node.live

First day of semester is on us tomorrow. If you are a new first year student on campus, take up the following challenge this first week:

Flying Start is over for another year! We had such a great group of students at our Flying Start orientation this year. They all seemed to have plenty of questions and were keen to meet each other and their leaders. The hot weather made life a bit exhausting but everyone was very patient.

I'm finding it hard to believe that another academic year is about to begin. And that means -YES -it's time for Flying Start again. In case you haven't heard of it, Flying Start is UniSkills' great 2 day orientation program for first year undergrads who are new to Perth and want to make some new friends before uni starts. Or maybe they are students from schools that only enrol a few students at UWA. And then there are some mature age students who get involved.

Great news for UniSkills that it has been successful in winning the Australian Teaching and Learning Council award for Support of Student Learning in the category of First Year. We prepared a submission back in July and were really not expecting to be successful because the competition is pretty strong. But the Uniskills program is 21 years old this year and we thought that was a strong 'hook' on which to hang an argument about the value of a program that has had over 4,000 students be part of it over the years.

I wonder if anyone has created a new psychological term for obsession with email because I'm sure some people suffer from this condition. Email is great but it's also really intrusive sometimes. You start checking it on the weekends, when you're on leave, just in case you've missed something. And then, before you know it, you're hooked into replying, thinking about study or work or whatever and there's no escape.

Last week in chilly Hobart, uni staff from around Australia, NZ and UK met to discuss what the big issues are for first year students. The annual First Year in Higher Education conference saw a range of issues covered but for me, the big one was that we have a good body of literature now on the FYE, but too many great initiatives and programs are dependent on individuals. We need to see stronger commitment from universities to put emphasis on the importance of FY and make sure that there is support at policy level.

It's true - blogging makes you happy. This is the finding of Masters student, James Baker, from Swinburne University. He did some on-line surveys and discovered that people who blogged regularly were more content. People who responded that they intended to blog but didn't, were more distressed. The bloggers said that they felt more connected socially online and they were also more satisfied with their offline friends.

So go for it -get blogging on node and feel happier!

Many people on campus were saddened today to hear of the death on Saturday of UWA's first, and only, female Vice Chancellor, Professor Fay Gale. Fay was a great champion of women's rights and led by example. It wasn't always easy at the top but her quiet courage gained her the respect of many. Rest in peace, Fay.

The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney has become the first museum in the world to release historical photographs for access as part of Flickr’s Commons Project.

Is anyone else glad to see the end of daylight saving? I'm SO enjoying it not being so dark when I get up in the morning. Is there anyone under 30 who agrees?