Victorian International Students Summit
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July 17, 2006Railtrails, volunteers & ‘proper’ govt attention
July 19, 2006Successful student living issues – city & country
Claudia Doria author of ‘The truth about being an international student’ and Marc Barry, Activities Co-ordinator/Language Educator for RMIT English Worldwide, are both passionate about international students and how we and they might do better here in Oz.
Previous PWF articles:
- International students & ‘Homestay’
- Overseas students, our education product & future tourism ambassadors
- Public transport concessions – students discriminated against
Recently Marc and Sue Ellson from the Newcomers Network have got together to conduct the first Victorian International Students Summit. This will take place in Melbourne at Parliament House, 17 August 06. Details below.
The summit will be an opportunity for people working in the international student industry in Victoria to share concerns and outline future policy directions. Discussions will no doubt be of interest to other states too though policy approaches vary.
Many people in the industry work in isolation, with limited budgets and resources. To start there will be a series of short briefings from a range of experts who will then facilitate small group discussions based around pertinent questions. Attendees will re-convene to discuss the issues raised. Findings will be summarised and distributed to all guests and forwarded to policy planners.
It is hoped that a regular meeting of this group may also occur in the future. You are welcome to forward this invitation to people you believe are interested in this topic. If you have any further suggestions that you would like to share with us, please email:
sueellson at newcomersnetwork.com AND
marc.barry at rmit.edu.au
Summit Details
Thursday 17 August 2006
2:00pm – 4:00pm
Please arrive a few minutes early as you will need to go through the security checkpoint to enter the building.
K Room, Parliament House
Spring Street (top of Bourke Street)
East Melbourne Victoria Australia
Melways Map Reference 1B P7
See Metlink Melbourne website for public transport details. The closest Train Station is Parliament Station and the closest Tram Routes are along Bourke Street.
Street meter car parking close to the venue is not available for two hours. Find details of car parks at http://www.carpark.com.au
Cost
Newcomers Network is sponsoring this event. Light refreshments will be available. Whilst there is no cost to attend, you will need to tell us that you are coming – see below for details on how to register.
Who is the Summit for?
People who provide services, support, resources or information to international students studying in Victoria, Australia:
- representatives from international schools, TAFEs, colleges and universities operating in Victoria (this includes country Victoria)
- student union representatives
- a small selection of international students (no more than three from the same campus)
- local, state and Australian government representatives who have responsibility for international student policy and procedures
- authors of relevant publications
- service providers to international students (like home stay associations, student accommodation providers, international student agents etc)
Please email melbourne@newcomersnetwork.com by 5:00pm on Tuesday 15 August 2006 with your contact details and ‘Victorian International Students Summit’ in the subject line or phone 03 9812 7288 if you would like to attend this event OR complete the form here:
http://www.newcomersnetwork.com/australia/melbourne/060817.php
3 Comments
Dear Newcomers Network,
i work for the peak representative body for international students in Australia and have been forwarded the information on your site about the summit.
i am concerned that there is little or no inclusion in the summit for representative bodies of international students. i will distribute your details to the 15 or so international student organisations on Victorian university campuses who deal with student issues daily and hopefully they will be able to attend and contribute to your summit on important student issues. please contact me regarding this summit if you are able.
regards
Sharon Smith
International Research Officer
National Liaison Committee for International Students in Australia
03 9650 8908
http://www.nlc.edu.au
0422 398 679
isd@nus.asn.au
Sharon, I have passed on your concerns to Marc Barry and Sue Ellson.
Thanks Sharon, as mentioned in my email to you on 2 August 2006
Hello Gail and Sharon
Thank you Gail for forwarding this information to Marc and I.
Thank you Sharon for registering to attend the Summit and for forwarding the invitation on to interested parties.
All guests will have an opportunity to present their views in the workshop groups and I would encourage you to nominate yourself as the person to present the findings back to the group once the exercise is completed.
There was no intention to exclude any individual or organisation in the guest speaker panel – the speakers’ role is to simply provide a background briefing on the issues and they are drawn from Marc and my own networks.
If you have particular issues you would like covered in the workshop groups, please email them directly to me. Marc and I did not want to override any existing initiatives either, simply complement what is already happening and try bringing people together from diverse networks to see if some of these issues can be moved forward on a collective basis in the future (in particular to find efficient methods for people providing settlement support to international students with limited resources and time).
Finally, if one of your representatives is based in Regional Victoria, I would welcome an email from them so that they can be a guest speaker and briefly mention the issues from a regional perspective. I am happy to cover the cost of their train/travel expenses to Melbourne.
I look forward to hearing from you
Cheers
Sue Ellson BBus AIMM MAHRI
Founder
Newcomers Network
http://www.newcomersnetwork.com
Further details on this event will be posted online at http://www.newcomersnetwork.com/australia/melbourne/060817.php and in the new Educating Victorian Newcomers Yahoo Group
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/educatingvictoriannewcomers/