Scale (ratio)

Engineering

Redevelopment

Public relations

Cartography

Economics

Civil engineering

Launched

Mechanical engineering

Management

Geography

Political science

Work (physics)

Medicine

Medical education

Engineering management

Electrical engineering

Student Success

For many years, universities around the world have been developing and enhancing the First Year Experience (FYE), with a view to improving retention, performance and student satisfaction. This feature practice report outlines a strategic initiative, launched in 2018 at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia that aims to transform the experience of Victoria University’s first-year students on an unprecedented scale. This unique model reconceptualises the design, structure and delivery of first year units of study in order to deliver a program that deliberately focuses on students’ pedagogical, transition and work/life balance needs. This initiative required the disruption and redevelopment of all university systems to ensure students experience a supportive and seamless transition into, and journey through, their first year of study at university.

Re-building the first year experience, one block at a time