Another way to UTS Design, Architecture and Building
Fiona Davidson:
Welcome to our session., Another way to UTS Design, Architecture and Building. My name is Fiona Davidson and I’ll be your host today. Our intention through our UTS Insearch webinars is to help explain the different ways into UTS. This session, specifically UTS design architecture and building otherwise known as DEV. We acknowledge that this has been an incredibly disruptive year, especially for those preparing for their HSC, so our aim is really to inform you about your options, how to restore, reset. And there are other ways into UTS. Our agenda will be discussing and sharing an overview of UTS Insearch and the role the college plays in preparing students for UTS. You will meet our design and architecture program manager and he’ll go through the course details with you. You’ll also hear from a diploma graduate and it’s always great hearing the student experience firsthand, how to apply and followed by a live Q and A session. Please have your questions, type them into the Q and A function at the bottom of the screen, not the chat function. We really need it in the Q and A. We’ll address those answers at the end.
Starting today, we have Susan Sherringham. she is our program manager for UTS Foundation Studies. Sue will essentially be explaining the role of Insearch and those pathway programs to get the guaranteed entry into UTS but more importantly, how to get back on your feet and thrive at university and beyond. Susan has over 20 years’ experience in education across the secondary, vocational and tertiary education sectors. She leads a curriculum design team to enhance the development of 21st century skills for those preparing for university. We welcome Sue.
Susan Sheringham:
Thank you, Fiona. And welcome to you all. I’ll be talking to you today about UTS Insearch, who we are and what we do and how we help you get to UTS. UTS Insearch is your pathway to UTS. It has a proven track record of helping students to reset their future. We offer a uniquely supportive environment and it’s one where you can build your confidence as you begin your journey to university And to develop those independent skills that you need to thrive at UTS and also in your future career. I can imagine also, that many of you have concerns about this challenging year and where this leaves you in regard to your journey to university and whether or not those career choices you had at the beginning of your HSC, are still within your reach. Well, I would say that there’s no reason not to follow your dreams. I think you should reach out and go for it, for that career that you wanted.
And because of these uncertain times, more than ever quality education is really, really important because it represents a really good start and preparation, both for university but also for the challenging times we’re facing and a good quality education opens up opportunities to deal with what lies ahead. Students who start the UTS journey at UTS Insearch enjoy a first year that combines caring, personal and differentiated academic support, with a real world practical approach to learning, something UTS is known for. At UTS Insearch, you will experience a supportive learning environment where your teachers can get to know you, where you can get to know them and where you can get individual guidance and feedback and sharing that journey with your classmates. In addition to face to face classes, there’s also learning support, programs that can help you both one-on-one in workshops and also through our study success advisors.
We have a student centred approach to learning. And what do I mean by that? Well, essentially, the focus is on you, helping you become independent in your learning, developing skills and attitudes to become lifelong learners, which is so important in an ever changing world. And this independence and the skills and attitudes that you develop, will really stand you in good stead for your university experience and on interprofessional life. Courses here are designed in collaboration with UTS, which means we’re delivering the same educational outcomes as first year at UTS. When you successfully complete a UTS Insearch diploma, you’ll receive a guaranteed entry to the corresponding UTS undergraduate degree. I’m sure you still have questions about studying with us in semester three, including, “Will classes be face to face.”
We don’t expect to resume face to face classes until 2021. However, while things are uncertain, we will continue with the remote learning model that we successfully implemented at the beginning of the year. I’d like to share with you a little bit about that remote learning approach and the sort of experience that you might have while you’re studying with us and how we will help you reach your goals. Unlike online learning, which is usually self-directed with little to no support or interaction with others, the remote learning classes at UTS Insearch are taught in real time, learning with your fellow classmates, interacting, collaborating and receiving immediate and personalized feedback. It’s just like a classroom, it just happens to be through an online video platform. Like face to face classes at UTS Insearch, class sizes are limited and we have small groups of up to 20, to ensure you get that personal attention. Stay tuned to learn more about the great diplomas we have on offer and above all, stay safe, stay positive and come and reset your studies with UTS Insearch. We’ve got your best interests at heart.
Fiona Davidson:
We now have Dr. Kevin Alexander Su our program manager, design and architecture, to provide an overview of the diploma, to help illustrate what students can expect when starting their program. Alex recently joined the team as program manager. He lectures in design and fashion theory history at UTS and is also a published photographer. Welcome, Alex.
Kevin Alexander Su:
Thanks, Fiona for the introduction and hello everyone. My name is Alex, I am the program manager for the Diploma of Design and Architecture here at UTS Insearch. And I would like to talk to you a bit more about our program and how we can help you get into UTS. The Diploma of Design and Architecture prepares you for the entire range of architecture and design degrees offered by the UTS Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building. We have two streams that we offer, architecture and design. In these strains, our students take core and elective subjects in line with those offered at the UTS school of architecture and school of design. These subjects place a strong emphasis on skills such as creative thinking, iterative concept generation as well as well-rounded academic modules in design and architecture history and theory. Our program is also full of opportunities for you to explore your own personal creative interests, whether it’s in architecture, interiors, animation, graphics, product design or fashion design. You will also get to work on our end of year exhibition that’s curated collaboratively by our student cohort and involves the production of your own design or architectural portfolio.
How does UTS Insearch fit into your pathway to UTS? You can see here that we do not take into account your high school ATAR scores in order for you to enrol in our diploma. Rather, we look at your HSC subject average scores and determine whether you would be more suited for our 8, 12 or 16 month program. After this, you will go into the first year of either your UTS architecture or design degree with 36 credit points already completed. This works out be equal to six UTS subjects that you won’t need to take once you’re over at UTS.
The two streams of our diploma come with their own unique set of subjects. Most of our students are enrolled in our standard program, where they study all of our subjects over a 12 month period. Some students, those in the accelerated program, take the same number of subjects over a more condensed period of eight months. We also offer a extended program and this is simply three additional subjects taken over 16 months. Again, at the conclusion of the diploma, our students take with them 36 credit points over to UTS, which is equal to six subjects.
What is appealing about choosing our diploma as your pathway to UCS? Well, firstly, you get to study the same subjects as UTS students. These are subjects that we develop in consultation with our colleagues at UTS, so that students at Insearch can study the same content over a longer class period of four hours per subject, per week. And therefore, they receive greater one on one attention and support from teachers in smaller sized classrooms.
We also provide access to architecture and design software, including Rhino and the entire Adobe Creative Cloud suite. Apps like Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and the Behance platform. At the end of the diploma, our students get to use software such as these to complete their own portfolios as part of their final semester design project. And this is really a great way to start building your body of work to show later on to potential employers and university teachers. Our end of year exhibition showcases the works of graduating students in both the design and architecture streams. This is a student designed and curated event. And in the past, our students have always organized the exhibition in the spaces of our design studios, where we get upwards of 500 people in attendance. This year because of our remote lending requirements, we’ve shifted the exhibition to an online platform and our students have nonetheless been able to collaboratively design and curate their own virtual exhibition space that people can visit and interact with in real time.
Additionally, we’ve also introduced this year some new UTS subjects in both the design and architectural streams, including the subjects social media cultures, design featuring, spatial communications and architecture model making. These subjects really provide our students with the technical proficiency and familiarity with software and design communication essentials needed to excel at university and beyond. In our design stream, our students take a selection of subjects from the UTS design studies unit. And these are trans-discipline subjects that all UTS design students eventually take as part of their degree. We also have subjects such as design workflows in semester two and design project in semester three, that really emphasize our students’ engagement with different design mediums and methods for iterative thinking and process. This is where they get to do a lot of experimental creative work that involves model making with a whole range of different materials and formless elements.
As you can also see, students who take the accelerated program study the same number of subjects in a more condensed period of eight months. In the architecture stream, the students are introduced very early on to the theory and history of architecture, as well as the conventional ways of diagramming and how to represent ideas graphically, either through software or manual drawing. There is also a very interesting creative writing subject in our second semester called situated writing, as well as the final subject, architecture studio, that finishes in our end of diploma exhibition. Thanks for watching and I’ll be around later for the Q and A session. I hope you all the best and to see you all there.
Fiona Davidson:
Thank you Alex, for your time today. It was great, especially hearing about the virtual expo that your students have put together. Looking forward to visiting that one. For attendees, if you are interested in joining UTS midyear intake next year, which is our main one for architecture and possibly design too but we’ll check in with Alex with that at the Q and A session. Just due to some changes with COVID, you could potentially take the accelerated program that Alex was just describing, it’s the intensive eight month one. We have three intakes a year and we have the next one coming up in four weeks’ time, starting the 6th of October but again, if you have any of those questions, we can check in with Alex at the end, as well as we’ll have admission staff and student centre to answer your questions. Right, so for our next part of the session, we get to talk to a student and to hear firsthand about their experience. We’re very grateful that we have Chad, one of our design and architecture diploma graduates, who’s taking the time to talk with us today. Welcome, Chad.
Chad:
Hi, Fiona. No problem at all, happy to help.
Fiona Davidson:
Now, I was wondering if you could share with us a little bit about yourself, what you studied at UTS Insearch and what you’re studying now at UTS.
Chad:
Sure. As you guys know, I’m Chad. I studied Diploma of Design and Architecture at Insearch. I graduated early 2018 and I moved across to UTS to do a bachelor of design in architecture. I’m currently in my capstone year, about to finish my bachelor’s by the end of the year as well and plan to probably do my master’s at UTS as well.
Fiona Davidson:
Oh, fantastic. You’re going the full way, the full journey.
Chad:
Yeah, yeah. UTS all the way.
Fiona Davidson:
I love it. Why did you decide to study at UTS Insearch?
Chad:
Well, actually, I didn’t start at UTS Insearch. I was about two years into an economics and science degree at UNSW and about … I think it was in April or May of the year, I decided that I wasn’t really happy doing that. And I was finding it difficult to just get through the day there. I made the decision to change architecture, which I was quite passionate about. And because of the fact that architecture is a one year only intake at UTS, I didn’t want to waste the time.
Fiona Davidson:
Yeah.
Chad:
I did the accelerated program at Insearch to basically shoot through all of my electives and get as much of the course done as possible in that eight months, which has really helped me a lot, now that I’m at UTS. And I’ve only had to do three subjects a semester since I got there because of the electives.
Fiona Davidson:
Oh, fantastic.
Chad:
Yeah.
Fiona Davidson:
You really took that fast track through and …
Chad:
Yeah.
Fiona Davidson:
[inaudible 00:16:05].
Chad:
Trying to streamline it because I’m already a little bit older than most of my peers.
Fiona Davidson:
Oh, no but that’s great. You had a disruption, you weren’t where you were supposed to be. You stopped, you reassessed where you were going and then fast-tracked in a different direction.
Chad:
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And I think that might be some of the benefit to pathway programs as well because it gives you a little bit of time as well, to figure out what you want to do, as opposed to committing full pelt to something straight away.
Fiona Davidson:
Yeah, great. What were some of your favourite practical experiences during studying your diploma?
Chad:
Well, for me, probably the most beneficial of those experiences would have been having a little bit of time to get my head around the design process before delving straight into it at UTS because they tend to throw you straight into the deep end at UTS, especially with architecture. That’s not a bad thing, it’s actually quite … Puts a fire under you to make you work harder but it was really nice getting a little bit of time to experience that process at first and then also having a few experiences in the software and the techniques that I was going to be using. When I got across UTS, I felt like I had a little bit of a head start really.
Fiona Davidson:
Oh, good. It’s like a soft landing before going …
Chad:
Yeah. Look, it wasn’t my first degree, so I wasn’t so stressed about that but it was nice to have that ramp up into the design world for me because it was so different to what I was used to.
Fiona Davidson:
Yeah, fantastic. And what were some of your highlights or major achievements studying the Diploma of Design and Architecture at UTS Insearch?
Chad:
Well, in terms of highlights, I would probably say … It was highlights that only really developed later on because I was brought on as a peer mentor at Insearch and I drew a lot of gratification from that. And I felt it made me quite enjoy the teaching process weirdly enough, just being involved with other people, as well as that … I felt like I did really well there and I became more comfortable with having mentors and teachers and other people help me along the way and become friendly with those people, as opposed to just viewing them as just the teacher or just the person who’s tutoring me in this class. Yeah, getting [inaudible 00:18:47] on that was very enjoyable.
Fiona Davidson:
Chad, that’s a fantastic soft skill to have and it … Which famous business person hasn’t said … They’ve stressed how important it is to have a mentor. And that’s fantastic that you’ve tapped into asking for, reaching out for mentors but being one yourself. And I think that’s very interesting that you enjoyed, you got a lot out of the peer mentoring program. If you could explain to the attendees what that peer mentoring program is.
Chad:
Yeah, sure. When you finish Insearch, if you’ve got as you said, good soft skills and you’ve done relatively well in your courses, you may be reached out by Insearch to become a peer mentor, which means that you come and join … An essentially TA or teacher assist with the teacher and help manage a class, which has 20 to 25 students or so. Yeah, it depends on the class size but you’re essentially operating as their second command, which is really fun. And you get the opportunity to test your own knowledge and ability. It sounds quite strange but in my mind, you know you can understand something really well when you can explain it simply to somebody else.
Fiona Davidson:
Yeah, for sure.
Chad:
And so hearing my own understanding of something bounced back at me via another student, I found very rewarding and helpful. And also, seeing a student progress directly through my help, was really gratifying, yeah.
Fiona Davidson:
Yeah, for sure. Oh, no. That’s great. I think it’s so important when you’re at university or in a pathway program, to get involved in those extra activities too because it’s not just about growing your academic skills, it’s growing those wider skills that are so important for the future of work.
Chad:
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, couldn’t agree more. I actually think it’s in some ways more beneficial than the coursework itself, really.
Fiona Davidson:
Oh, good for you. Look, some of the important features of UTS Insearch are the small class sizes and the extra layers of student support.
Chad:
Yeah.
Fiona Davidson:
How did that help you through your experience at UTS Insearch?
Chad:
Well, for me, I suppose I was fortunate enough while I was at Insearch to not have to tap into any of the stronger support systems, like the mental health counselling and those programs that other students find really neat. The ones that I tapped into more were the peer mentor programs myself, as in the way that my peer mentors at Insearch became my upperclassmen at UTS when I eventually got there. And having those connections already set in place by the time I got there, was really helpful because then I knew who to reach out to when I needed a bit of help with something or didn’t quite understand what was required of me for a course or didn’t know where a certain class was or how to navigate a certain situation. It was really good to already have those connections set in place.
Fiona Davidson:
Oh, smart you. You weren’t silly with that one.
Chad:
Exactly.
Fiona Davidson:
That’s great, absolutely. Get those networks, another great skill. No, well done. Chad, if you could advise your old self or students who are thinking of studying a pathway program, such as UTS Insearch, what would you say or what tips would you pass on to these students?
Chad:
Number one for me, would be just make the most of it. Make sure that you’re aware of what is available at these institutions. And one, the support networks, in terms of … I didn’t really need it at Insearch but once I was at UTS, there were some issues that were happening in my life and to not reach out and tell the university, “Hey. Look, I’m struggling. Please assist me in this.”
You’re just shooting yourself in the foot at that point because the university … And I know Insearch does, has a lot to offer in terms of support in that way. And oftentimes for free, if not cheap. Where otherwise if you’re going [inaudible 00:23:08], it was going to cost you an arm and leg.
Fiona Davidson:
Got you. Thank you so much for staying in touch and sharing your story. Wish you so much for final couple of months.
Chad:
Oh, thank you. Appreciate that.
Fiona Davidson:
It’s been great having your time and …
Chad:
[inaudible 00:23:24].
Fiona Davidson:
And for our audience, if you’d like to hear more of Chad’s full story, along with Nadia, another domestic student who went through Insearch and that reality of the different turns like you went through Chad, you were studying engineering somewhere else, we’ve got some on demand material and we can share the link with you, to watch the full video, how both of you fast tracked. Again, thank you for your time, Chad.
Chad:
Oh, no problem at all. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.
Fiona Davidson:
Cheers. Great, thanks. Finally, Aline, our very experienced partner manager from our student recruitment team, is here to talk to us about what’s next, how to apply and what are the costs involved? Hello, Aline.
Aline:
Hi, Fiona. How are you?
Fiona Davidson:
Good, good, good. Thanks for joining us.
Aline:
Thank you for having me.
Fiona Davidson:
And I’ll leave all the nuts and bolts over to you.
Aline:
Well, as Fiona said, I’m just going to talk you through about the entry requirements. I’m sure that everybody’s thinking about that and wanting to know, “How do I get into UTS Insearch, how to apply, the steps, the fees and the intake dates?”
The entry requirements, if you’re doing your HSC this year or if you have already done it, everybody’s thinking about their ATAR, right. That’s something that everybody keeps in mind and that can actually become very stressful because you need this ATAR to be able to go to your course of choice at UTS Insearch. UTS Insearch is a bit different in that sense that we do not look at the ATAR but we assess based on your HSC results. We don’t believe the ATAR is defining you, we think that you’re more than a ATAR. That’s why we look at your HSC average.
The way we do it, is that we take your four non-VET subjects, including English, we make the average and then we can see if you can join the accelerated diploma or the standard diploma. I will tell you more about the different diplomas that we have in a minute but yeah, just remember we do not look at the ATAR. We only look at the HSC average. We take the full non-VET subjects, including English and then we’ve got the average. All right.
The entry requirements, to go into the standard diploma, you will need 67% in your HSC. Standard diploma is 12 months program. We also have the accelerated diploma, which is eight months. And for that one, we’re looking at 75% entry rate in your HSC. Okay, so 67 for the standard one and 75% for the accelerated one.
Just a quick recap because you’ve already heard about that before, all of the reasons why. It’s also for you to consider UTS Insearch and why you should be doing a diploma at UTS Insearch. as mentioned, we have the guaranteed entry into UTS. You don’t need to reapply. You don’t need to compete with other students. If you successfully complete your diploma with us, then your place is guaranteed at UTS. We have really good support, personalized support, small class sizes, one on one tutorial workshop sessions that is happening every week as well, study success advisors that are here to help you and guide you throughout any issues that you have, they will be able to give you their expertise advice on that. We make sure that we prepare you to gain confidence and be able to succeed at university, especially at UTS.
Our goal is to make sure that not only you go to the diploma and then you pass, we want you to thrive once you go to UTS. It’s all about building this confidence that you need once you start at university. We also experts in transitional education. We’ve been doing that for years, so we know exactly what a student needs to be able to progress to university. We have the teachers that are expert in again, the study success advisors to make sure that you do well once you go to university.
Now, a little word about the fees. For 2020, a diploma program, whether it’s accelerated or standard, it’s $32,000 this year. And in 2021, is going to be $33,000. You might wonder why it’s more expensive than starting first year at university. There are different reasons why. First of all, the ratio between teachers and students is not the same so obviously, it increases the cost a little bit more but we also have to remember that we are non-government funded. We do not receive money from the government, hence why the fees are more expensive. We are also non for profit organization, meaning that all of the money that we receive, we reinvest it into the education, so into the facilities, into the teachers, into the whole Insearch organization to make your experience even better. Also, one thing that we need to mention is that if you’re Australian citizen or [inaudible 00:28:29] humanitarian student, you can get the fee help as well and get some help from the government. I invite you to have a look online. It’s actually pretty well explained.
Now, the intake. We’ve got three intakes every year happening and the very next one is actually happening in October, the 6th of October is our next intake. And if among you, there are students that actually have done already their HSC last year or few years ago, that might be your opportunity to actually not wait too long. You can start in October. And there are lots of courses that have a midyear intake at UTS. If you’re interested into architecture, business, engineering, IT and also science, you can start in October and transfer to the first or the second year at UTS in July. You will be able to fast track and if you are considering this sort of option, then that’s very important for you to know that. Otherwise, if you’re doing your HSC this year, we will have an intake in February, the 22nd of February next year or another one on the 15th of June, which is our semester two or another semester three next year on the 27th of September. Different options for you.
How do you apply? Very easy, you just go to our website. There is an application form that you will need to fill out. Just enter all of the fields. And within two days, then you get an answer from us and hopefully you’re successful. And if you are an international student, whether you are off shore on shore doing your HSC year, you will need the help of an education agent. We have a list on our website of all of our authorized education agents that will be able to guide you through the process and also help you with the visa requirements and all of those legal things that you need to know and you need experts to help you with.
I’m also inviting you to have a look at our website. There is a list of information as well regarding yeah, academic requirements for your country if you’re not in Australia. And also the English entry requirements for the foundation program that is offered to international students or also, our diploma program. There is a list also, of scholarships that are available depending on your country. And we have also listed all of the intakes dates. Please have a look at our website. There is a comprehensive range of information over there, otherwise speak to your education agent. Thank you very much, everyone. Good luck.
Fiona Davidson:
Thank you, Aline. Thank you for going through the application process and the entry requirements with us. We are about to start our live Q and A component of this webinar. Please fill in your questions in the Q and A function at the bottom of the screen, not the chat but the Q and A. We have our program manager to answer your questions. We also have representatives from student centre, admissions and the recruitment team. They will be with us shortly and we’ll get to it. Thank you.
