With QUT sending out over 10,500 offers to students for Semester 1 2020, there’s going to be plenty of new faces on campus, maybe you’re one of them. If so, welcome! There’s a world of things waiting for you at QUT, far beyond just your lectures and tutorials. (although, definitely go to them. Even if they’re at 8 am) This is my rundown of all the things I wish I knew in my first semester, instead of learning them over time in the three years I’ve been at QUT. Disclaimer: I don’t know everything yet, so if you know something I don’t please let me know and I’ll update the article!
QUT Campuses
Kelvin Grove
There’s plenty of amazing things at Kelvin Grove to check out, it’s not just CI students! Although, if you were looking for a CI student, here is where you’d find them.
Coffee Shops: The Menagerie, Beadles on the Quad, Brewed Awakening, The Boys Coffee, Earth and Steam and Cost Price Cafe
Bars: The Grove Bar
Notable things on campus: Gym, QUT Guild Office, A Woolworths Shopping Precinct, HiQ, QUT Guild Corner Store, Post Office, QUT Medical Centre and Counselling, The Sphere, Food Court, Library, Ping Pong Court (in Library) and QUT Sports Facilities, Parking, 24-hour computer labs.
Close to: La Boite Theatre, CBD, Suncorp Stadium
In Between
There’s a free shuttle bus to take you between Kelvin Grove and Garden’s Point and it’s free for students. Flash your ID Card and you’ll be good to go.
Garden’s Point
Oh, GP. Catch Law, Business and Law AND Business students, alongside your engineering pals and the like over this way, plus QUT’s (in)famous bar.
Coffee Shops: Merlo, Zeus by Humanity, Gerbino’s, The Pantry, QUT Bookshop and Cafe, Aroma Cafe, Raw Press Cafe,
Bars: The Botanic Bar (Say hi to Josh Mendes when you visit.)
Notable things on campus: QUT Medical Centre and Counselling, Food Court, Library, Gym, HiQ, QUT Art Museum, Garden’s Theatre, The Cube, QUT Corner Store, Law Library, Business Lounge, Chancellery, Main Drive, Parking, 24-hour computer labs.
Close to: Botanic Gardens, Riverstage, Ferry Terminal, Goodwill Bridge to Southbank, CBD, Parliament House, Speaker’s Corner
QUT
Student Leadership and Development Program
The Leadership and Development Team offer students opportunities out of the classroom to learn and grow in a new environment. Enhance your university experience with workshops, conferences and activities for your personal and professional development.
QUT has security on campus to help you feel safe while you study. They offer after-hours services and can walk you to your car if you’re up studying late in the library, and have a hotline and an app to access on your smartphone called SafeZone.
Studying overseas is the opportunity of a lifetime. You can travel to over 40 countries during your degree for a short course, semester or year abroad. QUT will help you to organise the trip and enrollments and has some services to help manage the cost of travel, too.
QUT has a range of scholarships for high achievement, equity, sporting and identity groups available to its students. These may range from a one-off grant to the full coverage of your degree. Give the scholarships page a check out to see if one is right for you!
This university welcomes people of all faiths and has a multifaith chaplaincy available to students. If you are a Muslim student need a space to do your daily prayers. There are prayer rooms for both brothers and sisters on both campuses available to you, as well as Jumu’ah on Fridays at 1 pm. For all faiths, you can come to the chaplaincy and make yourself tea and coffee, take a break from the rest of campus, engage in quiet reflection, meditation, prayer or worship and talk to a chaplain if you wish.
The Ally Network is a range of services and support for LGBTQIA+ staff and students. Anyone of any sexuality can become an ally in the network, and works towards making sure QUT is a safe, inclusive and diverse community.
Medical Centre and Counselling
QUT has two medical centres and two counselling facilities, one set for each campus. They have fully qualified doctors, nurses and counsellors to help you out if you’re sick. The service is free for QUT Students, so it’s a great option when paying for your GP just isn’t in the budget. They’ve been my local GP the whole time I’ve been at uni, and they’re top-notch. The counselling does get very busy each semester, but there are drop-in sessions available each day if you need someone to talk to.
QUT Guild
QUT Guild Advocacy
Advocacy can help you with basically anything, or at least, they can point you in the right direction. They can help with special considerations, deferred exam applications, appeals against exclusion, defending student misconduct allegations and helping you if you need to make a complaint. The Advocacy team is dedicated and kind and they’re the faces you want to see when you need a bit of help.
Clubs
There are hundreds of clubs at QUT to join, participate in and find friends with. There are clubs for faculties, sports, international students, special interests, religion and social justice, so you’re sure to find one for you.
Free Breakfast
Free Breakfasts will be kicking off again in Semester One. Follow along on the QUT Guild Facebook Page to see what’s being served up each week. It will be once per week on each campus, for all the students who don’t have the time or resources to get breakfast for themselves.
Legal and Tax Help
QUT Guild offers free legal advice (Note: Just advice, not representation) on Family Law, Estate Law, Personal injury and Immigration Law. At tax time, students have access to Tax Help, a free and confidential service to help you complete your tax return.
Little Emergencies
Across women and all gendered bathrooms on campus, you can find a bucket with pads and tampons available for, well, little emergencies. The program began in 2019 and is continuing into 2020. Yay, free tampons!
GLASS Magazine
Oh hey, it’s us! We’re GLASS, and we showcase student work and bring you the news that matters. We’re online and in print, so we hope you stick around!
CPR & First Aid Courses
Whether you need to do it for your own personal interest or your degree, QUT Guild offers competitive pricing on CPR and First Aid Courses over the year.
Times get tough. If you find yourself in a pinch and need a little bit of help to get you through the week, the food bank is here for you. It’s available on both campuses, no questions asked policy. Find out more information on the Guild website.
Social Sport Program
Sport is a great way to keep doing what you love once you finish uni, have a bit of friendly competition and fit a bit of exercise into your schedule. The QUT Guild offers a whole heap of social team sports to participate in throughout the year, get a team together and start playing!
The Guild does a whole lot of other things, too. But I’ll save some of those for another post.
Again, welcome to QUT and I hope your first semester goes smoothly! These are just a few of the services that you can access (mostly) for free at QUT, and you definitely should feel confident using any that you need.
