Amanda Jones
6 May 2014: More than 50 students from high schools in Canberra and Wagga Wagga visited the University of Canberra campus last week for the first ACT Indigenous Success (ACT-IS) Project camp.
Funded by a competitive grant awarded under the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program, the University of Canberra is working with The Australian National University (ANU), UC College and ANU College to break down barriers to higher education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students or those from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds in schools and colleges across the region.
University of Canberra dean of students Michele Fleming said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and those from low SES backgrounds often face a series of barriers including attitudinal, financial and locational, when it comes to participating in higher education.
"Some of these students have never considered university as a viable option. These students need to feel that university is a place for them and that they can be supported and succeed in higher education," Associate Professor Fleming said.
The ACT-IS project addresses these barriers by providing a range of activities to build on students' self-esteem, confidence and academic skills, to smooth the transition into university study and to connect them with the range of support available to them within the university itself.
The program is delivered in two parts. Working with Year 9 and 10 students from 11 schools from the ACT and regional NSW, the first part includes in-school and on-campus activities aimed at raising aspirations and empowering students to achieve at school and progress into higher education.
In part two, Year 11 and 12 students from an additional three high schools and colleges complete a University Pathways Course, which includes attending a four-day camp where students attend classes on campus.
While on campus, the students from Dickson College, Erindale College and Wagga's Mount Austin High School took part in a campus tour, scavenger hunt and attended educational sessions including one with the University of Canberra's resident robot Ardie.
The students also complete two units over the year, which are delivered face-to-face in their schools and online, and are approved as an accredited pathway into specified degree programs at the University of Canberra.
