Expressions of interest in mentoring students

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• HELPS online conversations program

  Main purpose of the program

  • For international students to connect with each other as a group, online using Zoom.
  • To alleviate social isolation and to support international students in their confidence to speak English with others through online conversations.
  • To reduce anxiety for the student and provides more engagement with the university.

  What cohort(s) of students does it assist?

  • May be Faculty based

  What you will do

  • Facilitate regular, online group conversation sessions for international students.
  • Encourage students to become more confident in their speaking, listening and informal conversation skills.
  • Facilitate non-threatening, informal conversation practice by encouraging an exchange of experiences about living in Sydney and studying or working at UTS.
  • To attempt to alleviate social isolation and student anxieties while they are learning online and waiting to return to their studies on campus.
  • No English teaching experience is required, though program evaluation has consistently shown students see improvements in their English fluency and accuracy.

  What sort of hours/weeks are needed

  • The HELPS online conversation program requires a minimum 1 hour per week.

  Can you take holidays from involvement?

  • Yes—you can communicate any times you can’t be available, with the students

  What training or preparation is needed?

  • There will be a guide for Conversation Leaders to assist them in facilitating sessions as well as resources and ideas available on Canvas.

  What connectivity/access is needed?

  • WiFi
  • Zoom connection on PC/Mac/Laptop/phone

• HELPS online buddy program

  Main purpose of the program

  • A staff member is matched with an international student to be a friendly contact person to chat with whilst they are studying from home in isolation.
  • It reduces anxiety for the student and at the same time provides more engagement with the university and improvement of their English conversation skills.

  What cohort(s) of students does it assist?

  What you will do

  • Connect with an international student online, regularly providing a friendly contact point to listen and talk.
  • Help alleviate any student anxieties while they are learning online and waiting to return to their studies on campus.
  • Provide regular, non-threatening, informal conversation practice by exchanging experiences with student(s) about living in Sydney and studying or working at UTS.

  What sort of hours/weeks are needed

  · The buddy program requires minimum 1 hour per week for 6 weeks, however the frequency and the duration of your buddy interaction can be negotiated upwards by mutual consent.

  Can you take holidays from involvement?

  • Yes – students and volunteers can opt out of the program when needed through hiding their profile in the custom made online buddy platform

  What training or preparation is needed?

  • There will be a step-by-step guide on how to match and communicate with a student using UTS GRID, the buddy matching platform. Additional ‘how to’ zoom sessions are also being timetabled along with regular email updates and a discussion forum and communicate.
  • No English teaching experience is required.

  What connectivity/access is needed?

  • WiFi
  • Zoom connection on PC/Mac/Laptop/phone