The Victoria University Student Leadership Awards recognise and celebrate our students for their leadership roles and outstanding achievements in co-curricular and extracurricular activities.

You are an ideal candidate if you:

  • play a significant leadership role within or beyond Victoria University
  • improve the quality of the student experience.

Applications for the Student Leadership Awards are now closed.

Key dates for 2021 awards

  • Applications open Wednesday 28 July 2021.
  • Applications close 9am Monday 20 September 2021.
  • Awards ceremony Thursday 18 November 2021.
A large indoor photo of a diverse group of approx 20 award winners

Awards ceremony

Applicants who have been shortlisted in their award category will be invited to attend the awards ceremony on Thursday 18 November and may be asked to prepare additional materials.

Details will be confirmed closer to the date.

Award recipients will be announced at the ceremony.

Last year's virtual Student Leadership Awards ceremony was held on Thursday 19 November 2020.

Watch the ceremony.

Applications

Applications for the Student Leadership Awards are now open.

All students enrolled in any unit of study during the 2021 calendar year at Victoria University and Victoria University Polytechnic (VU) are eligible to apply for a Student Leadership Award.

The Student Leadership Awards do not cover sporting or academic achievements, please refer to the VU Sport Awards, or contact your discipline college for information about college academic awards.

Applicants must be prepared to give evidence that:

  • they are enrolled or have been enrolled in the current year
  • they have not been the subject of any substantiated misconduct claims.

Previous award recipients cannot apply for the same award in the subsequent year.

You may attach up to two A4 pages of supporting evidence as part of your application (e.g. testimonials, references, photographs, press cuttings etc). Links to external sources (Dropbox, Google Docs etc.) will not be considered.

You may also submit one video of up to 2 minutes duration as additional supporting evidence. 

When answering the Selection Criteria it is recommended that you apply the STAR technique.

The STAR technique provides a framework for presenting information in response to Selection Criteria. It’s a way of providing clear examples or evidence of your skills, knowledge and approach to work. For each criterion, use the following elements to structure your answers.

Situation

Describe the situation/environment you were in.

Task

What goal were you working toward?

Action

What did you do? Set out the steps you took to achieve the result. Be detailed.

Result

What was the outcome? What did you accomplish? Did you achieve the goal you set out to achieve? What did you learn? Promote yourself and your achievements.

Application writing assistance

The Student Leadership team is available for one-on-one appointments (via Zoom or Webex) to assist you with writing and submitting your application, when they are open.

Email [email protected] to ask questions about the application process or to make an appointment for assistance.

Related

Contact the Student Leadership team

Individual awards

This award recognises a current Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander VU student for their contribution to Victoria University and to the wider Aboriginal community.

The recipient of the Moondani Balluk Aboriginal Student Award will be selected by Moondani Balluk.

The recipient of this award will receive a $300 prize.

This award recognises an outstanding Student as Staff (SaS) employee for their outstanding work performance or service to the University.

The recipient of this award will receive a $300 prize. 

Additional eligibility criteria

Must have worked in a Student as Staff role at VU in the current year.

Selection criteria

  1. Describe your role as a Student as Staff, and how your activities have made a significant contribution to improving the quality of the student experience within and/or beyond VU.
  2. Describe a situation(s) where you have implemented positive change through your role as a Student as Staff.
  3. Provide an example of a time when you have used initiative in your role to solve a problem or implement a new idea.
  4. Tell us how your activities align with one or more of VU's Values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together

Additional evidence

Must supply a written reference from current VU supervisor or provide details for us to complete a reference check.

Please ask your supervisor to fill in this Student as Staff reference template.

This award recognises the outstanding contribution of a current Victoria University student to the Victoria University and/or broader community through volunteering. The applicant must have completed a volunteer activity either through VU or in the community during the current year.

The recipient of this award will receive a $300 prize.

Selection criteria

  1. Describe the volunteering activities you undertook.
  2. Describe how you found and engaged in the volunteer activities.
  3. Provide examples of how your involvement as a volunteer benefited the VU and/or broader community and tell us what the positive impact was.
  4. Tell us about the skills you have developed through participating in volunteering activities.
  5. Tell us how your activities align with one or more of VU's Values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together

Additional evidence

Must supply a written reference from Volunteer Supervisor or provide details for us to complete a reference check.

Please ask your supervisor to fill in this volunteer reference template.

Related

VU Spirit awards

The VU Spirit awards recognise students who have gone above and beyond in their leadership and engagement activities at Victoria University.  There are four student categories for the VU Spirit Award:

  • Victoria University Polytechnic student
  • Undergraduate student
  • Postgraduate student
  • International student.

This award recognises the outstanding contribution of a current VU international student to the VU community; this student embraces what it means to be an international student at Victoria University: the University of Opportunity and Success.

The recipient of this award will receive a $300 prize.

Additional eligibility criteria

Must be an international student enrolled at an Australian VU campus.

Selection criteria

  1. Describe what you have done to benefit the VU and/or broader international student community and tell us what the impact was.
  2. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your critical thinking/problem solving and/or creativity skills.
  3. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your communication and/or collaboration skills.
  4. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your persistence, adaptability and/or social and cultural awareness.
  5. Tell us how your activities align with one or more of VU's values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together.

This award recognises the outstanding contribution of a current VU undergraduate student to the VU community; this student embraces what it means to be an undergraduate student at Victoria University: the University of Opportunity and Success.

The recipient of this award will receive a $300 prize.

Additional eligibility criteria

Must be a current VU undergraduate student.

Selection criteria

  1. Describe what you have done to benefit the VU and/or broader undergraduate student community and tell us what the impact was.
  2. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your critical thinking / problem solving and/or creativity skills
  3. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your communication and/or collaboration skills
  4. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your persistence, adaptability and/or social and cultural awareness
  5. Tell us how your activities align with one or more of VU's Values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together.

This award recognises the outstanding contribution of a current VU postgraduate coursework or research student to the VU community; this student embraces what it means to be a postgraduate student at Victoria University: the University of Opportunity and Success.

The recipient of this award will receive a $300 prize.

Additional eligibility criteria

Must be either a coursework or research postgraduate student.

Selection criteria

  1. Describe what you have done to benefit the VU and/or broader postgraduate student community and tell us what the impact was.
  2. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your critical thinking / problem solving and/or creativity skills
  3. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your communication and/or collaboration skills
  4. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your persistence, adaptability and/or social and cultural awareness
  5. Tell us how your activities align with one or more of VU's Values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together

This award recognises outstanding leadership and involvement in co-curricular and/or extracurricular activities of a Victoria University Polytechnic student.

The recipient of this award will receive a $300 prize.

Additional eligibility criteria

Must be a current Victoria University Polytechnic student.

Selection criteria

  1. Describe what you have done to benefit the VU and/or broader VU Polytechnic/TAFE student community and tell us what the impact was.
  2. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your critical thinking/ problem solving and/or creativity skills.
  3. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your communication and/or collaboration skills.
  4. Tell us about how participating in these activities helped you develop your persistence, adaptability and/or social and cultural awareness.
  5. Tell us how your activities align with one or more of VU's Values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together.
Volunteers picking up rubbish

Related

Team awards

Established in 2018, this award recognises the outstanding achievements of a Student Group that was established this year and has benefited its members and the wider VU community. 

The recipients of this award will receive a $600 team prize.

Additional eligibility criteria

  • Must be a Student Club, Society or Student Association that newly affiliated in the current year
  • Must have had no breaches of the VU Student Leadership & Representation Policy
  • Must have hosted at least one event (including online events) in the current year
  • Must pass the 2021 Financial Audit.

Selection criteria

  1. Describe the mission/purpose of your Student Group and how your activities this year have served this mission.
  2. Provide examples of how your Student Group’s activities have benefited your members this year.
  3. Provide examples of how your executive committee has worked well as a team this year.
  4. Tell us how your activities align with one or more of VU's Values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together.

Established in 2018, this award recognises outstanding student groups for their achievements and success in meeting their mission.

The recipients of this award will receive a $600 team prize.

Additional eligibility criteria

  • Must have had no breaches of the VU Student Leadership & Representation Policy
  • Must have attended an O-Fest activity (including online events) in the current year
  • Must have hosted 2+ events (including online events) in the current year
  • Must pass 2021 Financial Audit

Selection criteria

  1. Describe the mission/purpose of your Student Group and how your activities this year have served this mission.
  2. Provide examples of how your executive committee has worked well as a team this year.
  3. Provide examples of how your activities have benefited your members this year.
  4. Describe how your Student Group has benefited the VU and/or broader community in 2021.
  5. Tell us how your activities align with one or more of VU's Values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together.

Established in 2019, this Award recognises the most creative and successful Student Group promotional activity.

The recipients of this award will receive a $200 team prize.

Additional eligibility criteria

  • Must be an affiliated Student Club, Society or Student Association
  • Must have had no breaches of the VU Student Leadership & Representation Policy
  • Must have attended an O-Fest activity (including online events) in 2021
  • Must pass 2021 Clubs Financial Audit

Selection Criteria

  1. Describe the mission/purpose of your Student Group and how your activities this year have served this mission.
  2. Provide examples of how your activities have benefited your members this year.
  3. Describe your promotional activity.
  4. What was the objective of your Student Group’s promotion and describe how you measured whether it was a successful.
Greek Club at O-Fest 2020

Related

Special awards

This award recognises an individual or group of current Victoria University students for a project that seeks to improve the health and wellbeing of our local and global communities, and the planet.

The recipient of this award will receive a $300 prize for an individual or a $600 prize for a team.

Selection criteria

  1. Describe what planetary health problem your project aimed to solve and how it addressed that problem in an innovative way.
  2. Provide examples of how your or your team’s activities have benefited the VU community and/or broader community and tell us what the impact was.
  3. Describe how your or your team’s developments have resulted in learning for your team and/or others.
  4. Tell us how your activities align with one or more of VU's Values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together.

This award is sponsored by Alumni Relations.

The Victoria University Alumni community includes 260,000 graduates living and working in over 136 countries. If you are a graduate from VU, Victoria University Polytechnic or any of our predecessor or off shore institutions you automatically become a lifelong member of our alumni community.

Our alumni live the VU values of Always WEST: Welcoming, Ethical, Shaping the future, being Together. This award, proudly supported by the Alumni Relations team, has been designed to help the recipient receive the best chance of achieving their goals as they transition from student to employee.

This peak award includes a 12-month mentorship from an alumni leader in your chosen area and a cash prize to help you kick start your professional wardrobe or invest in some tech.

Eligibility criteria

  • Must be a student at Victoria University completing or just completed their final year of study in 2021
  • Must have participated in at least one VU Leadership Activity (e.g. LEAD Program, Students as Partners, Clubs Executive, VU Academy, VU Hanger, Talent Connect etc.)

Selection criteria

  1. Outline how you have made strong progress with your academic pursuits during your time at VU.
  1. Describe how you have made clear and positive voluntary contributions to their community; which may be the student community and/or the broader community. Please differentiate as clearly as possible between voluntary and paid work.
  1. Please give examples of how you operate in a way that encourages and supports inclusion, diversity, excellence and respect.
  1. Outline how you plan to interact with, and get the most from, your mentor experience if you are the recipient of the award.
  1. Provide any further information to support your nomination which has not already been provided in the Award criteria responses. This may include, for example, any particular challenges you have overcome in your journey to success and any information not covered by the Award criteria that may support the overall nomination.

Optional additional information

Provide supporting testimonials from lecturers, colleagues, community leaders or peers to demonstrate why you are deserving of this award.

Mr Raj Kannan is one of Victoria University’s distinguished 90 Legends. He graduated from Footscray Institute of Technology (FIT) in 1988 with a Bachelor of Engineering.  He is currently Partner and Executive Director, Deloitte Consulting South East Asia. He was President of the Overseas Student Association and Co-President of the Student Representative Council and involved in other student leadership activities.  Mr Kannan believes that the leadership experience he gained at FIT was invaluable to his later career and as such he is passionate about giving back to the University.

As a result Mr Kannan has established a scholarship that will support and encourage students to undertake leadership activities at VU. This prestigious award comes with a prize in the form of a $5,000 scholarship.

Additional eligibility criteria

  • Must be an undergraduate student enrolled at Victoria University and not in the final year of study
  • Must have participated in at least one VU Leadership Activity (e.g. LEAD Program, Students as Partners, Clubs Executive, VU Academy, VU Hanger, VU Student Union Board Member etc.).

Selection criteria

  1. High-level leadership experience: give examples of how you have demonstrated leadership that has benefited your fellow students and the VU community.
  2. Championing social inclusion: give examples of participation in causes or activities that champion social inclusion, cultural diversity, and equity.
  3. Leadership skills: describe how you are taking responsibility for developing your leadership skills. Please give examples.
  4. Using your scholarship: give examples of how you would use this scholarship to further your leadership and professional development or to further your education.
  5. Support from the VU community: provide 2 supporting testimonials from mentors or peers to demonstrate why you are deserving of this award.

Recipient obligations

The recipient will be required to provide a report to the Scholarships office for VU and the donor showcasing their activities and impact of receiving the award.

The recipient will be required to sit on the Selection Panel to determine the Raj Kannan Leadership Scholarship recipient for the following year.

The recipient will also have the opportunity to participate in the Student Leadership Awards ceremony as a presenter or student host.

Related