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Bachelor of Social Work
Chenali Amaratunga
Future Students Advisor, Victoria University
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Bachelor of Social Work pathway session. My name is Chenali and I'm a Future Students Advisor at Victoria University.
In this webinar, we will be talking to you about the possible pathway options from Victoria University Polytechnic to Victoria University for this course.
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Meet your panel
- Diana Rector, Pathways Coordinator - Admissions
- Annie Venville, Associate Professor / Head of Social Work
- Scott Murray, Manager Pathways and Retention at Victoria University.
Chenali
And joining us is Diana Rector, Pathways Coordinator for Admissions, Annie Venville, Associate Professor and Head of Social Work, and Scott Murray, manager pathways and retention at Victoria University.
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Acknowledgement of Country
Chenali
Before we start, I would like to acknowledge my Country and pay my respects to the custodians of the land we live, work and study on today. And I would also like to pay my respect to the elders, past, present and emerging.
Chenali
So as a student who's completing or already completed a program at VU Polytechnic, why transfer to university? There's a few reasons. You would have an easier transition to university from TAFE where you can enhance and expand your scope of knowledge. You also have a wider range of career options and would be able to get your degree in a shorter period of time as you will be granted credits for your previous study. This also means you'll finish off with two qualifications. And most importantly, you'll be studying in our award-winning block model.
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- Why transfer to university?
- Easy transition to university from TAFE
- Enhance and expand your learning
- Wider range or career opportunities
- Obtain a degree in a shorter period of time with credits
- Two qualifications
- Victoria University Block Model.
Chenali
At Victoria University, we have revolutionised tertiary education with our award-winning block model. The block model allows students to focus on one subject at a time, rather than juggling multiple subjects over a six-month period, like at other universities. And is offered to students in all years of our undergraduate degree.
With the VU Block Model, you'd be fully focused on each subject. If you are fascinated by one particular subject, you can immerse yourself in it and enjoy all that subject has to offer. And if you don't enjoy it, you will be pleased to have it finished in only four weeks without having to wait until the end of the semester to know your result. Up next is a brief video to show what your year is going to look like while studying under the block model at Victoria University.
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VU Block Model
- The first university delivering undergraduate degrees using a block model of teaching.
- 1 subject at a time
- 87% pass rate^
- 40% distinction or above^
- Under 35 students in a class
- Results within 3 days
The VU Block Model video plays
Instructor
We've been teaching the same way for hundreds of years now but the world around us has changed and along with it, employer and industry needs. So at VU, we changed the way you learn with our Australian first VU Block Model.
Traditionally, you juggle the demands and deadlines of four units at once.
Instead, the VU Block Model has you focus on one unit at a time.
Each semester will be broken into four blocks which run for four weeks.
You focus on one unit in each block completing all your assessments before moving on to the next.
So instead of this
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Traditional university, with a diagram showing 4 units running at the same time each semester.
Instructor
the VU Block Model looks like this
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diagram with text on screen
The diagram shows VU Block model with 1 unit following the other each semester.
Instructor
VU Block Model gives you greater focus by studying just one unit at a time in smaller more collaborative classes and provides flexible study options to suit your lifestyle.
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Improved student success
Instructor
With the introduction of Block Model, students success is soaring.
More students are passing first year and second year too
and over 40% of students are now enjoying grades at or above distinction levels.
VU students more engaged and satisfied with their uni experience.
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- Pass rate 13% up arrow first year
- Pass rate 90% up arrow second year
- 40% distinction level
- 82.2% overall student experience
Instructor
Employers have also noticed the difference ranking VU graduates in the top 10 of more than 40 universities for work readiness.
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Top 10 for work readiness
Instructor
And more than 90% of graduates are ranked highly for employability.
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90% ranked highly
Instructor
So when you study with the VU Block Model, you know it's proven to give you the support and skills you need to succeed.
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The New Way To Do Uni
VU logo
(this video is shown on the VU Block Model page)
Chenali
Once you successfully complete your diploma you may be eligible for a guaranteed pathway to the mentioned bachelor-level courses at Victoria University. What it means by a guaranteed pathway is that you have a confirmed entry to a course once you meet all the admissions criteria stated in the conditional offer letter. As you can see, once you successfully complete the Diploma of Community Service or the Diploma of Community Development, you may be eligible for the listed credits once you transition into the Bachelor of Social Work at Victoria University. There also is an option where you can transition to the bachelor degree upon completion of the foundations at VU. Also note, certain bachelor degrees might also have additional admissions criteria to be met, which will be listed on the course web page. I would now like to hand over to Diana, who is the Pathways Coordinator for admissions, to talk to you about the admissions process relating to pathways.
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Your pathway to university
[Table]
Pathway course (Code, Credit):
- Diploma of Community Services (CHC52015, 96)
- Diploma of Community Development (CHC52115, 96)
- Foundations at VU (JYAC, 0)
VU course:
- Bachelor of Social Work ABSW
*Please refer to the VU and VUP course pages on the website for additional information
Diana Rector
Pathways Coordinator – Admissions
Thank you Chenali.
So what is a pathway conditional offer? A pathway conditional offer means you have a guaranteed place into an eligible pathway course upon successfully completing your current course and meeting any additional admissions criteria that may be required for the course. So what is the conditional offer process?
New conditional offers currently go out twice a year, in approximately May and October. At the same time as new offers are sent, acknowledgement emails are also sent to those that are previously accepted their pathway conditional offer. These emails are sent to your student email account. Information regarding next steps in the pathway process are also provided in both emails. I'm now going to talk a little bit about the full offer process.
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Admissions – pathways
What is a conditional offer?
- A pathway conditional offer means you have a guaranteed place (and in some cases with advanced standing) upon:
- successfully completing your current course
- meeting any additional admissions criteria for the higher education course (if required).
Conditional Offer process
- New offers sent – twice a year.
- Accepted offer acknowledgements sent – twice a year.
- Once offer accepted:
- completion in your current course is monitored
- additional entry requirements for the higher education course are validated (if required).
Diana
Once successful completion in your current course is confirmed, we process your offer as well as the eligible advanced standing. From there, you will be sent your ‘Enrol now’ email with your full offer into the Bachelor for the next available admissions intake.
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Admissions – pathways
Full offer process
Once completion and any additional entry requirements are confirmed:
- the offer is processed
- eligible advanced standing is processed
- full offer ‘Enrol in your Pathway course’ email into the Bachelor is sent for the next available admissions intake.
Diana
To enrol into the Bachelor, you need to simply follow the prompts within the email, log into your, MyVU portal, accept the full offer and enrol into available units. Please be aware that students receive pathway full offer emails at different stages as successful completion is confirmed and pathway full offers are made right up until classes commence for each intake period.
If you ever have any questions about your pathway full or conditional offer, please email Pathways. And we're always happy to answer your questions.
Thank you Chenali.
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enrolling into a higher education course
Follow the prompts within the email:
- log into your MyVU portal
- accept the offer
- enrol into available units.
- more information?
Email: [email protected].
Chenali
Thank you Diana. I would like to hand over to Annie, the Associate Professor and Head of Social Work to speak to you about industry insights and a bit more about this course.
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Annie Venville
Associate Professor/Head of Social Work
Annie Venville
My name's Annie Venville and I'm the associate professor and Head of Social work here at Victoria University. Social work is a most rewarding and challenging career. It will allow you to work anywhere in Australia and in most places in the world. When you study with us, you will learn about issues of social justice, human rights, human development. You will learn specific skills to work with individuals, groups, families and communities, all with the purpose of enhancing well-being and reducing inequity.
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Study Your Way
Annie
Students join us a number of ways. So sometimes people will come direct from school. Sometimes students will have studied a diploma at our VU Polytechnic and sometimes, students will come after quite a lot of work experience and decide that they're now going to study the course that they've always wanted to do and that is social work.
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Leading Industry Partnerships
Annie
All social work courses should be accredited with the Australian Association of Social Workers and we are. So what that means that when you graduate with us, you are then eligible for membership of the AASW, which is a criteria for getting a job as a social worker in Australia. VU is the university of and for the West. We have really robust connections with lots and lots of agencies. For an example, we work very closely with Western Health, with the Western Bulldogs. We work really closely with Women's Health West, with our local councils, with all of our alcohol and drug agencies and of course, government services.
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Immersive, Hands-on Learning
Annie
You'll also, throughout the course, have 1,000 hours of supervised professional practise. That will occur over two years of your course and that gives you the opportunity to work alongside and under the supervision of social workers in local agencies. It's our strong connections with our industry partners that ensure that we can find these really rich learning opportunities for our students. So a really important thing to remember is students do not find their placements themselves. They do not need to worry about that. We do all of that work for them.
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Graduate Opportunities
Annie
Our graduates go on to work in so many places. So you might end up in alcohol and other drug services, you might end up working in a hospital, you might be in school, you might be writing policy, you might be engaged in community development. You might be working in higher education. You might be working in refugee support, say perhaps the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Centrelink, child protection. Social workers are everywhere. Social work is a growing area and certainly, we know that our graduates get jobs, they get jobs from their placements, they get jobs from the partnerships that we have with our local community but they get jobs because they're good at what they do. Our students make a difference to community.
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The New Way To Do Uni
Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia
Chenali
Thank you, Annie. Last but not least, I would like to hand over to Scott who is a Manager, Pathways and Retention to speak to you about VU Employ and opportunities at VU.
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Scott Murray
Manager – Pathways and Retention
Scott
Thanks very much Chenali.
One of the key services that we offer at VU, which will help many different pathway student decide on whether or not to take up their pathway opportunity is VU Employ. VU Employ is our careers service and we offer career advice through email, consultations, one-on-one appointments with a qualified careers consultant, a range of different resources, including the VU Employ Collaborate space, Careers Toolkit and the VU Employ Career Directory, a range of different programs offered throughout the year, including Talent Connect Mentoring, Beyond VU and GVIP, as well as a huge calendar of events, including fairs and expos, industry events and a range of different workshops.
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VU Employ services
- Career advice – email support
- Consultations – career chats (15 minutes via phone), career counselling (45 minutes via Zoom)
- Resources – VU Employ Collaborate, Career toolkit, VU Employ career directory
- Programs – Talent Connect Mentoring, Beyond VU, GVIP
- Events – career fairs and expos, industry events, workshops.
Scott
VU Employ can help you with the decision-making in transitioning to higher education and what you need to consider. We can assist you in identifying values, skills, interests and personal situation when deciding what it is that you want to study. Work with you in exploring the different course options that are available. Provide the tools to research whether or not the study path will lead to strong job opportunities after graduation or beyond. And explore the different job opportunities available after you complete your HE degree.
VU Employ can:
- help you with the decision-making and transitioning to higher education study and what you need to consider
- assist you in identifying values, skills, interests, and the personal situation when deciding what to study
- work with you in exploring the course options available
- provide the tools to research whether the study path will lead to strong job opportunities after graduation
- explore those job opportunities available to you after you complete your HE degree.
Scott
This is one of many different opportunities available to VU students. These include VU Learning Hub, which is staffed by a dedicated team of staff and student mentors. The study abroad program, financial advice, VU Vollies, which is our volunteer program, student mentors in the library, leadership opportunities, wellness and counselling services, as well as huge range of different student clubs and societies.
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Opportunities at University:
- VU Learning Hub
- study abroad
- financial advice
- VU Vollies
- student mentors in library
- leadership opportunities
- wellness counselling
- student clubs.
Scott
If you have any questions about anything that we've spoken about today, for admissions information, you can email [email protected]. For specific course information, contact [email protected] and if you'd like to book a one-on-one appointment with a careers consultant, you can simply email [email protected]. We'd like to thank you very much for listening to this webinar.
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Questions
For admissions information: Email - [email protected]
For course information: Email - [email protected]
For VU EMPLOY appointments: Email - [email protected]
The New Way To Do Uni
Victoria University
