Enrichment Programs

UniHall is proud to have strong connections with the academic community at UWA, and residents have the unique opportunity to network with members of the UWA academic community at Faculty Dinners.

Focused on particular fields of study, each Faculty Dinner brings together professors and tutors from UWA with a small group of residents to allow meaningful discussions and insights to be shared.  In 2019, the Faculty Dinners were very popular, allowing students Commerce and Human Sciences to connect with various academic staff from their faculties.

The Academic Debate is an engaging way the UniHall community promotes in academic thinking. Students come together to build arguments for or against certain topics, argue these to the UniHall community in a lively debate, and take live questions from the audience. Residents benefit as they practise research-based critical thinking when forming compelling arguments to the debate topics, as well as practising public speaking to a live audience.

In 2020, the Academic Advancement Team are presenting an online debate with UniHall residents arguing if residents should be allowed to keep pets at UniHall and if Climate Change is the greatest threat facing humanity today.

UniHall is lucky to be home to a large community of postgraduate students.

The UniHall Talks event shines the spotlight on postgraduate students at UniHall, as residents share the progress and learnings of the unique and meaningful research they’re pursuing at UWA. This is also an opportunity for fellow residents to discover the various postgraduate avenues available at UWA, and helps connect residents with others in the same field of study.

University Hall is proud to provide an environment where residents can achieve their potential and excel in their studies, with more than 30% of all residents achieving only Distinction or High Distinction grades.

University Hall recognises and celebrates this high academic attainment at an Academic Celebration event each year.  

UniHall residents are encouraged to pursue all aspects of the Arts with the support of the Arts Committee. The Committee hosts a range of events and programs that encompass music, visual art, digital art, photography, dance, acting and so much more. With a Student Music Committee sub-committee, UniHall’s two music rooms and instruments are kept in quality condition for students to use year-round. 

A highlight from 2019

The Student Music Committee imagined, directed and produced a show-stopping LipDub video featuring UniHall residents and staff, which won the 2019 College Row Lip Dub competition.

The Community Advocates Committee supports residents as they advocate for causes and issues close to their hearts; raising awareness and promoting inclusion among our community. Two sub-committees within Community Advocates is the LGBTIQA+ Committee and the Access and Mental Health Committee, who facilitate events and initiatives that promote inclusion and awareness for their respective causes within the UniHall community.  

A highlight from 2019

The Community Advocates Committee brought the UniHall community its first ever PRIDE Weekend, featuring an array of events that celebrated diversity and inclusion for the LGBTIQA+ community, including a lip-sync battle, a movie night and quiz night.

The Community Service Committee helps residents to connect with volunteering and outreach opportunities that benefit the wider community.  Through theses events and initiatives, residents make a valuable difference to causes from local to global scale.

A highlight from 2019

UniHallers came together to assemble birthing kits for disadvantaged women across the globe, in collaboration with the Western Australian Medical Students’ Society. 

The Environment Committee promotes environmentally conscious practices at UniHall and among all residents. The Committee also works in collaboration with other UniHall Committees and with the UniHall team to promote environmental sustainability during events and programs.

A highlight from 2019

The Environment Committee spearheaded the Market Stall and Op Shop initiatives, encouraging residents to donate goods to UniHall instead of throwing them into the rubbish when departing from UniHall, all in the name of reducing waste. The Committee then washed all items and held Market Stalls and Op Shops for incoming residents to gather useful household goods for their time at UniHall, all free of charge. 

In 2020

This year, the Committee have been advocating various ways in which people can be more environmentally conscious in their daily lives, from washing laundry, to recycling and composting.

Promoting overall health and wellbeing in the lives of all residents at UniHall, the Health and Wellbeing Committee arrange events and initiatives for residents right throughout the year. The Committee also has Food Committee that gives residents a platform to communicate feedback and ideas for the Dining Hall, a social sports program to provide residents with an avenue for group sport and an Outdoor Club that arranges regular trips around Western Australia for residents to explore our state and engage in outdoor activities like hiking, zip lining and more.

Highlight from 2019

The creation of the student-led Outdoor Club was a great addition to the program, helping residents to stay active and to explore the wider community.  The Committees knitting workshops also became a fan favourite event, providing students not only the opportunity to do craft, but to come together to relax and unwind in a social environment at UniHall. 

In 2020

While outdoor trips were put on hold after their first trip to the Perth Aqua Park due to the COVID-19 response, the Outdoor Club has supported residents to stay active by creating videos and activities of exercises that residents can complete in the comfort of their own room. 

The Sites4Good program is a joint initiative between UniHall and digital agency Unleash Design that supports residents to build digital marketing and project management experience. Residents work in teams to build websites for small to medium sized charities in Australia; but this program is more than just coding. The real benefits for residents come from real world experience in client liaison, project management, working in teams, and learning website best practice. 

So far in 2020

Teams have been working remotely, meeting online each week to continue collaborative work on a number of charity websites.

The HiRez Media internship gives residents a taste of the media production world, working in a mini production team at UniHall. Working on video and other digital media projects, residents learn all aspects of the craft, from briefing and client liaison, to filming, production and editing. Plus, the team is mentored by industry experts, to ensure their skills and work is aligned with best practice.

So far in 2020

The HiRez team have been busy producing many campaign materials for the UniHall community, from online event videos in Multicultural Week, to fun cooking tutorials for the Community Connections Health and Wellbeing team. 

This full-year program supports students to hone their leadership skills through a range of specific training, mentoring and project-based work. Students learn key attributes of successful leadership, and get real value in applying those learnings in practise as they create and deliver a range of projects for the University Hall community. With this experience, residents gain real world leadership experience within a team environment, while developing important professional and interpersonal skills required for their career progression.

So far in 2020

Two teams in the Pathways to Leadership Program have each delivered a week-long series of events to engage UniHall residents in central theme. 

The first Pathways to Leadership team delivered UniHall's first ever fully-online week of events in early April for Healthy U Week, which included online fitness classes, quizzes and zoom meetings promoting different ways to maintain overall health. 

The second Pathways to Leadership team crafted online events celebrating diversity and different cultures for Multicultural Week. This week saw many collaborative efforts with other UniHall programs, from online videos sharing different languages developed in conjunction with the HiRez interns, to an online language exchange zoom meeting with the Academic team.

In this program University Hall joins forces with Illuminance Training to provide training and education in the latest IT digital enterprise tools for indigenous students.

Starting with training in Office 365, students gain the latest information about the program’s applications and effectiveness for the professional environment. This can lead students to further opportunities, training and internships within the ICT environment.