| Murdoch University Introduction Indigenous Education initiatives within the University cross a number of administrative and academic boundaries. Primary responsibility for coordinating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student support initiatives lies within the Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre, in consultation with the Equity Officer, Aboriginal Advisory Council, and the Vice-Chancellor. Other support services and programmes provided by the University for Indigenous people are the Professional Education Programme for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People (PEPA), located in the Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences; the Aboriginal Pre-Law programme (which Kulbardi co-directs); the Aboriginal Employment Strategy, located in the Equity Office; the Aboriginal and Islander Studies programme, located in the Division of Social Sciences, Humanities and Education; and the Kulbardi Aboriginal Tertiary Entrance Course (KATEC). Objectives Murdoch University’s mission is to extend knowledge, stimulate learning, and promote understanding for the benefit of the community. In carrying out this mission the institution aspires to be a welcoming environment for, and accessible to, students and staff from all backgrounds and will provide them with equality of opportunities to achieve the highest standards. Amongst the University’s values and guiding principles are equality of opportunity, social justice, integrity, and tolerance and mutual respect in dealing with others. The institution has set the following objectives to meet its vision of accessibility:
To assist in meeting these overall institutional objectives, the Kulbardi Aboriginal Centre is committed to increasing the access, participation, retention, and success rates of Indigenous students at tertiary level. By providing culturally appropriate and relevant support services, the Centre aims to enhance the positive tertiary educational experience for Indigenous students. The mission statement for Kulbardi itself is:
Strategies and Performance The Indigenous initiatives outlined in this section are framed in the context of the University's Strategic Quality and Improvement Plan, in which key strategies, operational strategies, and performance outcomes support the identified objectives. The two stated key strategies that support the student-oriented objective are:
The operational strategies for Indigenous students are listed below, along with their goals, proposed activities to achieve those goals, and comments on how success or otherwise will be measured. The strategies have been divided for ease of reference between four sub-headings in line with the Martin indicators: Access, Participation, Success, and Retention. 1. Access In 1998 thus far, an access rate of 1.56% has been achieved for Indigenous students, representing an improvement of 0.579 percentage points since 1997. The introduction of KATEC, a bridging programme, in 1998, with an inaugural intake of twenty-three students, was a major contributor to this improvement. It is planned that the KATEC programme consolidate and expand in the forthcoming triennium, develop a presence in non-metropolitan locations such as Rockingham, build links with the TAFE sector, and investigate providing courses to Indigenous people in the prison system. Indigenous student access through the various entry pathways offered at Murdoch for the period 1996–1998 is summarised below:
For the forthcoming triennium, the activities of the Community Liaison Officer (CLO) will focus on the south-west corridor from Murdoch to Pinjarra, which has been identified as having very low tertiary education access rates for Indigenous students. Particular emphasis will be placed on promotion and recruitment for the Rockingham Campus. The south-west region of the State and other regional areas of high Indigenous population will continue to be targeted by the CLO, eg the Goldfields, Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions. In 1999–2001 the CLO will include within the promotions schedule visits to Year 10 classes in rural and isolated regions, with a view to encouraging academically capable Indigenous students in this age group to aspire to university and complete their upper secondary education. The Kulbardi Centre serves as a focus for Aboriginal enrolments and it is planned that its profile will be enhanced in 1999–2001 with the appointment of a Director. The Centre fosters student interaction, group solidarity and cultural support. In 1998, 100 students utilised Kulbardi for enrolment into the University and ongoing support. Fifty of these students continue to use the Centre daily. Kulbardi advertises in Indigenous publications (and this strategy will be expanded in the forthcoming triennium), as well as participating in general advertising and promotions. Enrolment enquiries in 1997 totaled 108, with fifty-one recorded thus far in 1998. The provision of on-campus residential accommodation is essential both for access and retention of Indigenous students. A small but growing number of Aboriginal students have been accommodated at Student Village in recent years (see figures below). Students Accommodated at Student Village:
The Village intends to increase the number of Indigenous residents in the forthcoming triennium through reserving places for them and through consolidating the cross-cultural workshops conducted by Kulbardi for its staff. There were no commencing Indigenous students in the University’s Law programme in 1998. This was largely due to the fact that Murdoch did not offer the Aboriginal Pre Law programme which has been conducted each summer since 1994. Kulbardi will negotiate with the Law School to ensure that Aboriginal Pre-Law, or a Law orientation programme of a similar nature, is recommenced from 1999 to enhance the access of Indigenous students to Law for the forthcoming triennium. Finally a developing strategy for the period 1999–2001 focusing on access relates to the Certificate of General Education for Adults offered by TAFE. It is planned that Indigenous students enrolled in this programme be permitted to complete a Murdoch Foundation Unit concurrently to serve as a transition to degree-level enrolment. Planned Performance Outcome Achieve an improvement in the University’s access rate of 2% for Indigenous students by the end of 2001. 2. Participation Performance of 0.46 in 1998 in this area was a slight improvement of 0.13 on the 1997 figure of 0.33 in this category. Performance in both years was below the set target of 0.60 and also the state and national averages. Research shows this is partly attributable to Murdoch’s low access rate for Indigenous students in past years. With increased numbers of Indigenous students enrolling at Murdoch in 1998 and the introduction of the KATEC programme it is anticipated that Murdoch will reach the participation target of 0.71 by the end of the next triennium. Many of the operational strategies outlined under the Access, Retention, and Success headings also underpin Participation, and will not be restated in this section. Planned Performance Outcome Achieve a participation rate for Indigenous students of 0.71 by 2001. 3. Retention Retention rates for Indigenous students increased slightly (by 0.185) from 1997 (0.755) to 1998 (0.94). Strategies to improve retention rates planned for the next triennium include the provision of an Indigenous counsellor, the introduction of a buddy/mentoring system for commencing students; and (as mentioned earlier) the appointment of a Director for the Kulbardi Centre. The provision of Aboriginal Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ATAS) services and access to ABSTUDY are integral to the retention (and success) of Indigenous students. The numbers of Indigenous students at Murdoch utilising ATAS have increased since its inception. Aboriginal students utilising ATAS:
(*estimated use in Semester 2, 1998) Retention of Indigenous students is enhanced by the provision of a culturally aware environment at the institution. Thus, Kulbardi staff in 1999–2001 will consolidate and expand the cross-cultural workshops/diversity training which they offer to the wider campus community. Almost 150 staff have benefited from this training since 1996. It is planned that one Division and one Officer participate in this training each year for the period 1999–2001. In addition, to assist retention, Kulbardi will continue to contribute to the selection processes and administration of various DEETYA, Murdoch, or privately funded scholarships. Indigenous students received HECS-exemption scholarships to the value of 2 EFTSU in 1998. Finally, retention and success of Indigenous students is expected to be enhanced by the inclusion in the University calendar of a number of Kulbardi-hosted functions which attract attendance from the wider Murdoch community. Examples of such functions in 1998 are the National Sorry Day Ceremony (over 150 people attended) and the Spirit of Mabo Day Tree Planting celebration, organised in conjunction with the Student Guild. In relation to retention, the Curtin Indigenous Research Centre has submitted a proposal to DEETYA to investigate the effectiveness of current indicators used to measure performance of Indigenous students. Murdoch is represented on the Steering Committee and will be actively involved in the provision of data, recommendations, and outcomes of the research. Any research relating to the retention of Indigenous students is vital and it is expected that the results will be applied to enhance retention of students at this University for the coming triennium. Planned Performance Outcome Achieve a retention rate of 0.9 for Indigenous students by 2001. 4. Success The actual value of the success indicator in 1997 was 0.86, which was above the national average. The establishment of the KATEC bridging programme in 1998 and its development over the next triennium is expected to enhance these success rates further. The PEPA programme, which produced its third Indigenous veterinary science graduate in 1997, will continue to contribute to the success rate of Aboriginal students in the forthcoming triennium, with an agreed annual intake of seven students. Retention and success of Aboriginal veterinary science students in the PEPA programme is now strengthened by the presence of an Indigenous Special Education Officer, appointed in 1997. Finally, a quality review of Kulbardi is planned for 1998. This may form part of a broader rationalisation of staff and resources of all Aboriginal initiatives across the campus. Positive outcomes from this review process are expected to contribute further to the success rate of Indigenous students in 1999–2001. Planned Performance Outcome Achieve a success indicator of over 0.9 for Indigenous students by 2001. Contacts For Support Programme Information: Nellie Green For Teaching Programme Information: Len Collard Tania Jacobs Wayne Webster |
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