On 14th July, due to the current pandemic, Tribal hosted the first ever Empower Online Conference. The event offered customers from the higher education sector all around the world an opportunity to gain insights into the world of education from 6 live sessions with live Q&A and opportunity for discussion, and 20 on-demand sessions, recorded in advance by Tribal employees.

When you think of education you might typically think of schools, colleges and universities. But, there’s another type of institution becoming increasingly attractive to learners - the specialist and independent providers, living somewhere in between the world of colleges and universities and experiencing their own set of challenges.

Shifting interviews with potential learners to the online environment is something lots of FE colleges are rapidly having to come to terms with, and Tribal customers have been discussing their plans and how they are using the tools in ebs OnTrack to make this process go smoothly.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, large-scale events as we once knew them are a thing of the past. We recognise this will have a major impact on university freshers week 2020, with the typical fun-loving, drink-fuelled week now overpowered by institutions striving to follow the guidelines when it comes to meeting government social distancing restrictions.

Did I hear you say Taxi?

Yes, TCSI (pronounced “taxi”), you heard that right! It stands for Transforming the Collection of Student Information (TCSI). It’s a joint project between the Department of Education & Training (DET) and the Department of Human Services (DHS) to transform how student information is collected to build a better solution that benefits both Australian education providers and students.

COVID-19 Response Barometer

The COVID-19 Response Barometer has been borne out of necessity – the necessity for Higher Education Institutions to hear and understand the student voice during the pandemic, and the necessity to understand that student voice in the context of a global comparison. Here we look at how the survey has been received and the aspirations of those institutions that are sharing the survey with their student population.

As colleges and educational institutions across the nation try to adapt to a ‘new normal’ way of working in the wake of the global coronavirus pandemic, how will enrolment look for a new year of learning?

For anyone returning to university, the apprehension and unknows that Covid-19 presents will likely be playing on student minds. Indeed, Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity and Headspace in Australia, have been providing unprecedented levels of dedicated support to both students and staff to help them through this period, and publishing up to date  guidance and resources on a regular basis.

Starting university life is challenging at the best of times. From meeting new people, to moving away from home (likely for the first time), and discovering a new way of learning… it’s not unusual for students to feel apprehensive about what lies ahead. Throw Covid-19 into that mix and the new challenge becomes even more overwhelming. With so much uncertainty and lack of clarity on what the future holds, there has never been a more important time for universities to provide a robust student support and welfare service, especially to those first year students who will be joining the university in the near future.

With the latest update stating colleges will begin to reopen to provide face-to-face contact from June 15^th for some students, to help them prepare for exams next year, it is now obvious that for most students, the rest of the academic year will need to be studied at home.