monash university pal program student development in action
DESCRIPTION
This ebook has been compiled by Gary Ryan, Director of Organisations That Matter. It includes the process for the creation and implementation of university and community based projects that highlight student development in action. Ambassadors and Leaders from the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University, all participants in the PAL Program, formed teams and generated projects that would benefit the university, students and (at times) the broader community. This ebook provides details of their project journeys and outcomes and acts as evidence of the magnificent work performed by these wonderful student volunteers.TRANSCRIPT
PAL Program Projects 2012
By
Student Ambassadors and Leaders from the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University,
Melbourne Australia
Student Development in ACTION
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The PAL Program Projects 2012 ebook has been created by students from the Monash University Ambassador Program from within the Faculty of Business and Economics
Published by What Really Matters Publishing
c/- Organisations That Matter
Compiled By Gary Ryan, Facilitator of the Projects Program
Level 8, 350 Collins Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3166
AUSTRALIA
Phone +61 3 8676 0637
E-mail: [email protected]
Copyright © 2012 Gary Ryan, Organisations That Matter® & each of the members of the project teams
All effort was made to render this ebook free from error and omission. However, the author, publisher, editor, their employees or agents shall not accept responsibility for injury, loss or damage to any person or body or organisation acting or refraining from such action as a result of material in this book, whether or not such injury, loss or damage is in any way due to any negligent act or omission, breach of duty, or default on the part of the author, publisher, editor or their employees or agents.
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Overview The ebook has been created for the purpose of highlighting the valuable
contribution that student Ambassadors and Leaders from the Monash
University Faculty of Business and Economics are providing the Monash
University and Australian community.
As a historical record of the 2012 PAL Program Projects this ebook will also
serve as a resource for future student PAL Program projects.
Gary Ryan, Director of Organisations That Matter has facilitated the process
that the student Ambassadors and Leaders have followed to create and record
their community projects.
Information regarding the Student Development Program for students and
higher education staff offered by Organisations That Matter can be found here.
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Table of Contents
OVERVIEW 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4
FLASH MOB DANCE 7
Overview 8
Quantitative Goals 9
Qualitative Goals 9
Our Plan 10
The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened? 13
Recommendations 16
Acknowledgements 17
THE UNIQUELY MELBOURNE EXPERIENCE 19
Team Members 19
Project Overview 20 Goals Quantitative goals 21 Qualitative goals 21
Our Plan 22 Brainstorming 22 Final Plan 22
What actually happened 24
The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened? 25
What We Learned 26
Generic employability skills were also developed in the following areas: 27
Our Recommendations 29
ENROLMENT DAY BBQ 31
Team Members 31
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Overview 32
Goals 33 Quantitative Goals 33 Qualitative Goals 33
Our Plan 34
The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened? 40
Our Recommendations 44
Acknowledgements 45
PROJECT SUNSHINE 47
Team Members 47
Overview 48 Quantitative goals 50 Qualitative goals 50
What Happened 53
The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened 55
Our Recommendations 65
Acknowledgements 66
SPORTS DAY 67
Team Members 67
Gabriel Wong 67
Overview 68 Quantitative goals 69 Qualitative goals 69
Action Plan 72
What Happened 74
The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened? 76
What We Learnt 77
Our Recommendations 79
Acknowledgements 79
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MELBOURNE ZOO DAY TRIP 81
Team Members 81
Overview 81
Goals 82 Quantitative Goals 82 Qualitative Goals 82
Our Plan 83
What Happened 84
The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened? 86
What We Learned 87
Our Recommendations 88
Acknowledgements 89
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Flash Mob Dance
Team Members
1. Paula Katigbak
2. Francesca Tsao
3. Grace Gao
4. Rianna Yeung
5. Jessica Frisina
6. Teo Heng Bin
7. Kane Tan
8. MayShan Chan
9. Daniel Garabiles
10. Aalisha Aruliah
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Overview The Flash Mob project endeavoured to enhance the
experience that university students have through
different paradigms, including:
To enhance student-to-student experience
Our team engaged the student body in a spontaneous,
organised dance routine, termed as a ‘Flash Mob’. This
was primarily targeted at first year students to foster
friendships with fellow Caulfield campus students
through participating in a fun activity. Furthermore, the
event was a great way to welcome and show the first year
students what university life is like.
To enhance the Monash-University-to-Community
experience
SEAAC is a youth-oriented not-for-profit organisation,
aimed at helping migrant and refugee youths to
assimilate into Australian society. Programs that are run
by SEAAC include: homework help, awareness programs
and counselling for the various issues that they may
encounter during the transition period.
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Quantitative Goals 1. Involve 100 students
2. Create awareness for
1 not-for-profit organization
3. Choreograph a 3-
minute dance routine
4. Include at least 5 Monash Ambassadors into the project
Qualitative Goals 1. Plan a cohesive fun event, while doing something good for
the community
2. An opportunity to make friends
3. Create networks for first year students
4. Create a sense of community
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Our Plan
• Coordinate team members’ schedules for meetings
• Create a Facebook group for discussion purposes
• Source suitable venues, and get in contact with responsible parties
• Coordinate with MONSU for audio systems
• Design and print event posters and flyers
• Research suitable organisations for our cause
• Make a decision as to which cause to support - SEAAC was decided
• Liaise with SEAAC and SEAAC staff to organise staff members
and how they wanted to raise awareness on the day of the flash
mob
• Engage Monash Ambassadors during recruitment process
• Three different approaches to attract participants on campus
1. Set up a discrete booth
2. Approach students at key places in the university and invite them
to participate
3. Coordinate with lecturers to allow us to pitch our idea to students
during lectures
• Create a Facebook group, event page and email address to
assist with the publicity and promotions
• Create a database for the contact details of interested participants
• Contact IT to upload photo and details on to my.monash portal for
promotional purposes
• Format individual songs into a 3-minute track
• Choreograph the dance routine
• Book rehearsal space and speakers, microphone, and record the CD
• Upload YouTube video for extended rehearsal opportunities
• Update interested participants with news feeds and updates every
two or three days as our marketing effort
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• Email participants for rehearsal times and other event details
e.g. change of meeting venue
• Meet for weekly for dance rehearsals after students were
recruited so that everyone is confident in publicly performing
• Organise to have a photographer and two videographers
• Connect with SEAAC staff on the day of the flash mob to
promote their cause
• Guide flash mobbers to the event venue
• Perform the Flash Mob
• U pload edited videos and photos onto the Facebook page
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What Happened • Engaged about 50 participants • Successful networking among participants and organisers during the
final rehearsal, which was held prior to the flash mob
• Changed the venue from the outdoor common lawn to the indoor student lounge due to unfavourable weather conditions.
• Set up a table with flyers, manned by SEAAC staff, to raise awareness
to the student community.
• SEAAC staff were able to connect with the Monash Student Community, offering services to those that may be interested, and recruit sought-after volunteers to help at their programs.
• Flash mob team leaders were able to engage with SEAAC staff on a
closer level to understand what SEAAC does, thereby acting as advocates for the cause.
• Speaker was not loud enough on the day so the effect of attracting
pedestrians attention is weakened
• Not open up space
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The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened?
• Only 50 students participated on the day itself while initially we hoped for
100
• More than 250 signed up, but only a quarter participated
• Changed the venue from the outdoor Common lawn to the indoor Student
Lounge due to unexpected rainy weather
• Recruitment in lectures was not undertaken due to limited availabilities of
team members.
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What we learned
In executing our Flash Mob, all group members learnt an array of skills
that demonstrate our willingness to dedicate extra time to benefit Monash
University and SEAAC. This experience was invaluable and outlined by the
skills listed below:
Team Work
• Tasks performed most efficiently when they are divided
amongst team members
• Delegation must be accepted by the group, and then
concessions made to accept the different personalities of
team members in order to work collaboratively towards the
collective goal.
Communication
• Each team member has to constantly update each other regarding
the progress of the delegated task
• Communicate based on an effective and efficient platform (e.g.
Facebook, email, text messages)
Problem Solving
• Learnt the importance of having contingency plans
• Everyone had different time schedules, so we had to coordinate
and set a time and place which was right for everyone
• On the day, it was raining for the organised time for executing the
Flash Mob. Collectively we collaborated ideas and organised the
best re-location.
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Leadership
• Coordinating and adjusting the job scopes of team members
• Team members effectively managing the participant students and
• Ambassadors to make the event work
Planning & Organisation
• Agenda and minutes to keep meetings on track and help everyone
follow up with the progress, especially non-attending participants.
• Controlling emergencies and pre-planning back up plan.
Lifelong learning
• Being selfless and contributing personal time to teamwork
Self-Management & Personal Vision
• Adhering to pre-set plans of action
• Establishing a clear goal, and working effectively in striving to
achieve it
Initiative & Enterprise
• Stepping out of our comfort zones and doing something that
would benefit not only the immediate student community, but
also the greater migrant and refugee community of the South
Eastern region
Technology
• Learnt to mix and blend music using ‘Garage Band’
• Benefits of using social networking sites such as Facebook, for
advertising and group discussions
• Utilised YouTube by uploading the video of the choreography
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Service Excellence
• Importance of getting involved in community service
• Conducting all activities in a professional and friendly manner
Recommendations • Have a ‘Wet Weather’ program handy just in case weather
conditions are unfavourable
• Seek a balance between the time needed to adequately
plan for the event and the amount of weeks the students
have to wait before they participate. This helps retain the
students’ interests and minimises last minute back outs.
• Finalise all the details and materials of the event for
beginning the recruitment process
• Have a project timeline with pre-determined checkpoints to
gauge progress
• Face to face meeting is typically preferred over online
chat.
• Set online chat etiquette e.g. sticking to meeting agenda,
acknowledging posts by other members, informing others
on online availability
• If a team member misses a meeting, it is his/her responsibility
to follow up on the group’s progress.
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Acknowledgements
Alison Richardson (Monash PAL Co-ordinator) Gary Ryan (Director of Organisations That Matter) Sally Ryan (SEAAC Co-ordinator) Nhu Ngoc Tran (Homework Program Co-ordinator - SEAAC) Ryan Wang (Photographer)
WeiShen Tan (Videographer)
Jensen Siow (Videographer)
Wennie Chung (Video editor)
Mrunal Chavan (Monash PAL Ambassador) Nina Hui (Monash PAL Ambassador)
Vuong Linh (Monash PAL Ambassador)
Olivia Na (Monash PAL Ambassador)
Nicholas Ren (Monash PAL Ambassador)
Boris Cheng (Monash PAL Ambassador)
Mei Lin Kha (Monash PAL Ambassador)
Jeremy Long Nguyen (Monash PAL Ambassador)
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The Uniquely Melbourne Experience
Team Members • Shehan Dewundege • Joshua Knoop • Sue Hsien Chong • Zhen Hann Leow • Marco Zhang • Gillian Wang • Cuong Ton • Adnan Zaman
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Project Overview As part of the BusEco PAL Leaders’ program, our task was to
organise a project to enhance the student to student, student to faculty or
faculty to community experience.
In response to this, we planned a tour around the City of
Melbourne, aimed at giving first year students and students new to
Melbourne an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the city. We
intended to provide a true Melbourne experience, rather than just a
regular city tour. As such, we focused on a combination of well-known
and lesser known landmarks and sites, showcasing everything from
Aboriginal and Australian history to Melbourne’s vibrant multiculturalism,
such as art and food. The participants had the opportunity to develop new
relationships with fellow students of the same year level, and with those
who are in the latter stages of their degrees (the Leaders).
Although we did not achieve our ambitious quantitative goal of 20
attendees, we feel that we managed to achieve our qualitative goals
In relation to objective requirements, we achieved two, namely the
student to student experience, and faculty to community (in a cultural
sense) experience.
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Goals Quantitative goals Target of 20 attendees.
Target to retain all attendees throughout the tour.
Target all 8 Leaders to participate and contribute in the project.
Qualitative goals The attendees to learn more about Melbourne’s history and current
culture.
Quality interaction among the attendees, as well as between the Leaders and attendees.
The attendees to have an enjoyable and meaningful experience.
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Our Plan Brainstorming ● Initially, our plan was to have a Melbourne city tour combined with a
coffee session with Monash alumni in a cafe in the city. The goal
behind this idea was to help any first year students who were
unfamiliar with Melbourne to explore the city, while at the same time
helping them gain some business insights through chatting with
Monash alumni.
● Due to the difficulty in including the alumni coffee session within the
time constraints of the day, as well as the fact that other groups were
planning to include an alumni session in their projects, we decided it
would be best to cancel the alumni coffee session and focus more on
the city tour.
Final Plan ● We changed our plan to make it purely a city tour. We decided to
select several interesting sites (comprising of both famous landmarks,
as well as hidden gems) around Melbourne city.
● We researched the sites that we had shortlisted. These sites included:
the former Royal Mint, the Chinese Museum in Chinatown, Fitzroy
Gardens, Flagstaff Garden, Carlton Garden, The Eureka Skydeck,
Federation Square, Queen Victoria Market, Hosier Lane, Birrarung
Marr Park, Parliament House, and one of the most popular cafes in
Melbourne, the Seven Seeds Cafe.
● After careful considerations in relation to cost, time constraints,
culture, level of potential interest as well as the distance between sites
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in order to plan our travel route, we selected the following sites to
visit:
● Federation Square
● Hosier Lane
● Birrarung Marr
● Fitzroy Garden
● Parliament House
● Queen Victoria Market
● Seven Seeds cafe (said to have the best coffee in Melbourne)
● The initial delivery date for the project was 21st July 2012.
● We planned to promote the project using social media, our connections
with student societies and clubs, presentations during orientation
week (the week before the project day), word of mouth, flyers and
posters, as well as the Monash global email (which we identified as the
most effective method).
● As we were holding an outdoor event, we were heavily reliant on good
weather and as such, we included alternative indoor sites on our tour,
such as the Melbourne Arts Centre, in case of bad weather.
● We contacted the Seven Seeds Cafe in advance, and were told that
they might not be able to take a large group of people and they were
not taking reservations due to popular demand during weekends. As a
result, we decided to just take away coffee from Seven Seeds if the
weather was good, or visit another cafe.
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What actually happened ● Due to poor marketing implementation, we failed to
gain enough interest to hold the tour (only 2
people registered) so we postponed the tour date to
give ourselves time to think of an alternative plan.
● We came up with a few alternatives, but both our
group members and Ali did not feel they were
feasible. Eventually, we decided to go ahead with
the tour proper, but improved on our marketing
strategies (see The Differences Between Our Plan
And What Happened?).
● The tour was held on September 1 2012, and we
were lucky enough to enjoy sunny weather.
Although some people who registered beforehand
were unable to attend, we managed to start
without many problems.
● All the attendees and Leaders interacted well with
each other. Overall, the atmosphere was friendly
and relaxed, and we successfully visited all the
sites as planned.
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The Differences Between Our Plan And
What Happened? • During the first round of event promotions, we did not do everything
that we had planned to do. We only had two presentations the week
before the anticipated tour date, had a few posters around campus, and
only handed out flyers to the people present during the presentations.
• For our second round of promotions, we utilised all marketing strategies
that were mentioned in the plan. We made a Facebook event page, as
well as created a registration form using Google Drive. We also handed
out flyers during all the first year lectures and sent out a global email to
all first year students.
• Although we had 20 people signed up for the event, not everybody
showed up on the actual day. We contacted the absentees to confirm
that they would not be attending, to make sure we wouldn’t leave any
latecomers behind.
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What We Learned Our key learning revolved around four project-specific areas:
● Event management (planning and organisation)
○ scheduling - timing and routes
○ registration and managing the participants - making sure all
participants are accounted for and effectively registered
○ researching locations to visit
○ contingency planning - alternative locations and routes were
determined
● Leadership and team management
○ delegation - allocation of tasks
○ organising and running meetings
○ goal setting i.e. determining key success measures
○ working under time constraints to meet deadlines i.e. printing
deadlines, event day deadlines etc.
● Leveraging technology
○ using Google Apps i.e. Drive (Docs), Google+ Hangouts;
Facebook Events, my.monash portal events, photo editing software
● Marketing
○ effective physical and digital marketing - flyers, presentations,
global email, partnering with clubs and societies to promote, and
social media
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Generic employability skills were also developed in the following areas:
● Communication skills
○ preparing proposals, drafting emails, tailoring communication for
specific audiences
● Problem solving
○ marketing issues - issues arising from insufficient reach and
eventual attendance were resolved by utilising more effective and
relevant marketing methods such as more direct marketing (global
emails, social media, liaising with clubs and societies) and better
physical marketing (flyers)
○ having to postpone the event and re-launch the marketing drive
in order to reach goal attendance
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● Initiative & enterprise
○ creative approaches to marketing (word-of-mouth, clubs and
societies)
○ created a unique experience for participants in order to make the
event more appealing and worthwhile
● Life-long learning
○ post-event evaluation allowed us to identify strengths and
weaknesses of the event and the project in general
○ learning about commitment to a project of our own design, and
having the drive to follow through with it
○ persevering through initial disappointment with lack of interest
from our target audience
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Our Recommendations ● Be well prepared with advertising to target
audience.
● Always have a contingency plan.
● Seek necessary permission before posting flyers on campus.
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Acknowledgements ● Gary Ryan, Director of Organisations that Matter.
● Alison Richardson, Manager of Student
Development in the Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University.
● Clubs and societies that allowed us to advertise through them.
● Attendees of the tour.
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Enrolment Day BBQ Team Members
Alicia Brand
Rebecca Yang
Laila Shareef
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Overview As part of the Monash University Faculty of Business and Economics
Student Leader Program, our group was tasked with getting first year
students to socialise with students from the university, getting familiar
with Monash staff, and/or getting the students to be involved in
community work.
To achieve this, we planned to
have a social BBQ as well as an hour
game with Monash sports on
enrolment day - July 11th, 2012. Our
main objective was to increase the
interaction between first year
students whilst enhancing their
university experience. At the same
time, we invited leaders and
ambassadors to share their
university experiences and give
advice to the new students.
On the day, there were ambassadors and leaders who have kindly
donated time to share their experiences as students at Monash University,
and as part of the Leaders/Ambassadors program. BBQ was provided for
the students at the start of the session and at the end of the session. An
hour game, in the middle of the event, with Monash Sports enhanced the
interaction between students, Ambassadors and Leaders and, at the end
of the day, all the new students gained insight into university life by
speaking with the Leaders and Ambassadors in a friendly environment.
This project was very successful; we had only a few veggie burgers left at
the end (gave away approximately 80 sausages and veggie burgers) and
feedback from students said it was a ‘great welcome to the university’.
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Goals Quantitative Goals
Objectives Original Goals Changed Goals
Participants 50 50
Staff 10 nil
Fund 100 250
Student representatives 10 3
Flyers/Posters 100 20
Emails 200 nil
Qualitative Goals
Aims to achieve
Fun
Great teamwork
Helping each other
Collaboration within the team and with others
Meet new students
satisfaction feedback from participants
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Our Plan Our plan was to create a barbeque event that
would benefit students on enrolment day by allowing them
to socialise with fellow students and their local community. This plan was
built on and edited in meetings over the course of three months. Below
are the minutes for these meetings.
Friday 16th March 2012
Items Discussed:
● Day for event: Enrolment day in semester 2, as it's a compulsory
day for all first year students and there won't be many other events
going on at that time to compete with.
● Emails: Ali is happy to send out emails to the first year students to
advertise our event.
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● Activities: One hour of culture-based activities could start off the
event, followed by one hour of sports activities, and then another
hour of culture-activities to finish off the event. Culture theme,
everyone dresses up in the traditional clothing of their country.
Activities will be based on aspects various cultures, predominantly
those of countries of international students at Monash University.
● Marketing strategy: Bulk emails will be sent via Ali, once plans are
finalised. Additional suggestions include flyers (which Ali has said
she can print), word of mouth and invitations via Facebook/set up
event page on Facebook. Possible decorations, to make the stalls
more attractive, has also been discussed.
● Location: Lawn in the middle of Caulfield Campus is the ideal
location for the event. Though, concerns have been raised over the
possibility of rain - suggest securing a backup location for bad
weather.
Tasks Allocated:
● Rebecca: Talk to MONSU
about BBQ (including
possible vegetarian options),
tables, etc. Let Simon Daars
know that his services will
be required. Talk to Ali about
enrolment day times.
● Laila: Marketing strategy -
draft email, flyers and
Facebook advertisement
● Team Member 4: Organise receipt of flyers, pamphlets, stalls,
decorations, etc. from One World.
● Alicia: Organise culture based games - plan game timings and
resources required.
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Friday 30th March 2012
Items Discussed:
● Shopping list for BBQ: Sausages, veggie burgers, bread, bread rolls,
cheese, onion, lettuce, sauce, drinks and plastic cups, napkins
● Expected turn up for BBQ: Approximately 150
● Project theme: It was discussed that running an event for "One
World" may not draw much attention, and it has become very
complex to plan an event for this organisation. Instead we have
discussed the possibility of running the event for a charity (instead
of a Non-profit). Further research needs to be done to identify the
charity most relevant to university students.
● Date for event: Settled on July 11th from 11am till 2pm, with the
sports activities beginning at 12pm.
● Discussed supplementary items: Agree that we need to provide
some music with a relevant playlist; talk to Bin about speakers; talk
to Marco about coming on the day to take photos.
Tasks Allocated:
● Rebecca: Talk to sports about maximum and minimum numbers for
activities, ask about contingency plans, secure date and time. Talk
to MONSU about supplies such as the BBQ, tables and chairs.
● Laila: Research possible relevant charities and circulate for final
decision, before beginning marketing campaign.
● Alicia: Project report; Email Ali and ask: any ideas for charities that
are relevant to university students? If our budget for approximately
$400 will be suitable?
● Team Member 4: Create music playlist for BBQ, research cost for
purchase of above mentioned 'shopping list' items (assuming we are
feeding 200 people), speak with Coles about pre ordering supplies,
payments and pick up times.
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Friday 13th April 2012
Items Discussed:
● Charity ideas: Decision made to proceed with OxFam. Action
required: speak to Monash representative RE: funding and support.
Following this document, an internet link will be posted, listing
possible activities to be run in order to raise funds for this charity.
● Advertisement: Flyers are near completion and are waiting on
confirmation from Ali on specific requirements (i.e. colour), and on
day and time to be printed. It was also discussed that a PowerPoint
slide should be created, to advertise the event on the day.
● Food: Concerns about the price of catering for the event. Will be
able to confirm prices (and therefore budget) by end of April.
● Ambassadors: Will advertise need for help from members of the
Ambassador's program, via Facebook.
● Target market: Discussed possibility of advertising the event to
personal friends and members of the leader's program, to boost
funding and attendance. Advertisements should be done via the
Leader's Facebook page.
Tasks Allocated
● Rebecca: Talk to MONSU regarding BBQ facilities and speakers for
music. Talk to Coles regarding food prices.
● Alicia: Email Ali regarding flyers (colour, time and amount that can
be printed) as well as our ability to add a PowerPoint slide to the
end of the enrolment day seminar. Post up activities, and begin
planning once activities have been decided on. Project Status
Report prior to May 1st (2012).
● Laila: Complete flyers. Create PowerPoint slide. Advertise positions
to help in the event for ambassadors.
● Team Member 4: Meet with OxFam rep, discuss support and advice
they may be able to give us. Create playlist for event.
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Thursday 31st May 2012
Items Discussed:
● Oxfam: Need to ask Ali if she has contacts within Oxfam, and can
help us get in contact with someone and get answers soon (RE:
willing to participate, provide pamphlets/stall, whether they have
any contacts/are able to get donations/discounts for activity prizes)
● Posters and PowerPoint slide: Waiting on confirmation of Oxfam to
print.
● BBQ: Gas has to be paid for, for the BBQ - about $30
● Budget: BBQ supplies, food, decorations, sports booking, prizes =
no more than $400
● If can't get in contact with Oxfam, consider leaving charity idea and
move towards MONSU and international student association
involvement.
● Need to hear back from activity officer, to make sure activity officer
will be there on the day.
Tasks Allocated
● Rebecca: Talk to MONSU
regarding BBQ facilities,
activity officer and student
associations.
● Laila: Talk to student
associations, complete
poster and PowerPoint
when possible
● Alicia: Email Ali regarding
Oxfam and budget.
Research further activities when possible.
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Wednesday 27th July 2012
Items discussed
● Charity/Theme: It’s become too difficult to arrange charity
involvement, instead we will make the BBQ free, with the sole
purpose of welcoming students and giving them the opportunity to
socialise.
● Budget:$250 for gas, sausages, veggie burgers, bread, napkins,
plates, sauce, soft drink
● Poster: Ali will print out for us to collect and distribute the morning
of the event
● Team Member 4: Taking into consideration the lack of involvement
of this member (having not completed any of the tasks allocated to
them, and only participated in one of the group meetings), as well
as the warnings and chances provided to the member, it has been
decided to no longer include the member in the event. This has
meant that the members’ tasks have been reallocated. Rebecca has
volunteered to take care of music and speakers
Tasks Allocated
● Laila: Complete poster
and email to Ali
● Alicia: Email budget to
Ali
● Rebecca: Organise
music and speakers
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The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened?
Our Plan What Happened How did we solve it?
We were planning to
have culturally
themed games from
different countries
such as China,
Malaysia, India,
Singapore
Due to the limit in
time and human
resources, we were
unable to arrange
our own culturally
themed games
Monash Sports was able to
arrange an hour team game
for the event
We were planning to
hold the event in
either week 5 or week
6 of the first semester
However, we
needed more time
to deliver a well-
planned BBQ
We adjusted the project
date to 11th July,
compulsory enrolment day
for semester 2 2012
As part of the ‘student
to community’
socialisation goal, our
group aimed to hold
the event by
promoting a charity to
the students.
We were unable to
find a suitable
charity for the event
due to time frame
and lack of
participation from a
group member.
We decided to hold the
event without any
participation from a NGO or
charity
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Our Plan What Happened How did we solve it?
We failed to apply to
get access to the
electricity for the
speakers, as we
assumed it is already
booked at the time we
made the booking for
the BBQ pits
We were going to
be unable to use
the speakers, as we
had no electrical
source for them
Fortunately, our group was
early on the day of the BBQ
event to find out the
problem and we were able
to follow the correct
procedures to get
permission and the
resources to use electrical
equipment on the day of
the project
42 | P a g e
What We Learned ● Teamwork and collaboration: Our team met regularly. During
these meetings we discussed aspects of the project, always starting
off with reiterating the key objectives of the project. Our team
members were always prepared for the meetings, contributed ideas
as well as constructive criticism, and collaborated to make the right
decisions for the group. After meetings, minutes were uploaded and
shared so all members could review the decisions and prepare for
the next scheduled meeting.
● Rules and Boundaries: We learned that it is necessary to have
rules and limits of acceptable behaviour for members of a team, in
order to reach the project objectives. At the beginning of this
project, rules for unacceptable behaviour were discussed and
agreed upon, as were the actions to be taken if a team member
fails to meet the set requirements. During the project these rules
and guidelines did come into use, as ‘Team Member 4’ failed to
displayed our agreed behaviour (attending scheduled meetings,
completing tasks assigned, and contributing to the project
discussion). The team’s agreed actions were taken, and Team
Member 4 was spoken to twice before an email was sent to the
Project Coordinator (Alison Richardson), and final contact was
attempted before it was agreed by the remaining team members
that Team Member 4 should be excluded from the project.
● Leadership: Our team learned that commitment and devotion is
important for successful planning and implementation of a project;
and having a leader to delegate tasks allows a team to reach their
required objectives in a timely and organised fashion. Our team
only had one leader for the course of project, however the main role
of the leader was to keep tabs on all team members, ensure
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constant communication within the group, provide extra assistance
to individuals where needed, make sure agreed rules and
behaviours were adhered to, and to make final decisions where no
consensus could be reached. However, most of the decisions made
during the project were agreed upon by all team members, and all
team members provided healthy debate to project meetings by
contributing equally to discussions; and each team member had
their own responsibilities that they completed quickly and to a high
quality.
● Planning and Organizing: Our team found planning and
organising essential to the success of our project. While we did have
an initial vision and plan for our project, we realised that
circumstances can change and problems can arise. Our original plan
was constantly being modified and altered, depending on findings
from research and discussions during meetings, and ideas that
started out one way were found to be the opposite by the end of the
project - for example, while we had originally planned for the event
to be a fundraising activity, our final project resulted in a free
barbeque for students.
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Our Recommendations ● From the positive comments of the participants, having a barbeque
on enrolment day was a good idea and would be welcomed by
students if it were done again next year
● Set deadlines for tasks, and stick to these deadlines, to avoid
damaging delays
● Choose a project that will maintain the interest of the group
members, so they will be more willing to take part
● Be realistic in planning budgets and goals
● Be prepared to take initiative
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Acknowledgements Alison Richardson
Gary Ryan
Marco Zhang
Derrick Koh
Gillian Wang
Samuel Kwok
MONSU
47 | P a g e
Project Sunshine Team Members
Daphne Foong
Jane Zhang
Sean Lim
Louise Prossor
Debra Vo
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Overview
Enhancing the Faculty to community experience
As students representing the Business and Economics Faculty, the
Project Sunshine team took the time and effort to plan and participate in
a community event. The selected event was “Fashion + Aid,”
an annual charity event that aims to raise money for
the Lighthouse Foundation. Guests are invited to enjoy a Gala
dinner, a runway show and live entertainment featuring performances
from Shannon Noll and Rickie Lee. This event is organised by Trumpet
Events.
The Lighthouse Foundation provides assistance and
support to young homeless people. On the night, funds are raised for the
organisation through live and silent auctions, pledges and raffle tickets.
Volunteers were allocated various roles to assist with the event.
Some roles included selling raffle tickets to guests and raise proceeds for
the organisation, while other roles included assisting in setting up the
event and managing proceeds and finance raised from the event.
Enhancing student to student experience
Prior to the Fashion + Aid event, the majority of the volunteers did
not know one another. Project Sunshine, therefore, provided a platform
for the volunteers to get to know one another and to work and have fun
together. The majority of volunteers met at the one location and travelled
together to Crown Casino, where the event was held. During the trip, all
Project Sunshine team members engaged in enthusiastic conversations
and socialised well with one another given the short transportation time.
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All the team members also had a lovely dinner together and helped each
other out on the night with their individual responsibilities.
Enhancing the student to Faculty experience
It was through the Business and Economics Leaders
Program that provided the opportunity for the implementation of
Project Sunshine. The Faculty provided huge support throughout the
planning processes of the Project. It also kept the team in check and
monitored the Project’s progress. The team was required to liaise and
obtain approval from the Faculty on various matters including funding for
transportation to and from the Crown Casino where Fashion + Aid was to
be held. Alison Richardson was the group’s main contact.
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Goals Quantitative goals
1. 15 - 20 students involved
2. Budget - $20 per student (travel and meals) for a one day event,
funded by Monash University
Qualitative goals ● To get first year students involved in a community volunteering
event
● To allow the students to bond with each other and build networks
● To provide the students with an opportunity to learn more about the
Ambassador and Leaders programs
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Our Plan
April - May
● Begin research
● Every member researches 2-3 different organisations - looking at
events only being held during August/September
● Each member contacts respective organisations to express interests
and to see if the group is eligible to volunteer for the events
● Meet every fortnight to update each other on our respective
progresses
June
● Once the organisation is decided upon, draw up advertisement for
volunteers
● Post advertisement on various different mediums
● Monitor volume of application and responses
July
● Review applications
● Finalise list of volunteers
● Brief the organisation on current progress with volunteers
August
● Plan logistics (transport and meals) for event - liaise with Alison
● Pre-event briefing to volunteers
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August/September
● Date of event
● Follow up with volunteers and Alison after event
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What Happened When the project was launched, the Project Sunshine team
members decided from the first meeting that each team member would
research various charity organisations. After the research and liaising with
several charities, the Salvation Army was deemed a suitable
charity for the project. Unfortunately, the team did not build a strong
enough relationship with the Salvation Army and subsequently could not
find an appropriate event, given the time constraints of the project.
As a result, more research was needed to be done. This time
around, the team members found other relevant events such as Walk in
the Park, Monash Megaswim and Ride to Conquer. After contacting each
of the event coordinators, positive feedback was received from all of
organisations. However, most of their events were still in their planning
stages and could not guarantee that the group could volunteer for those
events. The team ensured that there was regular communication with the
organisation, in order to build a strong relationship and increase the
chances of securing volunteering positions if any opportunities were to
arise.
However, most of these opportunities fell through as those
organisations found it very difficult to accommodate large groups of
volunteers. Recruitment has not yet been conducted at this time and
organisations found it hard to deal with uncertain number of volunteers.
As it was July already, the team was getting anxious on meeting the
deadline for this Project. The team quickly picked up the pace and
searched for more organisations. Soon after, the team came across
Fashion + Aid event. After much discussion and communication, the
coordinator of The Lighthouse Foundation - charity
organisation for Fashion Aid - accepted the group as volunteers of the
event. The team promised Lighthouse Foundation that the volunteers will
be recruited and finalised as soon as possible to meet its own recruitment
54 | P a g e
deadlines. Thus, this put additional pressure on the team to plan on how
to recruit volunteers and to implement the plan immediately.
The team decided to advertise for volunteers through the following
channels: Project Sunshine’s Facebook page, the my.monash portal,
flyers throughout Monash Clayton and Caulfield campuses and in lecture
halls (with permission of lecturers). As a result, around 30 students
expressed their interest in volunteering for the Fashion + Aid event. The
team gathered their CVs and sent out a brief summary with information
about the Lighthouse Foundation and the event itself. The list of students
was then passed onto the Lighthouse Foundation, where they assessed
the eligibility and qualifications of all students. They then shortlisted the
volunteers and conducted a brief interview with them. Not all volunteers
got through the interview but the team was fortunate enough to have a
sufficient amount of volunteers that went through in order for the project
to progress.
All the volunteers were then required by Crown Casino to complete
an online induction for Occupational Health and Safety. At the same time,
the team was also trying to organise the logistics with Alison to ensure
that all volunteers could travel to and from Crown Palladium safely. In the
end, the team organised a taxi cab to take all students to and from Crown
Casino from Monash University in Clayton.
The event went smoothly on the night. After a briefing session by
the event coordinator and dinner buffet, all the volunteers delved into
their roles for the night and had a great time.
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The Differences Between Our Plan And
What Happened One of the main differences between the team’s plan and what
happened was the expected and actual time commitment needed to
research and contact charity organisations. When the project first begun,
the group did not have any contingency plan in place and the group was
subsequently pushed back in time when the Salvation Army was no longer
viable for the project. The team then learned to frequently follow up with
their respective organisations in order to build strong relationships. This is
to ensure that the project will not be out of volunteering options and that
organisations do not back out on their support for the project.
The plan to recruit volunteers was also different from the actual
recruitment. Initially, the team planned on advertising aggressively
through lecture bashes, with a focus on first year lectures, and via the
team’s Facebook page. However, the team did not gain as much coverage
as expected. As a result, an advertisement was also placed on the My
Monash Portal as well as flyers around Monash Clayton and Caulfield
campuses (with the assistance of Alison for printing the flyers). From the
different modes of communication, 30 students expressed interest in
volunteering.
There was a also slight change in plan with regards to the
transportation of volunteers and the team Monash University Clayton and
Crown Palladium. A minibus was requested from the Faculty to travel
between the campus and the venue. However, a taxi cab was later
determined to be more cost effective.
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It was not expected either that Fashion + Aid would conduct an
extra interview for the team and the student volunteers. As a result, it
was rather unfortunate that not all of the volunteers were eligible to
volunteer for event. Luckily however, there were sufficient volunteers that
passed the interview. In addition to that, an online induction was also
requested, taking more of the student volunteer’s time and efforts.
At the beginning of the project, the team had planned to have a
meeting every fortnight to discuss the progress with the project and any
other issues. However, due to various unexpected issues arising and the
time constraints, the team met every week instead in order to resolve
issues and to allow all members to be better updated on the progress of
the project.
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What We Learned There are several lessons that the team has learned through this
project. All the team members have displayed and gained new skills and
experiences.
Lesson 1: Planning/Organisation
One of the key objectives of the leadership program was to devise
and implement a community project involving first year students within a
certain time frame and budget. Time and resources, therefore, had to be
allocated effectively to address all our issues including communicating
with third parties, recruiting students and liaising with the faculty.
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In order to complete everything on time, weekly meetings were
held, with the team staying in touch with each other regularly. During
each meeting, new goals were developed for the week and progress was
evaluated for the past week. Each team member was delegated different
tasks to improve the team’s efficiency. It was effective in the sense that
each member was responsible for one task at one time rather than
several.
For example, one team member was responsible for communicating
with Alison from the faculty, and only two team members were
responsible for recruitment and interacting with students. Getting each
team member to communicate with different charities was also very
effective as the team members were able to contact more charities. This
also meant that the team was able to stay organised and keep in constant
contact with all charities. Additionally, this form of organisation ultimately
led to the team finding a final community organisation such as the
Lighthouse Foundation that suited our project’s needs and objectives.
Throughout this project, the team was very aware of the time and
resource constraints and constantly adapted the plan to overcome those
obstacles. Apart from the program deadline, the team also encountered
further time constraints with the actual dates of the charity events. This
required all the recruitment to be done prior to the finalisation of
volunteers on the part of the organisations themselves. To address this,
all the team members were personally willing to undertake additional
work such as contacting more organisations as back-ups to try and open
up new opportunities in case previous arrangements fell through.
In the end, the team was able to successfully complete the project
on time and to meet all the goals and objectives. It was difficult for the
team to plan and stay organised as there were third party charities
involved that resulted in communication delays within the team and the
faculty. However, the team learnt that creating an effective plan and
59 | P a g e
constant evaluation and adaptation to changing circumstances is
extremely useful in meeting deadlines and achieving our objectives.
Lesson 2: Communication
Strong communication skills was required on the part of all team
members for the project to run smoothly. The team needed to
communicate effectively with various audiences such as third party
organisations, the Faculty and the student volunteers.
One of the main issues in terms of communication was the
communication between the team and the organisations. In the research,
the team expressed its interest to the organisation, but would not follow
up as often as it should have. Furthermore, communication with the co-
ordinator of the organisation was via email, which did not give an
adequate response rate. As a result, the relationships established with the
organisations were rather weak.
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The team’s mode of communication was altered and it was
determined that a more effective way to contact the co-ordinator of the
organisations was via phone. It made it easier for the team to express our
goals and align it with the organisation’s goals for the particular event. It
was also evident that by communicating via telephone, the response time
improved as well as the team’s relationship with the organisation.
This resulted in the team being able to establish a solid relationship
both professionally and personally with Georgie Stayches, the co-
ordinator for the Fashion + Aid event from The Lighthouse Foundation. It
was important from the team’s perspective to keep in contact with
Georgie and to continually update her with the team’s progress in order to
sort through any current issues and avoid future issues. This made the
process of working with The Lighthouse Foundation run more smoothly
and the whole experience more enjoyable. At the end of the event,
Georgie approached the team and said that she appreciated the fact that
it was possible for a large group to volunteer at such an event - a great
result for both parties.
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Lesson 3: Service Excellence and Marketing
As part of the Fashion + Aid event, the organisers, Lighthouse
Foundation in cooperation with Trumpet Events, allocated fundraising
responsibilities to some of the team members. The task for these
particular team members were to sell as many raffle tickets as possible to
the guests of Fashion + Aid. Tickets were priced at $50 each or
alternatively $100 if three tickets were purchased in one transaction.
Team members were required to approach guests in a courteous and
friendly manner and encourage them to purchase the tickets for a good
cause - raising money to support homeless individuals. The team helped
to successfully raise a few hundred dollars in selling the raffle tickets for
the Lighthouse Foundation. Even though it was challenging to sell the
tickets to guests, as many declined to purchase our tickets, the group’s
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combined efforts, working together as a group, led to positive results in
fundraising money on behalf of the Lighthouse Foundation.
Lesson 4: Teamwork
As indicated above, the team was divided into various roles at
Fashion + Aid. One role specifically required volunteers to process
transactions for the purchases of raffle tickets using EFTPOS facilities
where guests opted to pay for the tickets using a credit or debit card.
Volunteers of the team who were given this specific task were
allocated various tables according to instructions given by Lighthouse
Foundation organisers. However, it was found that during the night it was
not always possible to focus on processing transactions for guests who
were seated only on the tables that volunteers had been allocated to. For
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example, all guests of a table of 12 in total may have decided to purchase
tickets using their credit cards. With one EFTPOS facility allocated to that
table, it would have been inefficient for the volunteer responsible for that
table to process all 12 transactions, given that there were a limited
number of EFTPOS facilities. To ensure that raffle ticket transactions could
be processed efficiently without guests needing to wait for prolonged
periods of time, another member of the team would assist the other
volunteer. With their combined efforts, the 12 transactions could be
processed more efficiently.
Another example of effective teamwork was when teams of two
were allocated to look after 6-8 tables of guests. Each team
collaboratively effectively to greet the guests, sell the raffle tickets, collect
pledges, oversee the live auctions and to answer any queries from the
guests.
Overall, all the volunteers on the night cooperated together
efficiently that allowed the event to be a success. Each member focused
on their specific roles and helped others when needed. The team did an
effective job in setting up, greeting guests and packing down and allowed
for the night to run smoothly. All the volunteers were happy to be part of
the team and to participate in such a wonderful event.
Lesson 5: Leadership
The team had five leaders who worked collaboratively to ensure
that the launch of the project would encourage students of the Faculty of
Business and Economics to volunteer at a charitable event - in accordance
with the objectives of enhancing the student to community experience,
student to faculty experience as well as the student to student
experiences as highlighted in the overview above. As soon as the project
was first formed, it was a challenge in deciding how the project was to be
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run and managed by five individuals who shared the same passion of
supporting good causes.
It was decided that the team would have one leader, Daphne, who
predominantly liaised with the Faculty and overall monitored the progress
of the project. The other leaders: Jane, Louise, Debra and Sean, also held
important roles in the team as they focused on tasks that were necessary
to ensure that the project could be carried out. For example, these
leaders researched and regularly contacted organisations to convey our
interests in supporting their causes and eventually reported their findings
to one another in weekly team meetings.
It was found to be effective for one member in the team to perform
oversight function over the project while others took the initiative and
assisted in other matters that were very essential to ensure the project
was a success.
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Our Recommendations
• Start contacting organisations early
• Keep in regular contact
• Stay focused and on task
• Select an effective leader to keep everyone in check
• Delegate and spread out responsibilities within the team
• Being constantly aware of time and resource constraints
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Acknowledgements Special mentions:
● Alison Richardson- Faculty liaison
● Gary Ryan - Leadership coach/mentor
Event organisers:
● Georgie Stayches - Lighthouse Foundation
● Gillian Essery - Trumpet Events
Our Project Sunshine team:
● Natalie Nguyen
● Mervyn Low
● Brendon Aplin
● Sean Shin
● Princy Mathew
● Hema Seenuth
● Phoebe Zhu
● Clarissa Dimitroff
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Sports Day Team Members
Gabriel Wong
Kai-Lee Looi Laurinda Grieve Shivo Arivalakan
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Overview As part of our PAL Leadership program, we had to create and host
an event involving the university community, through enhancing student
to student experiences.
We chose to conduct a sports afternoon
targeting international and first year students. We
aimed to provide an opportunity to promote friendship with other Monash
students, encouraging interaction and communication through fun
activities.
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Goals
Quantitative goals - To have at least 20 students attend our sports afternoon.
Qualitative goals - Have diverse range of students attend
- Have high levels of enthusiasm and interaction
- Foster a positive and encouraging atmosphere
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Our Plan
Our original ideas
Choosing the topic of our project
We brainstormed a variety of different ideas below:
3. Omelettes with Omelas
4. Shuttle Adventure
5. Menzies Lawn Sports
6. Bike Riding Journey
7. Sports Day
In the end, we decided on the theme of our project to include sports as
it offers a different method of interacting with individuals, overcoming the
difficulty for international students to communicate and forge new
friendships.
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Developing our idea
We developed a strategic plan based on the predicted outcome of
two scenarios. Initially we planned to have two to four different sports
depending on the turnout.
The first scenario was for if around 10 - 20 students came. We
would have three sports going - basketball, soccer and dodgeball.
The second scenario catered for if we have more than 20 students.
We aimed to have a larger variety of sports - basketball, soccer,
dodgeball, table tennis and tug-of-war. We wanted to choose sports that
didn’t need a extensive amount skill for and were to participate and
organise.
We decided to split the court by allocating half to soccer, a quarter
for half-court basketball and the remaining quarter for dodgeball. Table
tennis would be held in a different area, inside squash rooms where
people could also spectate matches if they wished. We agreed on hosting
a game of tug-of-war towards the end of the afternoon.
To get everyone involved in the sports,
we had a fixture based on a rotational
system.
We divided the afternoon into half hour games commencing from
3pm, and grouped students into six even groups, so each team could
have a taste of each different sport, as well as being exposed to
interacting with different people. We predicted that it would take an hour
at a maximum for people to settle down and to form groups.
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Action Plan We nominated Shivo to be the leader and spokesman of the group.
Action Who When Result
Email Alison with our
project idea to get
approval
Shivo February Idea approved -
change of date
suggested for second
semester
Contact Monash Sports to
book the venue and
discuss potential dates to
run the event in the
second semester as
suggested by Allison
Shivo March Opportunity given to
contact Michael Jones
who’s the director of
Sport at the Monash
Sports Centre
Develop our strategy for
the actual day, what
sports, facilities and
support we would
potentially need for the
event.
Everyone April Planned what sports to
play and anticipated
the numbers we could
expect.
Contacted Michael to pitch
idea to him
Shivo May Michael was supportive
of the idea
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Action Who When Result
Meet with Michael to seek
advice and coordinate with
semester 2 orientation
week.
Everyone End of
June
He suggested to run it
on the last day of o-
week on Friday the
20th July, Monash
Sports Day.
He gave us a rough
indication of the
numbers expected
which ranged from 10
to 100 students.
Promoting the event Everyone July Michael indicated that
Monash Sports would
advertise the event for
us.
Running the event Everyone July 20th See below
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What Happened The event was scheduled to start at 2pm with dodgeball.
2pm
Initially the afternoon was relatively slow moving, as predicted
earlier. Therefore we played dodgeball amongst ourselves to create a fun
atmosphere and appear inviting.
2.30pm
A group of
students came at this
time and were
interested in playing
soccer. So we divided
them up into 2 teams
and supervised the
game.
3pm
Another group of students
arrived so we switched
the sport to basketball.
We decided to get
involved to mix the teams
up.
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4pm
Another group of students joined in on the basketball game, so us
leaders retired from the game and supervised instead and provided some
excellent commentary!
5pm
Although the sports
day started slowly, we ended
with 30 students attending
the event throughout the
afternoon. Students were
engaged and getting along
well and everyone was able
to meet some new people
including the Leaders. It
turned out to be a fun and
therefore successful project!
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The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened?
Initially we have a very timed and detailed
plan, expecting people to arrive all at the same
time. However, on the day, the students turned
up in stages throughout the day. As a result,
we had adapt and be more flexible with our
planning and what sports people wanted to
play, to create a more fun and inviting
environment.
We were perhaps too focussed on the
potential turnout rather than catering for the
actual turnout. So we decided to help create a
relaxed and encouraging atmosphere, we
played music, sang and danced around.
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What We Learnt
Employability
Skills
Notes
Teamwork ● Working together
We leveraged the skills of each team member to
best benefit the project. Example Gabriel has
sporting knowledge so he was in charge of
refereeing the games.
Communication ● Planning phase
We used social media tools to aid in timely
communication between team members
● Event day
We discussed unanimously on decisions that had
to be made on the day, and ensured that everyone
agreed before executing our decision
Problem Solving ● Adaptability
We learnt to be more flexible with our event by
responding to what the participants wanted and
not what we had specifically planned to do.
Leadership ● Public Speaking
We learnt to take charge of situations that
required leadership and that people respond to
confidence.
Planning &
Organisation
● Strategy
We regularly held meetings to assist in forming an
effective plan that we could rely on on the event
day
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Life-long learning ● Initiative and investment in personal
development
We learnt to appreciate that if we are willing to put
in the time and effort to improve our skills such as
leadership, we can achieve greater results in the
long term.
● Time management
As this was an extracurricular activity, we had to
be very conscious of everyone’s timetables,
assignments and work commitments, so we used
time wisely.
Self-management
& personal vision
● Enhancement of leadership skills
We learnt a great deal about the soft skills
required to be a great leader.
Technology ● Facebook, Whatsapp & Google Docs
We used these social media tools to aid in
communication between team members which
kept us regularly updated with the progress of our
project, and helped us in organising meetings
Service excellence ● Verbal feedback
To keep a relaxed atmosphere, we regularly asked
them what sports they wanted to play or what
they wanted to do next
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Our Recommendations ● Have a flexible plan in the event of unexpected turnout
● Utilise all available technology to aid in communicating with team
members
● noting that we have a relatively small group, it may be difficult for
larger groups to communicate effectively on their decision making
process, therefore they should establish a planned structure on how
to resolve conflicting ideas
● leverage strengths of each team member
Acknowledgements ● Gary Ryan, Director of Organisations That Matter
● Alison Richardson, Director of PAL Leadership Program, Monash
University
● Michael Jones, Director of Sports, Monash Sports Centre
● Marco Zhang, Participant in PAL Leadership Program
● Jess Phengramsy, Ambassador from PAL Program
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Melbourne Zoo Day Trip Team Members
● Bharath Srinivasan
● Cheryl Law
● Darren Ma
● Demi Patras
● Fergie Ly
● Jacquie Howard
● Natalie Tyrer
● Paolo Tarray
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Overview The broad scope of the projects is that they MUST target 1st year
students (Peers) and focus on:
· Enhancing student the student to student experience
· Enhancing the student to Faculty experience
· Enhancing the Faculty to community experience
Goals
Quantitative Goals ● To get an attendance of approximately 30 students.
● Price minimization when pricing tickets.
Qualitative Goals ● Enhance the international student experience at Monash.
● Promote teamwork and communication amongst unfamiliar faces.
● Make new friends.
● To have a great day out!
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Our Plan ● Initial project idea was to go to Sovereign Hill.
● Sovereign Hill plan included task development such as
transportation and ticket prices.
● Rethink of project to change to day trip to Melbourne Zoo.
● Developed and allocated tasks to team members. This included
food, transportation, contacting the zoo, marketing and ticket
pricing.
● Promote our event in o-week
● Call the zoo up and see if we can get cheaper group tickets, with
the hope of donating proceeds to Zoo charity.
● Create Facebook event to reach students through social media.
● Create activities to promote collaboration and group communication
between the students.
● Food on the day - given sunny weather, we were going to have a
barbeque and if the weather was wet then pizza in a sheltered area.
● We also planned to donate part of the proceeds from tickets sale to
charity we also thought about adopting a zoo animal
● Transport - considered different means including bus, train or
meeting at the zoo
● Price tickets to be fair and affordable for international and new
students
● Meet consistently to ensure efficient communication between the
leaders and update the group as the project developed.
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What Happened During Planning
● Formulated Facebook group to ensure smooth communication within
the group
● Each individual team member was assigned to work on a specific
task, as follows:
● We consistently scheduled meetings on Facebook to update the
group on each member’s progress
● We researched food prices and options to cater for the planned
barbeque on the day. Furthermore, we researched pizza prices and
covered locations in the case of bad weather.
● We researched possible charity contribution
● Discussed ticket prices, whether to use public transport and get
students to purchase their own transport to lower costs, food costs,
charity costs and entry to the zoo.
Organising
● Determined the ticket prices - to charge a lower price we excluded
charity, transport and food from the price in order to increase
affordability for students
● We contacted the zoo to enquire about discounted group ticket
prices, however they did not offer this.
● We created tickets and fliers for marketing and promotion.
● Spoke to the new international students during orientation at
Caulfield and Clayton campus and signed up interested students.
● Created a Facebook page for the event, to reach students through
social media, setting up points of contact for students to easily
reach leaders and purchase tickets
● Set up ticket sales during weekly barbeque event on Caulfield
campus
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● Formulated activities for the students to complete on the day, to
increase teamwork and bonding
● Due to small numbers we decided to buy lunch at the Zoo and not
do the barbeque
● we designed our own event tickets
On the Actual Day
● Met all the participants at
Caulfield campus then we caught
a train to the zoo
● We bought our tickets ourselves
since we thought it was easier
● Met at Caulfield campus and
planned to meet
● Caught public transport to
Melbourne Zoo
● Distributed scavenger hunt
activity sheet
● Split up into two groups and ran
the activities with the students,
while walking around the zoo
● Stopped for lunch during the tour
of the zoo as a group, which promoted integration between the
groups
● Had an award ceremony at the end of the day for participating
students.
● Travelled back to Caulfield campus as a group, where we finished
the day.
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The Differences Between Our Plan And What Happened?
● Had an awards ceremony at the zoo for participating students
● Did not have a barbeque but instead had an intimate group lunch
which allowed for greater interaction between the students and
formed friendships
● Did not give to charity in order to lower ticket pricing for students
● Had a lower attendance of students than planned, however this
proved to be more manageable for the leaders
● We had planned to start selling tickets earlier however we left it too
late and therefore did not maximise ticket sales
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What We Learned Teamwork and Communication
● How to tailor your communication style to appeal to certain people.
● How to communicate effectively to people from different cultural
and ethnic backgrounds.
● Influencing others is a lot harder than it seems and demands the
individual to try alternate means.
● How to resolve group disputes using an open forum which allowed
people to voice their opinions.
● How essential Facebook is in communicating with people with busy
schedules.
● Finding a way to balance group members outside commitments with
the groups commitments and task
● Development of Public speaking as some members of our team
promoted the event during orientation
Problem Solving
● Adjusting plans to deal with conflicts and issues that arise on the
day effectively- weather, group size etc.
● Coming up with alternatives and plans when faced with problems
and difficulties- Change from sovereign hill to Melbourne zoo due to
the travel, time and cost restraints
Leadership
● Effectively delivering ideas and plans to the participates in a fun and
non-controlling way
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Our Recommendations ● Make a plan and stick with it.
● Use different methods to recruit potential participants - don’t just
rely on social media and posters.
● Get started as early as possible - every day will count leading up to
your event.
● Have contingency plans - in our case, the weather or what to do
when you don’t achieve the numbers you expected.
● Have a more detailed plan on what is happening on the day, so you
know what is happening, when it is happening and where it is
happening.
● Find a common day to meet and commit to it. Having group
meetings whether in person or online all together was essential in
ensuring that everyone was on the same page.
● Make the group size appropriate for the event - we feel that 8
people were too large when coordinating plans and meetings.
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Acknowledgements ● Ali Richardson from Monash University
● Gary Ryan from Organisations That Matter
● The friendly staff at Melbourne Zoo
● Fellow leaders as they provided advice
Thank
You!!!