Open Access College welcomes students to the new academic year

More than 200 Open Access College (OAC) students braved the rain and gathered at USQ for the College's first morning tea of the year on Friday 4 March.

OAC's Chris Bartlett enjoys morning tea with some of the College's students

The morning tea provided the first opportunity for more than 80 commencing domestic Tertiary Preparation Program (TPP) students to interact with the remainder of OAC’s on-campus student cohort, which is predominantly comprised of international students and visiting tour groups.

A few days earlier a cohort of 44 students from Saudi Arabia had commenced their ELICOS (English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students) studies with OAC and several tour groups of students from Korea, Japan and China were also in attendance.

OAC Director Mr David Bull said he was happy with the number of students who attended the first morning tea for the academic year and believes events like this are important for new students.

‘Our students come from around the world and many come to Australia to study by themselves so these morning teas will give them a great chance to meet fellow Australian students,’ Mr Bull said.

‘We will hold many other events both at USQ and elsewhere for them throughout the year so they get to know each other and their staff along with seeing some tourist attractions in our regions.’

‘Most of these students will study preparation programs in the OAC before moving to a faculty to study undergraduate or postgraduate programs – meaning they will be with us for many years.’

‘Providing a holistic University experience, which incorporated social and cultural value adding activities, to compliment the academic programs of OAC was an important priority for the College.’

OAC stages a morning tea for staff and students to interact every Friday morning throughout the year.

Contact Details:
Sam Tickell, USQ Media , +61 7 4631 2559