Flinders University’s new Support for Students Policy has been published in the policy library, bringing together our high-level principles around supporting student success and referring to existing policies, procedures and support frameworks.

The new policy is in response to an amendment of the Higher Education Support Act 2003, which requires all higher education providers to have a Support for Students Policy. The new compliance policy is an early outcome of the Australia Universities Accord process, and has removed the Low Completion Rate requirement for students struggling to progress academically. The new policy requirement is to ensure that appropriate student supports are available, that students are aware of them, and that the supports are fit for purpose in ensuring students are given the best opportunity to succeed.

The final Higher Education guidelines are now published, and work will commence to refine our Support for Students Policy and to clearly define the Flinders Student Support framework to ensure we meet the guidelines. A Working Group has been established to lead this work under the sponsorship of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Students), and its members will coordinate activities to ensure that university principles, policies and procedures, and an underlying student support framework to assist students’ academic and personal success, are equitable and fit for purpose. In some instances, this may mean an uplift to student and academic support practices and also ensure we can demonstrate the effectiveness of such support.

Achieving a successful outcome and a positive impact on the student experience will require a whole-of-institution approach, with collaboration and input from all staff. Both academic and professional staff play an essential role in supporting student success, and everyone’s contribution will be important.