New students starting the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course attended an English orientation at the Lonsdale St campus this week.
About 36 students were present at the first orientation session of the semester, which covered all aspects of the EAP course, ATMC resources and services as well as student life in Australia.
The EAP course is a pathway for international students to study a higher education degree in Australia. As ATMC understands the needs of students who are new to Australia, informative orientation sessions are offered for all new intake EAP students, regardless of when they start their course or if they miss the official orientation.
VET Coordinator Tracy Le said the orientation was crucial for students because for most of them this was the first time they were arriving in Melbourne.
“The presentations covered everything about ATMC services and basic information that students need to do when coming to Australia like finding accommodation, getting health insurance and how to use public transport in Melbourne,” she said.
“We also had an Allianz representative to come give a presentation to students about what health insurance they can offer including the Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) card.”
Students also had a session with Library Services Manager Shannon Parsons, who provided them with detailed information about library resources and also took students on a tour of the campus to see the student lounge and library. Following the tour, staff helped students with enrolling and talked them through components of the course.
“After the tour we gave them an enrolment checklist and assisted them with enrolling in the English course, this was a very important part of the orientation,” Tracy said.
“I also gave them information about the cost requirements for the course and what they need to do to complete the English course successfully to apply for a university course in the future.”
Tracy said the ATMC English department is dedicated to providing all new students with essential information to help them adapt into study life in a new country.
“It’s very important for students to know some information like where their classes are, where the library is and who the staff members that can help them are. This also includes information about student life and living in Australia as an international student,” she said.
“I even make sure late comers receive this information. I still want to provide them with all the documents and student international handbook.”