Coronavirus in Ballarat: Fed Uni's international students are helping each other through COVID-19 isolation

Ishaan Vij chose to come to Ballarat from his home town of Delhi in India to complete a masters in information technology in enterprise systems and business analytics, and combines his studies with acting as volunteer member of the university's residential advisory team and working part time at a petrol station.

Still employed, he considers himself luckier than some of his fellow students who have lost their part time jobs in recent weeks, and is acutely aware of how the COVID-19 crisis is impacting students who are studying far from their families.

His role on the residential advisory team means he helps students with any day to day problems, financial matters, tech issues and anything that impacts their wellbeing.

"The feeling here is not that good about being away from families at this time. If I need to travel back to my homeland I can't ... but we have adjusted to stay where we are and it's the safest step we can take to stay here," he said.

"It gives us a sense of security that we are safe, even though we can't travel back to see our parents but it also gives us motivation to keep studying because this is our home and where we are staying for the year now."

Making it easier for the more than 100 international students living in the university's residences at the Mount Helen campus is the generous assistance package available to all students from Federation University who are struggling with the changes wrought by COVID-19.

Students can access up to $300 a week depending on their circumstances, there are vouchers available for groceries, prepared meals, fees and living payments can be postponed and many other measures.

"A lot of people have lost their jobs and are being forced to rely on these assistance packages ... because most people have a buffer for a month or two after and that need support to get by."

Members of the residential advisory team also have some mental health training so they can support others living on campus. He said most people were coping quite well, with technology helping maintain contact with friends, family and their studies.

Mr Vij said the move to online learning had been a tough transition for some, but in the long run it would would reap rewards for the students and members of the community forced to learn new IT skills for their education and jobs.

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"We had some technical problems and those of us from an IT background helped guide them step by step through what to install to attend lectures and classes online.

"It's a blessing in disguise to learn these new things. I think it will save time on travel, meetings online, increase productivity and efficiency ... we have to look at the positives to come out of this."

There are almost 900 international students enrolled at Federation University in Ballarat and most are riding out the crisis in residences on campus and homes around the city.

With the university year starting the first week of March, most international students enrolled in Fed Uni courses were here before Australia's borders closed on March 20, and now face an unknown length of time before they can return to their home countries.

Many who were working part time jobs to support the cost of their studies have now lost those jobs amid the coronavirus crisis and the university has stepped in to support all students, not just international students, who are struggling.

There are 107 international students living on the Mount Helen campus, with the remainder in private accommodation.

All local and international students in residences have access to fully equipped kitchens as well as help to access groceries and home delivery food services, and thousands of frozen meals will be held on each campus for distribution to students as an additional support.

International students also have access to health and medical services on campus, and access to a range of scholarship programs that offer financial help with tuition and study fees has also been opened.

Earlier this month Federation University launched a, financial assistance package providing eligible students with $300 a week for an initial five weeks if they are experience financial hardship because they must self-isolate, if they have had their hours of employment cut as a result of COVID-19, if they cannot work because they must self-isolate and have limited or no personal or annual leave, or if they do not have access to technology to study remotely and need money to buy items such as a computer or home internet connection.

"We know many of our students have lost their casual work and are feeling the financial strain of the COVID-19 pandemic like so many others in the community," Federation University vice chancellor Professor Helen Bartlett said when the package was released.

"The wellbeing of our students is always our number one priority - this support package will help our students continue their studies during these difficult times, whether that's through financial assistance or providing emotional support through free counselling and other services."

The due date for tuition fees has also been extended, there is access to free phone counselling services, job search support and help accessing government assistance such as financial counselling, Centrelink and local support services.

And a 'Living Connected' initiative has been launched to connect students living on campus virtually so they can participate in games, events, fitness classes, movies and other social activities, which runs alongside the residential support team.

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