We know that not everyone will be able to get to Melbourne for the Conference. Funding is tighter than ever, workloads are significant, COVID is still amongst us and ‘flu season is here.

In Australia, we now have the Australian Universities Accord Final Report – which sets out a blueprint for the future of higher education. Achieving its aspirations will need all of us to work together to enhance student access and success in an inclusive higher education sector. This Conference provides a way of sharing good practices already in place across our institutions in meaningful and practical ways.

Although we know that our universities are keen to invest in the excellent value – for academic and professional staff alike – that comes from participation in conferences such as this one, sadly it is not always possible for multiple staff and students to attend.

In the post-conference evaluations, STARS delegates affirm that more than 92% return to their home institutions having learned something of significant value that they will be able to apply in practice for the benefit of the learning success of their students. And it is impossible to quantify the value of the relationships, networks and personal and professional connections that are built at Conferences such as those offered by STARS, EPHEA and NAEEA.

Some of you might be wondering why we are not offering a hybrid participation option, for some delegates to attend only online. Unfortunately, the costs of running professional hybrid events is extremely high and offering a hybrid option would significantly increase the costs for all attendees. Further, the quality of a two-four day conference experience for in-person and online participants in hybrid models is not always good. Our view is that conferences work best if they are fully online or fully in-person. Having had two years of fully online events we were buoyed by the enthusiasm you showed for the in-person event in Brisbane last year. Again, we encourage universities to invest in this experience for their staff and support those wishing to attend.

If you are not able to come to the Conference in person this year, there are still many ways you can participate as a member of the community dedicated to Student Success. Here are some ways you might like to consider:

• Connect with someone who is attending and ask them to share their key experiences with you at the end of each day in a quick catch-up.
• Organise a post-STARS briefing of Conference highlights at your institution with all the people who were able to attend. Here’s an example of a recent attendee’s post-Conference event https://unistars.org/general/stars-supernova/
• Make a submission to the Student Success Journal – either a scholarly article or a practice report.
• Engage with social media – the Conference uses X (Twitter) and LinkedIn, and posts with #unistars during the event – join the conversation!

Sharing these reflections with your own teams and colleagues post-Conference is just as valuable. Since 2021, Ian Lightbody has been hosting a post-STARS event for QUT (now known as ‘Supernova’) as a professional development opportunity so that delegates at STARS from QUT can share their perspectives on the sessions they attended with their teams. Ian recently contributed a blog post to the UniSTARS website about this positive initiative at https://unistars.org/general/stars-supernova/. Encouraged by the popularity of these sessions, Ian is also hosting a similar event called ‘Nova’ to hear from QUT students who attended the Conference.

It was wonderful to see delegates sharing information about particular presentations on Twitter during the Conference (making good use of the #unistars tag). Janine Rix’s excellent article on LinkedIn STARS 2023 conference – key learnings encapsulated her key takeaways from the event. As well Jessica Morr shared her key insights from the Conference as did Nadia McDonagh (both from the University of Sydney), who reminded us of the value of the STARS Conference in the lead up to the release of the Australian Universities Accord interim report.

In our busy working lives, being able to take time to attend these types of conferences is important in our professional development. Keeping engaged in valuable discussions post-Conference and sharing our learnings and event perspectives is just as important.

Nadia McDonagh and Jessica Morr (University of Sydney)

We understand however that not everyone will be able to get to Brisbane for the Conference. Funding is tight, workloads are significant and there are still many pandemic-instigated challenges to travelling to conferences – even domestically.

We think that universities should return to investing in the excellent value – for academic and professional staff alike – that comes from participation in conferences.

In the post-conference evaluations, the STARS delegates affirm every year that more than 92% return to their home institutions having learned something of significant value that they will be able to apply in practice for the benefit of the learning success of their students. And it is impossible to quantify the value of the relationships, networks and personal and professional connections that are built at STARS.

Some of you might be wondering why we are not offering a hybrid participation option, for some delegates to attend only online. The costs of running professional hybrid events is extremely high and offering a hybrid option would significantly increase the costs for all attendees. Further, the quality of the conference experience for in-person and online participants in hybrid models is not always good. Our view is that conferences work best if they are fully online or fully in-person. Having had two years of a fully online event we are pleased to be able to return to a fully in-person event. Again, we encourage universities to value this experience for their staff and support those wishing to attend.

If you are not able to come to STARS in person this year, there are still many ways you can participate as a member of the STARS community. Here are some ways you might like to consider.

• Connect with someone who is attending and ask them to share their key experiences with you at the end of each day in a quick catch-up.
• Organise a post-STARS briefing of Conference highlights at your institution with all the people who were able to attend. Here’s an example of a recent attendee’s post-Conference event https://unistars.org/general/stars-supernova/
• Make a submission to the Student Success Journal – either a scholarly article or a practice report.
• Engage with social media – the Conference uses Twitter and LinkedIn, and posts with #unistars during the event – join the conversation!

In 2023 there are new convenors for the always popular Student Partnership Network – Alison Jaquet, Director (Support for Learning) from UniSQ and Megan Pozzi, Manager, Support for Learning (Language and Learning, QUT.

The Wellbeing Network will be convened in 2023 by colleagues from AMHHEC whose focus is on strengthening mental health and wellness within higher education communities via education, research, and community engagement.

It has been wonderful to see a number of recent feature posts in the Campus Morning Mail related to the STARS Networks – huge thanks to Sally Kift for this editorial series on teaching and learning “Needed now in learning and teaching”:

Sarah Carr, convenor of the SERGE (Student Engagement Research Group) Network discusses the value of an integrated approach to research related to student engagement and transitions pedagogy.

Student engagement support: one size does not fit all

https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/student-engagement-support-one-side-does-not-fit-all/

Jo Hoetzer, Faye Chong, Susanne Jones, Ash Dowling and Asha Tsimeris detailed the value of helping students make career decisions and their involvement in the Co-curricular Recognition Network

Helping students make career decisions 
https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/helping-students-make-career-decisions/ 

Kathy Egea, Ella Kahu and Georgina Barratt-See detailed the value of staff wellbeing when supporting students and discussed the 2022 First Year Experience Network session’s focus on strategies for staff wellbeing

Six principles to avoid burnout 
https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/six-principles-to-avoid-burnout/

Lydia Woodyatt outlines concerns across the sector in relation to staff wellbeing in higher education and mentioned capacity building initiatives including the STARS Wellbeing Network.

How leaders can act on staff burnout 

https://campusmorningmail.com.au/news/how-leaders-can-act-on-staff-burnout/

The STARS Network sessions for 2023 are still being finalised but will occur on the first day of the Conference (3rd July 2023). A discounted three network pass can be purchased as part of a full registration, or attendance at individual meetings can be purchased separately. All delegates are welcome to attend – as are those not attending the Conference

Network details: https://unistars.org/stars-network-groups/

In 2023 there are new convenors for the always popular Student Partnership Network – Alison Jaquet, Director (Support for Learning) from UniSQ and Megan Pozzi, Manager, Support for Learning (Language and Learning, QUT).  See their recent article in Campus Morning Mail: Shifting cultures to create student partnerships

By Ian Lightbody, Strategic Lead (STEM Support for Learning), QUT
6 July 2022

Higher education professionals attend conferences; they can build networks, share practice and come away energized and refreshed. However, what are the long-term benefits, and can the good ideas picked up at the conference be shared with colleagues and potentially developed and implemented? To magnify the conference benefits, the QUT Student Success Group trialled a professional development event in 2021 where STARS Conference participants shared their positive conference experiences and ideas with colleagues. The event was called the “STARS Supernova”.

Like an astronomical supernova, the notion is that there will be an explosion of ideas from the STARS Conference. Each participant was allocated 3 to 5 minutes to share ideas that they believe will be of value to others, followed by an opportunity to answer questions or discuss ideas further. The STARS Supernova has also helped participants to clarify what they learned at the conference as a reflective practice; enhancing the learning experience for them.

The 2021 STARS Supernova was well-received and has led to a similar post-conference event planned in 2022. The 2-hour session will enable 10 to 15 conference attendees to present and discuss conference ideas with probably 20 to 30 colleagues. We would encourage other universities to trial similar events. If you are interested in running something similar, and or would like more information on the QUT Supernova event, please feel free to contact Ian Lightbody (ian.lightbody@qut.edu.au).