Explore our new Teaching and Learning Induction Portal

We’re excited to announce that the Deakin Learning Futures Teaching and Learning Induction Portal is now accessible on DeakinHub.

This resource was developed collaboratively through a joint project with Human Resources and faculty teaching and learning leaders to complement the other layers of induction at Deakin that welcome new members to our community. Structured information is offered to assist new academic and professional staff to understand their roles in teaching and learning in the Deakin context. The resource is integrated with the new Deakin Teaching Capability Framework.

The staff journey begins with a basics page, a quick reference for finding what you need to teach at Deakin, which will be especially useful for those in new casual and short-term roles. The rest of the portal offers timely and targeted access to a range of curated resources and supports. Information on key topics is offered, like tips on teaching a first class, assessment, growing your career, student engagement and retention, academic integrity, the CloudFirst approach and more. New staff can access information on gettting started at Deakin, and they are also invited to return and see what’s next in their development. The Teaching and Learning Induction Portal also includes the recently launched Deakin Student Support Services Map for staff, an interactive, comprehensive resource to consult for referral of students to support, services and information.

Information is tailored for what people need to know. For example, some Unit Chairs and Course Directors teach, and others do not. Teaching and learning leaders, who are also active members of a teaching team, can access materials and resources suited to both aspects of their roles. There is specific information for other teaching team members and those in learning and teaching support roles. This includes demonstrators, learning designers, educational technologists, academic developers, Work Integrated Learning and Student Experience teams, careers staff, librarians, student support services teams and many more.

The focus of the project will now move to road-testing and refining the portal over time and to developing related synchronous supports. Please share your feedback with us using the email facility on the site! Other future directions include developing a third level of the resource where some ‘going beyond’ scenarios and case studies can be used to support the development of excellent practice in the key topic areas. We will again collaborate closely with our faculty partners on that work.

Click here to visit the Deakin Learning Futures Teaching and Learning Induction Portal.

Supporting staff to support our students

Academic or professional staff are often the first port of call when a student needs help. These issues may not be study-related. A student may also come to you when they’re struggling with personal difficulties – from relationship problems to mental health issues. In situations that aren’t related to your area of expertise, it can be hard to know how, or even if, to help the student and where to direct them for professional help.

This is why the Student Support and Referral portal was developed. Launched earlier this year, the portal is part of our ongoing commitment to prioritising the health and wellbeing of our entire University community. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more important to know how to direct students to the most appropriate kind of assistance. The challenge of dealing with stay-at-home restrictions, online study, and difficult financial, emotional and personal circumstances is affecting a large number of the Deakin community.

If you haven’t already done so, we encourage you to explore this online resource, which gathers together a range of important information, including:

• How to deal with a student emergency or a student in distress.
• Direct referral paths to priority services, including sexual harm, problem student behaviour, counselling and psychological support, medical services, international student support, multiple or complex student needs, disability support, student misconduct and complaints.
• Advice on what services are available and how students can access them.
• Links to helpful tools, apps articles and resources that help students to manage their own needs, where appropriate.

You can access the Student Support and Referral portal directly or find it in the new DeakinHub intranet under Support and services > Supporting students > Helping students in distress. We encourage you to bookmark it for future use.

Online resources for students

• Succeeding at online study includes a range of articles to assist students to studying online including study support and health and wellbeing
• eWellbeing hub in DeakinSync – Read the Deakin Life article for more information

Student Wellbeing Liaison Service

The Student Wellbeing Liaisons support staff to de-escalate student distress and identify their support needs. In some cases, they will assess a student for any further health and wellbeing needs, and provide appropriate support and referral options. The service is located within the Health and Wellbeing Centres and is available to support staff via phone.

If you’re supporting a student in distress and require further advice and support – but it is not an emergency situation – contact the Student Wellbeing Liaisons on 9244 5970. Referrals will be prioritised based on the level of urgency.

What to do when you suspect there may be a missing student

On occasion students may have unexpected absences or may be thought to be missing. University staff members may become aware of this directly or through communication via a student’s friends, family members, overseas agents, outside organisations or emergency services. All missing student concerns should be taken seriously and escalated to immediately. To support staff in responding to concerns or reports of missing students enrolled at Deakin, we have developed Responding to Reports of Missing Students Guidelines.

Safer Community will provide initial advice and support to staff and external referrers in relation to matters involving missing students and are available for consultation Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm on 9244 3734 or email safercommunity@deakin.edu.au.

In addition to being available via a search of the Deakin Policy Library, the guidelines can also be accessed via the Student Support and Referral Portal or download the PDF.

Deakin Learning Futures is excited to announce the launch of a comprehensive and interactive map to help guide staff as they refer students who are seeking help. This is part of a much larger SharePoint site focused on induction support for teaching and learning which will be launched in its entirety very soon to assist new academic and professional staff to understand their teaching and learning roles in the Deakin context.

Many ‘layers’ of induction welcome those new to teaching and learning related roles at Deakin university. Human Resources, faculties and schools all contribute to introducing new people to our university and to how we do teaching and learning. It is exciting to report that the Deakin Learning Futures ‘One Deakin’ induction project, which also contributes to these efforts, has reached a big milestone this month.

Deakin has a very comprehensive ecosystem of student supports, including transition focused supports like orientation, assistance to develop key skills (like academic and library skills), health and wellbeing services, efforts to create a safer community and access to financial and legal help. There are guides to leveraging and responding to student diversity, promoting equity, managing crises, meeting international students’ need. There are related guidelines for staff, such as those on responding to challenging student behaviors’.

That is why this interactive, comprehensive ‘map’ of where to refer help seeking students and why, as well as to related staff-facing services, will be of use to recently appointed teaching academics and professional and academic staff in teaching and learning related roles in particular. Deakin’s rich resources can take some time to discover, without a quick guide. The map is a result of much consultation, review and hard work. It is also a ‘living’ resource that will be refreshed over time. Each page features an ‘email’ button to provide feedback, or make suggestions, which we hope that you will do when you visit it.

To promote staff to access particular supports when they are most needed, the map has a ‘timeline’ structure. You can browse what is likely to be of use over weeks 0-3 of a first trimester at Deakin. Those first few weeks are a busy time of learning about your school and faculty. Familiarity with University-wide support services for students will also be very beneficial. By weeks 6 -11, there may be time to start gaining a deeper understanding of the Deakin approach to promoting student and staff health, wellbeing and success. The second Trimester is often a time to start partnering with expert others who can assist you further.

The Deakin Student Support Services Map is part of a much larger sharepoint site focused on induction support for teaching and learning, which will be launched in its entirety very soon. It will assist new academic and professional staff to understand their teaching and learning roles in the Deakin context, including the Deakin Teaching Capability Framework. It is organised partly by key topics, which include: teaching a first class, teaching@Deakin, assessment for learning, career growth through evaluation and review, academic integrity, cloud first design and delivery and student engagement and retention.

Click here to visit the Deakin Student Support Services Map.