Collegiality among academic and professional university staff is a vital component in any effective initiative in the First Year Experience. Development of a new First Year AdvisorNetwork at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia created some challenges in how best to communicate and collaborate with existing university staff, in order to achieve the common goal of how best to support student transition and retention. This Practice Report describes the initiatives undertaken by the First Year Advisors at Murdoch University in order to improve communication between staff, enhance collegiality and to ensure successful enhancements in the First Year Experience.
<p><em>This paper reports on the development of first year “core” units in the new Bachelor of Business (BBus) at Murdoch University. These units evolved from a curriculum renewal program and presented opportunities and challenges in their development. The units needed to develop not only the essential numeracy, literacy and research skills for students to transition successfully to university studies, but also the core technical skills in discipline areas common to all BBus majors. Developing these units in a collaborative manner with ongoing interaction between academic and professional staff helped to scaffold skills development on an inter-unit basis.</em></p>
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