Welcoming Universities Summit

Welcoming Universities is very excited to present the first Welcoming Universities Summit in October 2024 at UTS Ultimo Campus. This special event is a chance to bring together representatives from Welcoming Universities member institutions across the country, as well as connections from other universities and higher education providers, and other individuals and organisations which intersect with this space.

The theme for this year's summit is: From Small Beginnings - building welcoming in Australian universities. 

Places are strictly limited (50 people maximum), for this curated, intimate summit. 

Summit Details

Tuesday 22 October, 2024, 9:30am til 4:30pm 

UTS Tower, Building 1, Level 22, Room 10 15 Broadway, Ultimo NSW 2007.

9:30 - 10:00: Attendees arrive - tea, coffee, connection.

10:00 - 10:10: Acknowledgement of Country, Aunty Glendra, UTS Elder in Residence.

10:10 - 10:20: Introduction to the day.

10:20 - 11:10: Keynote address, Associate Professor Kathomi Gatwiri.

11:10 - 11:30: Morning tea

11:30 - 12:15: Panel Discussion - 'Actively Welcoming: projects, programs and initiatives to create belonging'. 

12:15 - 1:00: Research presentation and discussion 'International Students Experience Studying at Australian Universities' - brief outline of findings by Olga Cherniak and Cate Gilpin; followed by launch of Welcoming Universities International Student Support Resource Kit. 

1:00 - 2:00: Lunch (Plate it Forward catering).

2:00 - 3:30: Roundtable discussions - Universities as Welcoming Workplaces; Refugees and higher education, building a collective response; Creating Welcoming Communities: Universities and Local Governments working together; Starting Small, How small projects can have big impact.

3:30 - 4:00: Presentation - Professor Kylie Readman (Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President - Education and Students, UTS)

4:00 - 4:30: Afternoon tea, and networking. 

Close.

Keynote Speaker: 
Associate Professor Kathomi Gatwiri is an ARC DECRA Fellow at the Centre for Children & Young People (CCYP), in the Faculty of Health at Southern Cross University. She is the president of the peak body Australian Women & Gender studies Association (AWGSA) and a practising psychotherapist. Kathomi is one of Australia’s leading Afro-diasporic scholars whose award-winning interdisciplinary research investigates the intersecting topics of racial trauma, belonging, blackness, and migranthood. 

She has published over 100 traditional and non-traditional research outputs, including the books African Womanhood and Incontinent Bodies and Afrodiasporic identities in Australia. As a community leader, she is the Founder and Director of Healing Together, a service that provides accessible, culturally sensitive therapeutic support for people impacted by racial trauma. 

Welcoming Universities Summit Partners:

Gold Partners