The most common transition referred to is that from school to university, but it also includes moving into a new study mode.
What is transition?
Transition is the process of moving from one set of circumstances to another, and refers to the range of issues and emotions that students face during various new stages of their university career.
All students, regardless of their personality or educational or cultural background, will experience a period of transition when they come to university. Successful students are those that can recognise and accept transition for what it is - a natural period of adjustment - and seek help and advice when necessary.
The most common transition referred to is that from school to university, but it also includes moving into a new study mode such as from the university classroom into clinical placements, from undergraduate to graduate, from university into the workforce, or returning to study after a break. The four main types of transition that uni students will face are Academic, Geographic, Administrative and Social.
For an insight into how current students are dealing with these transition issues, visit our student blogs: First_year@UniMelb and Back for Seconds: there's more where that came from.
What do we do for students?
Transition and Orientation Programs works to support both prospective and current University of Melbourne students by:
- Giving presentations to school groups across Victoria from Years 9 -12, both on and off campus.
- Providing opportunities for school groups to meet, listen to and ask questions of current Melbourne students and academic staff.
- Providing a range of transition publications for both future and current students, including this website
- Supporting transition programs in courses, such as mentor schemes, Faculty 101, study groups, first-year learning centres etc.
- Coordinating the central Orientation program in both first and second semester.
- Supporting two student blogs: First_year@UniMelb and Back for Seconds: there's more where that came from.
- Hosting the annual First-Year Summit, which provides students with an opportunity to give feedback on their experiences of first year at Melbourne.
- Providing later-year students with volunteering opportunities such as taking part in the Host Program during Orientation, speaking to school groups and facilitating focus groups in the First-Year Summit.
Research on Transition
Every five years, the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (CSHE) at the University of Melbourne conducts a major national study - The First Year Experience in Australian Universities: Findings from a Decade of National Studies (2005) - which examines 5-year trends in student attitudes and behaviour in their first year at university. It also looks at patterns of adjustment to university study and the quality of the experience provided by universities.