Message from the President

The national UCA Executive Committee met with representatives of the two other organisations in the Colleges and Halls sector recently.  It was agreed that we would cooperate and collaborate whenever appropriate with the Australasian Association of College and University Housing Officers (AACUHO) and the National Association of Australian University Colleges (NAAUC).  AACUHO has asked us to circulate information relating to their Benchmarking Project and NAAUC has invited members to attend their Heads and Residential Coordinators Conference (HRC), which runs from Sunday 14 to Wednesday 17 July.  Letters from the Presidents of both organisations are included in this newsletter.

I look forward to seeing you at this year's mini-conference at the Broadbeach Surf Life Saving Club on the Gold Coast, Queensland on Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th October, 2013.  The Workshop style conference will have a 'mental health issues' theme and we are pleased to announce that Dr James Scott, Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research will lead this workshop.  More information on Dr Scott and the conference can be found in this newsletter.

Adjunct Professor Iyla Davies
UCA President

AACUHO Benchmarking Project

Dear UCA Member,

In recent times, AACUHO and UCA have been proactive in identifying areas where the two associations can collaborate on projects that will benefit the industry as a whole.  We are pleased to advise that the 2013 AACUHO Benchmarking Project is one such area where both association members can benefit.

Recently launched at the AACUHO StarNet StarRez Conference in Adelaide, we are pleased to make the 2013 AACUHO Benchmarking project open to UCA members.

Participating in the benchmarking program will allow you to critically analyse your residential site’s operations against other residences across the country and within your own state.

Whilst no two institutions operate in the same way, participants in the Benchmarking program will be able to use the survey results to assess their practices, understand where they are tracking well against others in the industry and identify areas where improvements can be made. 

In general the benchmarking process:

• Encourages your business to be open to new methods and processes to improve productivity and profitability. The core benefit of benchmarking is the opportunity to understand what the best performers in our industry are doing and what you need to do to emulate that success.
• Establishes a baseline “report card” specific to your business
• Identifies specific problem areas and eliminates guesswork
• Shifts internal thinking on real problem areas and removes emotion from the discussion
• Prioritises improvement opportunities
• Increases performance expectations and “raises the bar”
• Understands how high performance is being achieved and what you can do to emulate it

The standard price to participate in the Benchmarking program is $450 + GST. (If you are an AACUHO member, you will be able to access the discounted price of $350 + GST using your discount code which has already been sent. Please contact the AACUHO Executive Officer if you need to have the code resent.)
 
The AACUHO committee have invested funds and a great deal of time working with Benchmarking.com.au * to tailor this product for our industry and believe that it is a project that will provide great benefit for all industry members. We strongly encourage your institution to participate in this program.
 
Please register today at https://www.benchmarking.com.au/aacuho  and submit your data entry by  31 May.  We will advise via email once the reporting modules are live.
 
Please note that any data entered is treated with the utmost confidentiality and remains your property. Your individual return is always and only accessible by yourself. Only aggregated results are used down the track and it is statistically / mathematically impossible to “un-crunch” the numbers to find an individual result. If you have any queries or concerns in this regard, please do not hesitate to contact me anytime.
 
If you have any questions or having difficulty, please contact Tim Chamberlain of Benchmarking company on 02 92625564
 
Thank you for your support for this project carried out by independent Benchmarking company.
 
Edwina Ellicott
AACUHO President
Marketing and Occupancy Manager
Accommodation Services
University of Wollongong  

UCA Conference

This year's conference will be held at the Broadbeach Surf Life Saving Club on the Gold Coast, Queensland on Thursday 3rd and Friday 4th October, 2013.  Our topic this year is Youth Mental Health and we will use a workshop format to raise and discuss issues confronting members in their everyday college life. Our workshop facilitator will be Dr James Scott, Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at the UQCCR whose main focus of research is broadly encapsulated under child and adolescent mental health and early psychosis. 

The conference will be held during the school holiday period and followed by a Labour Day long weekend so accommodation is filling fast.  Please see below for accommodation options and proximity to the conference venue:

For a map of the Broadbeach area see: http://www.infomaps.com.au/maps/BROADBEACH.pdf 

For a map of hotels in the area and their ratings see: http://www.booking.com/district/au/gold-coast/broadbeach.en.html?

NAAUC Heads & Residential Coordinators Conference

Dear UCA Members

My name is Jeremy Phillips-Yelland and I am the President of The National Association of Australian University Colleges (NAAUC). I am writing to formally invite you to our annual Heads and Residential Coordinators conference this July.  The conference will run from the 14th - 21st July 2013, hosted jointly by The Women’s College and St Leo’s College at The University of Queensland. Alongside our student conference NAAUC also runs Heads and Residential Coordinators Conference (HRC), which runs from Sunday the 14 – Wednesday 17th of July. The HRC conference presents a unique opportunity for Heads of College, Deans, Pastoral Advisors and Tutors to learn alongside their students and discuss issues important to their on-campus community.

The 2013 conference theme is; “Motivate, Innovate, Integrate: It’s up to MII.” This theme outlines a creative process to implementing positive change within the college environment. To ensure each conference is relevant to contemporary college life, the academic programming has been constructed to tackle the issues most prominent to colleges in 2013.

Our 2013 academic pillars are:

• Traditions and Culture: Improving equality and appreciating diversity.
• Media and the interaction between colleges and the wider community
• Mental health and lifestyle balance
• Sustainability and what it means for colleges 

HRC delegates are invited to attend all academic sessions offered to our student delegates whilst also being offered sessions specifically designed for HRC. Each day the academic program starts with key note speakers to introduce the academic after which our HRC delegates are offered an exclusive question and answer session with the key note speaker of the day for a more in depth look at the issues covered. The Key Note speakers confirmed include Professor Ian Frazer (Immunologist and 2006 Australian of the Year), Dr Helen Stallman (Psychologist and creator of ‘the desk’), Mr Akram Azimi (2013 Young Australian of the Year) Mr Andy Gourley (Founder of The Red Frogs) and Adjunct Professor Iyla Davies (Head of The Women’s College and President of University Colleges Australia).

Our social program is aimed at developing strong intercollegiate relationships and offer new and exciting ideas, whilst showing how to effectively cater for and run social events for on campus students. The HRC program includes; Commencement dinner, Parliamentary debating, a famous Red Frog Cafe Crawl as well as the option of attending the student social program and a few surprises still to be announced.  Included below is the link to the NAAUC website where you can access more information about the NAAAUC National Conference by downloading the Student and HRC Pre Conference Kits. Head to the website www.naaucinc.wix.com/naauc, click on the tab named ‘Delegate Registration’ and fill out the registration form to become a 2013 delegate.

If you have any specific questions about the conference or NAAUC more generally, please do not hesitate to contact me using the details below. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible in Brisbane.

Jeremy Phillips-Yelland, President,
National Association of Australian University Colleges (NAAUC) Inc.
E: president@naauc.edu.au
M: 0415 858 280
W: www.naaucinc.wix.com/naauc

Membership Matters

Members' Remuneration Survey Results
In 2012, UCA undertook to gather data about remuneration packages for Heads of Colleges and Halls of Residence via a member survey.  The results of the survey can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=pArL65dS5RU0d4noot6CITMgk8kqMh5ns8cC6sCukgc_3d 

Access results by typing the password:  Heads Survey  

The content may be useful for Heads newly appointed or those renewing their contracts.  Please contact Deborah Pugh at executiveofficer@universitycollegesaustralia.edu.au should you have difficulty accessing the survey results.

Professional Development for Resident Assitants (RAs), Resident Tutors or Senior Residents
University Colleges Australia wishes to survey our membes to ascertain the scope and level of professional development and training received by this group of residents engaged by their respective College or Hall of Residence.  For ease in the survey only, the term Resident Assistants or RAs will be used but it is meant to include all groups or individuals performing these roles.  If you do not directly manage the Resident Assistants please circulate this request to the 'main' person to whom the RAs report.  The survey is divided into three sections as listed below and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.  All responses are anonymous.

Section 1: Demographics
Section 2: Employment Status
Section 3: Professional Development/Training

The information gained by our members will be collated and made available to all members and associate members.  Please contact Dr Carla Tromans, Director, International House, Brisbane ihdirector@inthouse.uq.edu.au  Mobile 0401 031 240 for any further information.  The survey can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M6TC3L3

Financial Assistance with Professional Development Activities: Conference Attendance
The Executive Committee will provide a current financial member with $500 grant to support attendance at a conference or workshop.  Information and an application form can be found under the Programs page at http://www.universitycollegesaustralia.edu.au