Informatics & Communication Dean Associate Professor Kevin Tickle presented IC-Assist and Peer Assist students with Certificates of Appreciation at a lunch on Tuesday.

Students Brendan Dodd, Irene Ferguson, Andrew Binnie, Clinton Hayes, Dan White and Brad Hansen were all recognised for assisting first-year students with the benefit of their experience beyond the call of duty.

The Peer Assistance team was set up mid term, by Dr Kathy Egea, the First Year Coordinator for the Faculty, as a trial to support Programming B students with additional individual help.

Chosen for their communication skills and recent high achievement in Programming B, the Peer Assistants worked with on-campus students in Rockhampton and FLEX mode students via email.

Rockhampton Programming B student Aaron McDonald stated that he enjoyed the benefit of a different perspective, learning on a one-to-one basis and in a more relaxed teaching environment.

Course coordinator Steve Ohl indicated that pass rates have improved by more than 15%, and one of the measures behind the success is the Peer Assist program.

IC Assist, another InfoCom student support service, was established in the mid-90s when it was known as the MC-Hotline.

This student team offers assistance with general problems associated with assignments, tutorial questions and textbook exercises, as well as offering suggestions on useful resources and different approaches to tackling assignment questions for all first-year InfoCom courses.

Kathy Egea, Jeff Young and Associate Professor Tickle all agreed that this was a fantastic project that has been successful thanks to the dedication of the student assistants.

Pictured (bottom from left), Brad Hansen, Andrew Binnie, Irene Ferguson, with First-Year Coordinator Dr Kathy Egea. (top from left), Brendan Dodd, IC Assist Coordinator Jeff Young and Irene Ferguson.