The Uniskills Programme is specially designed to enhance your academic skills if you are about to start your new degree course, or if you are a continuing student. It helps you with Academic Writing, Study and IT Skills. See the timetable for further details.

How do I know what to come to?

Introductory sessions – most helpful if you are joining the first year of your course.
Intermediate sessions – for everyone completing the Introductory sessions, or if you are joining second or third year of your degree programme.
Any sessions – pick any combination of basic and intermediate sessions that best suit your needs.
Repeat sessions – catch up on sessions you have missed due to other activities during Orientation Week.

The more you come to, the better prepared you’ll be.

Is it for me?

Yes - if you are coming from TAFE and want to be ready for the different ways you will be expected to study at university.
Yes - if you are a new international student
Yes - if you are a continuing student and want to enhance your existing academic skills
Yes - if you are nervous about starting university and want a confidence boost.

The Uniskills Programme is designed to be flexible so you can pick which sessions to come to and on which days and times. That way, you can focus on the skills you need most help with and juggle other commitments with your other activities during Orientation Week at VU.

Up to five full days of preparation sessions are on offer. For details on exactly what’s on and when, check out the timetable so you can choose which days and sessions to attend.

What’s on when?

Every day has Academic Writing Skills sessions, along with a mixture of IT Skills, Information Skills and Study Skills (see timetable below).

Monday – Introductory sessions
Tuesday – Intermediate sessions
Wednesday – Intermediate sessions
Thursday (Basic) and Friday (Intermediate) – repeats of what we reckon are the most important sessions that everyone should come along to.

Getting ready before you come:

Study guides and resources on some of the main sessions will soon be available so that you can either read up on the topic before attending, or consolidate your learning in your own time.

For information and advice on which session(s) will be best for you, please get in touch:

E-mail: scott.mcdonald@vu.edu.au
Tel: 9919 4774

Booking Details:

To book whole-day sessions, go to:
PD Online http://pdonline.vu.edu.au/studentlogin.cfm
Or, if you have problems logging onto PD Online
Tel: 9919 4744

To book individual one-off sessions, contact:
Email: studyhelp@vu.edu.au
Or Tel: 9919 4744

The Uniskills Programme is FREE.

UniSkills Timetable

Monday 21st July - Footscray Park Campus (Introductory Sessions)
	9.00 - 10.30 Room C502A	Academic Writing Skills 1: Sentence Building Come along to this session and find out about different types of sentences and how to combine them effectively in your own academic writing
	10.45 - 12.15 Room C502A	IT Skills 1: IT @ VU Learn about what IT facilities software is available to students and how to save your work, how to use the university email service.
	12.30 - 2.00 Room C502A	Academic Writing Skills 2: Effective Paragraphs If you are struggling with how to structure your paragraphs, then this session is for you. You will look at how to develop your ideas in a paragraph, and how to link your paragraphs together to form an essay.
	2.15 - 3.45 Room C502A	Information Skills 1: Improving Your Library Skills Learn how the library can help you improve your study skills, use the catalogue system, and find books more easily (using call numbers). Also, gain some useful insights and tips from the Student Rovers.

Tuesday 22nd July - Footscray Park Campus (Intermediate Sessions)
	9.00 - 10.30 Room A219	Information Skills 2: Locating and Referencing Let the librarians bring you up to speed with finding good reliable information on the internet (why Google and Wikipedia aren’t enough). Learn more about journals, including peer-reviewed ones, and the importance of referencing your writing.
	10.45 - 12.15 Room A219	Study Skills 1: Taking Good Notes Good notes are crucial for preparing coursework and revising. Improve the way you take notes and discover different styles of notes to suit the way you work
	12.30 - 2.00 Room A219	Academic Writing Skills 3: Writing Critically Just repeating and referencing other people’s ideas won’t be enough. Get advice on ways to critically develop and present your own arguments and ideas
	2.15 - 3.45 Room A219	IT Skills 2: Editing Techniques Come along and learn how to enhance your essays and reports using professional editing techniques and other useful tips from the Student Rovers

Wednesday 23rd July - Footscray Park Campus (Intermediate Sessions)
	9.00 - 10.30 Room A219	Academic Writing Skills 4: Avoiding Plagiarism Are you worried that you might use someone else’s words by mistake or without knowing? This session looks at how to make sure that your writing is plagiarism-free.
	10.45 - 12.15 Room A219	Study Skills 2: Presentations skills At some point, most of you will have to give a presentation in class. Come along and find out how to create effective presentations. Also, gain some useful insights and tips from the Student Rovers
	12.30 - 2.00 Room A219	Academic Writing Skills 5: Writing Reflectively Have you been asked to write about your experience, either in the workplace or in your studies? Find out more about how to write reflectively.
	2.15 - 3.45 Room A219	Academic English - Vocab and Grammar Do you feel you need to improve your academic vocabulary and grammar to express what you want to say in your essays? Come along and find out more and learn useful strategies to develop you language on your degree course.

Thursday 24th July - St. Albans Campus (repeat sessions: Introductory)
	9.00 - 10.30 Room 9.101A	Academic Writing Skills 1: Sentence Building Repeat session (see above)
	10.45 - 12.15 Room 9.101A	IT Skills 1: IT @ VU Repeat session (see above)
	12.30 - 2.00 Room 9.101A	Academic Writing Skills 2: Effective Paragraphs Repeat session (see above)
	2.15 - 3.45 Room 7.201M Learning Commons	Information Skills 1: Improving Your Library Skills Repeat session (see above)

Friday 25th July - St. Albans Campus (repeat sessions: Intermediate)
	9.00 - 10.30 Room 7.201A	Information Skills 2: Locating and Referencing Repeat session (see above)
	10.45 - 12.15 Room 9.101A	Academic Writing Skills 3: Writing Critically Repeat session (see above)
	12.30 - 2.00 Room 9.101A	Academic Writing Skills 4: Avoiding Plagiarism Repeat session (see above)
	2.15 - 3.45 Room 9.101A	IT Skills 2: Editing Techniques Repeat session (see above)

Download the 2008 Uniskills timetable here