In the 2018 Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF) Survey approximately 67% of respondents identified promoting the health or welfare of students and helping students obtain employment or advice on careers as the top two areas of importance for SSAF expenditure.
In response to this the Griffith University Postgraduate Students Association (GUPSA) joined with the SRC to pilot the Wellness Advocacy and Leadership Initiative (WALi) at the end of 2018, before a full launch in Trimester 1 this year. Our WALi team through our Wellness HQs have to date engaged with hundreds of students in discussions about mental health and wellbeing. One of the things these discussions have highlighted are the difficulties students face when trying to access counselling appointments for ongoing support. As well as WALi, in trimester 1 GUPSA sponsored Student Success to trial a peer mentoring program for postgraduate and HDR students; GUPSA will be continuing this program from trimester 2 onwards as part of our ongoing support for all postgraduate and HDR students.
