Welcome to all new Mawson Lakes international students!

And a special welcome to all our CELUSA/SAIBT students who are now moving into their main program.

My name is Damien and I'm the International Student Officer at Mawson Lakes Campus. I will have already met some of you at the orientation workshops.

I'm here to assist international students with any questions or queries they might have with regards to the conditions of their student visa, adjusting to life at UniSA or course of study. I also refer students to other members of the Learning Connection team such as Counsellors, Learning Advisors and UniLife advocates. If you have any questions or queries and you don't know who can assist you please feel free to come into the Learning and Teaching Unit and I will do my best to assist you. If I cant advise you of how to resolve the issue yourself I will be sure to refer you within the University to someone who can.

I thought I might give you a brief overview of your orientation program over the next two weeks. From Monday 16th February to Thursday 19th February 2009 I will be conducting International Student Arrival Briefing's 9:30-10:30 and Accommodation Briefing and Assistance workshops 10:45-12:00. These workshops will be conducted in the GP building (just across the courtyard from the cafeteria "welcome area") in room 1-08 on the ground floor.

The workshops are repeated again in the afternoon so if you miss the morning session you are welcome to come to the afternoon session. The orientation program is also duplicated Monday-Thursday so if you have attended the two workshops there is no further requirement for you to return to campus until 1:30pm on Thursday 19th February when one of the Learning and Teaching Unit counsellors will be presenting a "Welcome to Australia" workshop which will cover more of the cultural adjustment issues that new students might face.

On Friday, 20th February all new international students are required to attend CITY WEST CAMPUS (not their home campus) for a formal University Welcome and presentations from Department of Immigration, Australian Quarantine Inspection Service and OSHC Worldcare, UniSA's Overseas Student Health Care insurance provider.

During the following week's orientation you will break up into smaller groups and attend a specific orientation program for your Faculty. Check here for more information. You will also meet Australian students who will be studying with you.

We wish you the best of luck!

Starting uni for the first time

Here's what Michael had to say about starting university for the first time.

Welcome to the early birds!

Congratulations and welcome to all our new students attending the Early Preparation Workshops this week. We are so pleased that you are joining us at Mawson Lakes.

The EPW students are a unique bunch of people: all are starting their degrees as adults, some building on successful careers and others branching out into new fields. We have a great mix of future Engineers, Educators, Scientists dedicated to the environment, Project and People managers. For many taking on study now is a further complication in lives full of activity and responsibilities.
It's an exciting venture and we all wish you well.

You've worked with us over two nights on various aspects of getting ready for starting uni. apparently many of you enjoyed the sessions and rated our input on Reading Critically, Managing Change, Academic Writing and Taking notes in lectures very well. Our guest lecturer Professor Patrick James was very popular. One student commented that "I hope other lecturers are like Professor Patrick". For many it's great to meet up with others taking on the same new experience and sharing both the excitement and their many questions.

See a few of our commencing students enjoying their relaxed dinner break.