Adjusting to university life is a difficult challenge for many new students. However, students who choose to live on campus face the added issue of learning to live way from home.
The University of Wollongong’s Kooloobong Villlage has adopted a unique approach to help its residents settle into campus life. Branding itself as “the world’s first positive residence”, Kooloobong has focused on the principles of positive psychology for its residential program.
Kooloobong Assistant Student Residence Manager Jodie Lawer said the positive psychology approach has been effective, and many students engage with the community.
“Because we’re still new, and the program is new, we don’t have that much trend data on it, but the trend data that we do have is that the numbers are definitely increasing,” Ms Lawer said.