VOLUNTEER GUIDE This is a guide for volunteers in UTS HELPS Buddy Program. UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/
CONTENTS 1 2 3 4 5 Introduction: Your role as a Buddy Getting started Helping with Conversation Skills Frequently Asked Questions Terms and Conditions UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/
INTRODUCTION: YOUR ROLE AS A VOLUNTEER BUDDY AS A VOLUNTEER, you don t have to be a grammar expert or prepare anything for your meetings. Students are very interested in your use of informal spoken language. When you first meet them, ask your buddy what support they need and be guided by them. You will naturally model conversation and pronunciation skills. Only make corrections when required. How to give corrections and what topics to talk about are discussed in detail in this guide. Other than that - just turn up and talk! UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 3
VOLUNTEER BUDDIES ARE EXPECTED TO... Provide casual conversation with a sympathetic local person Model grammar and pronunciation skills through speaking Ask questions to clarify understanding and vocabulary Answer questions about your language and culture Answer questions about your experience in the Australian workplace Give feedback and make occasional corrections Consult with HELPS if you would like access to any other resources VOLUNTEER BUDDIES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO... Prepare lessons Help with student assignments Be an expert in English grammar UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 4
GETTING STARTED 1. Choosing a buddy Within a week of registering via the Google form, you will be enrolled into a subject called HELPS Mates Buddy Program on UTS Online under Other subjects. NOTE: After registering, you should receive an e-mail introducing you to the program. If you do not receive this e-mail, you may have entered an incorrect e-mail during your registration. Volunteers choose students via the UTS Online forum. Click Choose your Student in the right-hand menu, followed by the session you are currently in, e.g. Spring 2017. Students are grouped by faculty. Student profiles contain various information about themselves, including their volunteer preferences. This may have options like, same faculty, same gender and same study level. For volunteers interested in language exchange, such as learning Mandarin, some student profiles may indicate no language exchange. This means this student does not want to participate in language exchange. SOME PREFERENCES STUDENT PROFILES MAY SHOW: Same faculty Same gender Same study level (e.g. postgraduate) Prefer 1-to-1 No language exchange (e.g. English/Mandarin, English/Arabic) Days available UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 5
These preferences are reflected in their student profile and must be taken into volunteers consideration when choosing a student. Once you have found a suitable match, click the student s name, e.g. Business - Marion (Spring 17). This will allow you to view Why I joined the Buddy Program and E-mail. Clicking the student s name does not mean you are in his/her group. To join the student s group, click Sign Up. Once you have joined a group, only administrators are able to remove you. Think carefully before you choose a student. If you are caught choosing more students than you registered for, you will be removed from their groups. Every student has a maximum of 1 volunteer. Therefore after joining, the student s group will no longer be available to other volunteers. What does this message mean: Error: Maximum enrolment for this group reached or sign-up disabled for this group.? This student is unavailable and has already been chosen by a volunteer. UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 6
What if I registered to be matched with more than 1 student? You are only permitted to join multiple student groups if you selected this in your registration. Please do not join beyond the number of students that you registered for, e.g. if during registration you chose 2 students, you are only permitted to join two student groups. 2. E-mailing a buddy As a volunteer, you are responsible for organising a meeting with the student. In your first e-mail, you must include details about your faculty, study level and gender. Use the following template as a guide: Hi John, My name is Sarah. I am a volunteer in the UTS HELPS Buddy Program. I am a female, undergraduate student currently studying Business, majoring in Finance. Would you like to meet sometime next week? More e-mail templates are available on UTS Online under Resources - volunteers. If you do not receive a response from your student after ten days, send an e-mail to HELPSBuddies@uts.edu.au and we will help you resolve the issue. 3. Meeting your buddy Once you have received a response from your buddy, you are expected to meet six times for one hour throughout the session. These meetings must be held on UTS campus. Meetings do not have to be held every week. You have the option to spread your six meetings across the session. Furthermore, you are free to stop meeting with your buddy at any time, as long as you send us an e-mail beforehand. If you have more than one buddy, you are not expected to meet each student individually. Instead, it is recommended to meet your students as a group for one hour. If you choose to meet each student individually, please ensure each student has six, one-hour meetings. Kind Regards, Sarah UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 7
AN EXAMPLE OUTLINE OF HOW YOUR MEETINGS MAY BE RUN: # Date Location Notes (if required) 1 2 3 4 5 6 22/07/17 B11, Penny Lane 27/07/17 UTS HELPS Volunteer Lounge 09/08/17 UTS Library 18/08/17 UTS HELPS Volunteer Lounge.................. What should we NOT talk about? Though it is a good opportunity for students to talk about their studies and clarify ideas, it is not a volunteer s responsibility to edit written assignments. This may be in breach of the university s plagiarism policies. For help with writing, students can come into the HELPS centre and talk to our academic advisors. What should we talk about? The first couple of meetings are about getting to know each other. Some topics include: Their cultural background and experience in Australia what is different from their country? Their schooling, current studies and future life/career plans Their travel experiences and yours Their reason for wanting to improve English work; residence; social; IELTS exam How you would both like to manage the meetings casual conversation is fine! 4. Recording your meetings After each meeting, record them on our Google form. The link to this form is provided on UTS Online under Record your meetings. The password is helps123. You must submit each time you make changes in order to save. Remember to sign into the same account everytime you access this Google form. E.g. if you complete the form while signed into the e-mail account johnsmith@student. uts.edu.au, every time you access the Record your meetings form, you must be signed into this accont. UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 8
5. Receiving a certificate In order to receive a certificate, you must have: 1. Completed and recorded six meetings, 2. Completed our online evaluation. The online evaluation will be sent out via e-mail and posted on Facebook towards the end of session. Certificates are not mailed out unless requested. Volunteers are asked to pick up their certificates from HELPS office (CB01.05.25) during office hours. If you have not finished your meetings by the end of session, don t worry! As long as you continue meeting with the same student, your meetings will still count next session. As the purpose of the Buddy Program is to facilitate 1-to- 1 conversations for international students, it s important that every student has at least six meetings with a buddy! UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 9
HELPING WITH CONVERSATION SKILLS Vocabulary International students are trying to increase the range and accuracy of their vocabulary. For study (academic vocabulary) Within their particular field (nursing, business, law etc) Within the Australian context (slang, informal language, casual conversation) Fluency International students need opportunities to talk at length without too many pauses or hesitations. Talking with a buddy can help them develop the right speed and give them practice linking their ideas together well. Let them know if you notice them using incorrect word forms e.g. economy / economic. Help them find the words they are looking for and different ways of saying the same thing. Ask questions to keep your student talking. You will naturally model how to start sentences and link them together without thinking about it. e.g. apparently ; because of that ; what I mean is.. UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 10
Grammar International students are trying to reduce the number of errors and increase their range of grammatical structures. Help them identify regular errors without over-correcting them. For example: Verb tense I go (went) to the beach Subject/verb agreement I go/she goes Articles the/a/an Pronunciation International students are looking for pronunciation errors that cause confusion. It s not about having an accent everyone has an accent! it s about being understood. Tell your buddy when you don t understand a word or phrase. You will model different grammatical structures without even trying. Write down what you hear and show them so they can see what you hear. You can model the word or phrase and ask them to repeat it and compare. UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 11
UTS HELPS BUDDY PROGRAM: Frequently Asked Questions How has the Buddy Program changed? If you participated in the Buddy Program before Spring 2017, you may be wondering why it was changed. The changes were made with the belief that more buddy matches would be achieved. Direct changes to the program include: Who chooses who: Volunteers choose student buddies. Previously, students chose volunteers. Who uses UTS Online: Students no longer use UTS Online. Only volunteers are expected to use UTS Online. Registration: Minor changes were made to the student registration forms...and that s all! Volunteers will be able to view students details, such as availability, faculty and first language, making buddy matching more flexible. What is the student s role? The student should be encouraged to discuss what kind of approach they think may help them. They should also be challenged to initiate conversation and decide on what they want to talk about each week, though this may be difficult for some of them at first. Ask them what they think they most need to improve and what they think has helped them in the past. For most students simply meeting and participating in casual conversation provides them the opportunity to help them improve a range of skills (general fluency; informal Australian vocabulary; pronunciation and grammar skills). UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 12
Should I correct the student? How much correction do they need? You don t have to be a grammar expert to be a volunteer buddy! Just turning up and modeling clear conversation and pronunciation skills is already enough. Here are some ideas you can discuss with them: Don t correct every mistake unless your student is very confident you don t want the meetings to be all about errors. Talk to your student about when and how they would like to be corrected. Talk to them about the balance that is needed between being fluent and being accurate. Help your student if they are searching for a particular word or phrase. It s helpful sometimes to write them down so that they can slowly build themselves a list of new vocab. You can both try to identify patterns over time eg. particular sounds, particular words or sentence structures. Should I prepare for the meetings? It s good for the students to think about their aims for this program. Challenge them to bring topics or questions each week. As the volunteer, you don t need to prepare anything unless you think additional materials might help (e.g. newspaper articles, photos). What if I want to stop? Either partner may stop the meetings at any time. If you would like to meet with a new buddy, or would like to stop participating in the buddy program altogether, send an e-mail to HELPS and we will get you sorted. It is important to also confirm with your buddy that you can no longer continue. Where is the UTS HELPS Volunteer Lounge and how do I gain access to it? UTS HELPS Volunteer Lounge (CB01.05.01) is accessible to all volunteers during office hours (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm). You are welcome to hold your meetings here! There is tea and coffee available. If it isn t open, drop into HELPS office. When correcting a student s pronunciation: 1. Identify something that is difficult for you to understand 2. Repeat in the correct form 3. Write down what it sounds like to you 4. Ask the student to repeat after you I sent a student an e-mail but they haven t replied yet! What should I do? If after 10 days of sending an e-mail to a student they have not replied, send an e-mail to HELPSBuddies@uts.edu.au and we will help you resolve the issue. UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 13
Does the UTS HELPS Buddy Program involve any social events? Yes - we do run social events. During session, we run TalkFest every Friday (excluding public holidays) at 2.30-4.00pm. This is an opportunity for volunteers to meet other participants of the Buddy Program. It involves games, speed-friending and pizza! In order to attend, all attendees must register their interest on the weekly Facebook event found on UTS Club International s Facebook page (facebook.com/utsclubinternational/). At the end of the year, HELPS also runs a thank you event for volunteers. This free event is catered with live music! It is run as a big thank you to all our volunteers across HELPS programs. Volunteers will receive an e-mail on the details of this event. Is there a UTS HELPS Buddy Facebook group? Yes - updates are regularly posted in our Facebook group. You also have the option to post questions or suggestions! facebook.com/groups/utshelpsbuddyprogram/ Can t find an answer? Send an e-mail to HELPSBuddies@uts.edu.au. UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 14
TERMS AND CONDITIONS Please read these terms and conditions carefully before participating in the UTS HELPS Buddy Program operated by UTS HELPS. Your participation in the program is conditioned on your acceptance and compliance of these terms. These terms apply to all participants, students and volunteers, within and outside UTS. By participating in the program, you agree to be bound by these terms. If you disagree with any part of the terms you are disallowed from participation. Participation By accepting these terms and conditions I am confirming that I am 18 years old or older. Any participant who is under 18 years of age should contact the HELPS Volunteer Coordinator. I have read the program guidelines and watched the videos in the HELPS Buddy program UTS Online forum. I also agree to abide by the UTS Student Charter (students) and UTS Code of Conduct (staff). Volunteers email students using the email the students provide. If the student uses their UTS email address please note we have had some problems with junk mail. At certain times within the semester, it may take longer to find a buddy. If you have any concerns please email the HELPS Volunteer Coordinator for assistance. Meetings Some volunteers will meet 1 student and others will meet 2 or 3 students. The volunteer has the option of meeting them as a group for 6 meetings, or, the volunteer can choose to meet with each student separately for 6 meetings each. Volunteers have the responsibility to ensure that if they meet students individually, each student will have 6 meetings. Volunteers are not expected to meet more than 6 times unless they would like to. I agree to meet my buddy on UTS premises for a minimum of 6 meetings. You and your buddy can decide where to meet some people go to a busy café and others prefer a quieter place on campus. You can meet through other forums such as Skype, as long as you are both comfortable with that. You are only insured while you are here on UTS premises. If meetings continue or are conducted outside of UTS they are no longer considered to be part of the HELPS Buddy Program. I understand the Buddy Program is for conversation practice. Though it is a good opportunity to talk about assignments to help clarify ideas, it is not a volunteer s responsibility to edit written work. This may be in breach of the university s plagiarism policies. For help with writing, advise your student buddy to come into the HELPS centre and talk to our Academic Advisors. Asking someone to wait for longer than 15 minutes in case of delay is considered unreasonable. At the first meeting consider exchanging phone numbers, only if agreed by both partners. Discontinuing with a buddy If you choose to stop the meetings you must contact HELPS. It is important to also confirm with your buddy that you can no longer continue. If needed, HELPS can contact your buddy for you. Completion of the program Certificates will be issued to volunteer buddies at the end of session after completing the online evaluation and six meetings. Certificates are only issued to volunteer buddies. Contact Us Any concerns or queries can be directed to the HELPS Volunteer Coordinator or HELPSBuddies@uts.edu.au. UTS.EDU.AU/CURRENT-STUDENTS/SUPPORT/HELPS/ PAGE 15