International students to celebrate success in Warrnambool

Newly appointed Warrnambool international student advisor Zita Tattersall is bringing together the city’s international students and developing a study guide to help them acclimatise to Australia.

Ms Tattersall is working on the Warrnambool City International Student Engagement and Participation project and as her first project she is organising a Deakin international dinner on Thursday 13 September at the Brother Fox Café.

The new engagement and participation project is an International student welfare program funded by the Victorian Government. Study Melbourne and Warrnambool City Council are also supporting the dinner which Ms Tattersall said would bring together students from different cultures and give Deakin the chance to hear from international students on how they have settled into Warrnambool and their experiences of studying in a regional location.

Deakin’s Warrnambool campus has international students from many different countries including, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Philippines, United States and Canada. International students from South West TAFE and local primary and secondary schools are also being invited to the dinner.

Next year the program will provide an opportunity for all international students to take a tour of the region’s best tourist attractions in the first month of their arrival and the major outcome of the project will be the creation of a south-west study guide for international students moving to the region.

The guide will provide students with a broad overview of local services and community networks during their stay in Warrnambool. Similar guides are available in Melbourne and Geelong.

The project aims to support international students and connect them to local services and to promote the region for future international students.

“We want international students to have positive, inclusive and enriching experiences during their stay in Warrnambool,” Ms Tattersall said.

Deakin University is the lead agent in coordinating the activities.

Deakin University Warrnambool campus director Alistair McCosh said the funding support from the State Government and the team at Study Melbourne would ensure we provide all international students in the region with a much improved experience.