The importance of student support

Online study comes with a range of benefits that consider you and your needs; be it the flexibility of the course delivery, the convenience of accessing your coursework from anywhere at any time, or the opportunity to tap into a global network of peers and academics by removing the geographical confines.

When you enrol into an online postgraduate course at Southern Cross University, you will receive one-on-one, personalised support from a dedicated Student Success Advisor. They will keep in touch and assist you throughout the entirety of your student journey. This support is extremely important and a valuable asset, as the online experience is unfamiliar territory for many students.

As the name suggests, the role of your Advisor is to ensure your success as an online student, that your motivation levels are high and you remain on the right path to achieve your education and career goals.

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This is Tes, one of our dedicated Student Success Advisors at SCU Online.

Here are some of the ways in which your Success Advisor can help transform your online student experience:

• Assist with the planning of your goals, study progression and pathway opportunities
• Offer unit enrolment advice and guidance to ensure you move towards your goals
• Reminders of upcoming deadlines and information on FEE-HELP
• Non-academic assessment tips and advice
• Navigation assistance for the online learning environment
• Provide access and direction to university student resources.

One of our recent MBA graduates, Anne Moio, believes that the key to her success was the tailored support and direction she was provided by Sarah, her Success Advisor. She realised quite quickly that traditional on-campus study was just not feasible for her and after choosing to study online, her Advisor was there every step of the way.

“I work full-time, run a house, and am a single mother with three adolescent children living with me. Traditional face-to-face, or even distant education with residential blocks, were not going to work.”

Her journey, she recounts, has been overwhelmingly positive and part of that is because of the support, guidance and flexibility she received from her advisor.

“I also needed to take advantage of the flexibility of deferring the odd subject here and there, with no penalty, to accommodate events in my personal life. Once again, I found my Success Advisor very understanding and helpful in these instances”

Anne stresses the importance of connecting regularly with your Student Success Advisor, and offers prospective students some  advice: “liaise with your Student Success Advisor and [course] tutor as much as you need; stay on top of the content, and in particular using the advanced access to the material in each unit to get an overview of course content, readings and assessment requirements; and buy each textbook as soon as you get notification of what it is. Above all, just do it!”

To understand more about Southern Cross University’s online student support services and what it’s like to study online, give the team a call on 1300 863 819.