, dates 

and titles 

Use bullets and short 

paragraphs 

Use active language: 

achieved, co-ordinated, 

ordinated, 

successfully completed… 

 

 

CHEC SPELINGG 

Don’ t just cut and paste 

Make your application stand out from the crowd 

Know the Job and Organisation 

• Organisation: structure, culture, values, recent 

developments 

• Job: purpose, criteria, daily duties, terminology 

Know and Critique Yourself 

• Why do you want the job, and why in that organisation 

• Familiarise yourself with your resume, cover letter / 

application form 

Know What to Expect 

• Who is interviewing you Names and roles 

• One to one, panel, group 

• Face to Face / Telephone / Online / On Campus 

Online Workshop takes approximately 20 mins to complete 

Start 

Resume Competition 

C&E ran a resume competition at the beginning of 2006 and received over 60 entries. 

The top 5 applications were judged by a panel consisting of recruitment professionals 

from Westpac, KPMG, Unilever, Shell and Michael Page. Applications were judged on 

overall impression, presentation and layout, structure, language and relevance to the 

job advertisement. Prizes were awarded at the Careers Expo. The top 5 entries were 

published on our website along with comments from the judging panel. 

Graduate Destination Survey 

More detailed information and survey results from the Graduate Destination Survey 

were made available on C&E website in 2006. The 10 new Faculty Profiles and the 

UNSW Summary provide discipline-specific information related to employment and 

further study outcome including starting salary, job search method used, employment 

rate, percentage engaging in further studies, common graduate job titles as well as 

names of organisations that have employed the highest number of UNSW graduates. 

Volunteer Programs 

In 2006 we focussed on improving and expanding upon existing C&E volunteer 

programs. A structured selection and training program was implemented for the first 

time. The volunteer team expanded to 200, focussing on event management 

(assistance at the events, marketing and research) and administrative functions in our 

office. A new volunteer position was created to assume responsibility for the meeting, 

55

greeting and introduction of guest presenters. Three volunteer thank you events were 

held and certificates were awarded to students who successfully completed the 

programs. 

Student Volunteer Comment 

“Thank you for your reference. I signed the 

employment contract with IBM Australia this 

week. The full-time work will commence on 

Monday. It is a shame that I am no longer able to 

work for you as a student assistant. However, I 

did enjoy the time working in the Careers Office. 

This work experience is highly recognised by my 

new employer.” 

Star Students 

Four Star students were interviewed about their current roles and the factors that 

contributed to their success. These profiles are now featured on our website and on 

posters in our office. 

Careers and Employment UNSW Participation and Community Services 

UNSW Participations 

In 2006 C&E participated in the following UNSW functions: 

• Info Day - C&E ran 3 workshops in collaboration with Counselling staff on ‘Not 

Sure Which Degree to Choose’ The sessions were very successful with an extra 

workshop offered on top of the 2 scheduled. Attendance was limited to prospective 

students only so that more students could benefit from it. Approximately 130 

prospective students attended; 

• Courses and Careers Day - C&E provided careers advice and screened a DVD of 

interviews with 8 alumni for 45 undecided prospective students. This was 

supplemented by a handout of exercises to assist with decision making. A further 

70 prospective students attended the seminar on ‘Making the Right Career Choices’; 

• Think Ahead Program - As part of UNSW Student Recruitment’s Think Ahead 

program for high school students, Careers Consultants ran careers workshops on 

‘Not Sure Which Degree to Choose’ A total of eighteen, 45 minute sessions were 

delivered for 15 high schools and 613 students; 

56

• International Student Services - In 2006 we collaborated with ISS and participated 

in the ‘Passport to UNSW’ program with the delivery of the workshop ‘How to Look 

for Part Time or Casual Work’ to 70 students. C&E staff also delivered the 

workshops ‘Preparing for the Australian Workplace’ and ‘Applying for Jobs 

Internationally’ in Sessions 1 and 2 to a total of 202 international students; 

• Gifted Education Research Resource and Information Centre (GERRIC) - C&E staff 

presented two workshops to a total of 138 gifted Year 10-12 students as part of the 

GERRIC Career Development Day; 

• Co-op - Three workshops on Resumes, Cover Letters and Interview Skills for 124 

Co-op students were presented in first session of 2006; 

• Equity and Diversity - Administered the ‘Jobs On Campus’ program, whereby 23 

positions were offered to approximately 750 ACCESS students who registered with 

C&E. C&E staff also delivered a workshop for 25 students as part of the ACCESS 

orientation program; 

• Nura Gili/Faculty of Commerce and Economics - Presented a workshop on 

‘Employability Skills for Commerce Students’ for 8 Indigenous High School students 

as part of the FCE Indigenous Winter School Program. The students really enjoyed 

this workshop and provided very positive feedback; 

• Postgraduate Research Students - C&E developed two new workshops: ‘Writing 

Competitive Selection Criteria’ and ‘Competitive Resumes for Academic and 

Research Positions’. These workshops were delivered in Session 2 in 2006 and 

were well received by the 42 students who attended these workshops. Website 

information specific to post graduate research students was added, including 

sample resumes, how to prioritise extra involvement, analysing your suitability for 

postgraduate study, completion rates and employment rates; 

• Environmental Biotechnology Co-operative Research Centre (EBCRC) - C&E were 

invited to present a 1 hour careers education workshop for a group of 25 specialist 

PhD students who are completing their studies through EBCRC. EBCRC is a 

collaboration between UNSW, Macquarie University, Murdoch University, The 

University of Queensland and industry sponsors; 

• International House - Two workshops on Resumes and Interview Skills were 

presented to 25 residents at International House; 

• UNSW Student Services - C&E staff assisted on over 28 graduation ceremonies in 

2006. We also contributed to the Student Services Reference Group, Student 

Services Newsletter, Student Services Communications Group and Student Services 

Level 3 OH&S Committee. 

Comments from prospective students who attended the Info 

Day workshop 

“Good advice and motivator! I’m thinking more towards my 

interests after this session! Thanks.” 

“Good session. Helped me get a better idea about my degree 

choice.” 

“Well presented & organised. Appropriate length. Helpful. 

Thanks.” 

“Very worthwhile as a starting point.” 

“Helped to identify and clarify aims. Questions to ask Faculty 

were helpful.” 

57

Collaborations with Student Clubs and Societies 

In 2006 C&E also collaborated with the following Student Clubs and Societies: 

• Source - C&E promoted our services and Win an i-Pod Competition to new students 

at an information stall during O-Week. We placed an advertisement via footnotes 

in the Student Diary. Contributions were made to the Student Services O-Week 

film and we promoted Source’s training programs for RSA, Barista, etc.; 

• Student Organised Network for Architecture (SONA) - C&E staff provided event 

planning support and represented C&E as a panel member for SONA Archi- 

Connect Built Environment Careers Panel on 11 Aug – 80 students attended; 

• UNSW Marketing Society - Delivered ‘Interview Preparation and Practice for 

Marketing Graduates’ for 10 UNSW Marketing Society members; 

• UNSW COMPEC - Attended COMPEC 5th Annual End-of-Year Ball and presented 

an award; 

• UNSW Economics Student Society - Provided event management and advertising 

support for Sydney Economics Students Careers Day and promoted C&E with an 

Information Stall at the event; 

• UNSW Association for Computing Machinery Student Chapter - C&E worked with 

key members of the Association for Computing Machinery Student Chapter to 

provide an hour workshop on identifying your skills and selling yourself to 

employers. The workshop was well received by the 20 students who attended; 

• UNSW International Commerce Students Network - Distributed ICSN Careers 

Guide at Careers Expo, contributed careers information to ICSN On-line Forum and 

held an information stall at CPA Australia ICSN Careers Forum; 

• Australian Biotechnology Students Association (ABSA) - Presented on the topic of 

‘Choosing Your Career Path’ at ABSA Homebrew 2006 to 150 students from 

UNSW, UWS, UTS, the University of Sydney and University of Wollongong. C&E 

also held an information stall at the ABSA Careers Expo. Most students were 

seeking advice on finding graduate employment and feedback on written 

applications. 

Community Services 

In 2006, C&E provided the following services to members in the community 

• Student Placements Provided placement for three students; RMIT Graduate 

Certificate in Career Education and Development, UNSW Master of Organisational 

Psychology and a high school student; 

• Australian Association of Careers Counsellors (AACC) - Two Careers Consultants 

volunteered to be on the AACC stall at the 2006 SMH Careers and Employment 

Expo on July 28. Participating on the stall involved providing 15 minute ‘drop-in’ 

career counselling sessions to attendees of the Expo; 

• Prince of Wales Hospital - C&E were invited to present a 45 minute careers 

education workshop for a group of interns and residents. Of the 27 attendees, 7 

linked in by video-conferencing facilities; 

• Justice of the Peace service - In her capacity as Justice of the Peace, Dawn White 

saw 245 students and staff throughout the year; 

• CMS: Student Futures: Career Management for Secondary Schools - In 2006 C&E 

obtained input from an Education Department Consultant in order to develop a 

new careers education workshop for high school students. In 2006 C&E presented 

12 careers education workshops to 329 high school students; 

58

• Individual Clients - C&E continued to provide a career management service to the 

general public. In 2006, a total of 18 non-UNSW students used the service. Some 

of these clients were UNSW alumni. They sought advice on career management 

and change, to undertake vocational assessment, or to seek assistance with job 

applications. 

59

UNSW STUDENT SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT 2006 - myUNSW

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