Support at Drummond & Smith
Contents
Resident Fellows
Resident Fellows
Our Resident Fellow Team is an extremely important part of college. Each year, after an extensive interview process, a College panel appoints nine senior students to each floor of the college. The Resident Fellow (commonly called RF) is responsible for about 22 people who live on their floor. They all completed their Senior First Aid and do extensive training in interpersonal development, youth mental health and conflict resolution just to name a few. These senior students will make sure to support you whenever you are in need of help. The RF’s are approachable, friendly, experienced, respected and enthusiastic members of the College.
Resident Fellows also organise floor trips for their floor. Everyone goes away together, goes fishing and camping and just generally has a great time with their new family.
Senior Resident Fellow
The RF Team reports back to the College’s Senior Resident Fellow (SRF). The SRF organises meetings, helps RFs when they are on duty and is the main point of contact between staff, the College Principal and the RF Team. The SRF is also an important link between the College and its Senior Common Room. The SRF also aims to make sure that all the other support teams within the College work closely together to achieve the common goal to make Drummond & Smith the best College at UNE. Organisation of events and fundraisers, guest speakers and tutorials is all done with the help of the SRF.
Duty
If a student requires any assistance during the day, they can always approach one of the staff members in the Office. After business hours and on weekends the Resident Fellows take over this role. There is always an RF on duty. They have the duty keys, first aid equipment and the duty mobile phone so that they are always contactable. So, if people are being too noisy for you, just call the duty RF and they will help you out. If you think you have broken your arm they can organise for you to get to hospital. All of our students are always well looked after.
Academic Mentors
To add to the supportive environment at D&S College we also appoint Academic Mentors each year. These students excel in their respective area and do training in essay writing, anti-plagiarism and exam layouts. They run weekly tutorials and exam preparation sessions.
The Academic Mentors also organise the Mellow Monday nights in the Dining Hall, where students come together to enjoy a cup of tea, whilst working on their assignments, group presentations or ask help from the Academic Mentors. Getting everyone together to study helps take the boredom and loneliness out of studying by yourself.
Academic Mentors are approachable and can help with assignment questions and stress. They are also happy to help out with any other uni questions. Everyone has the support that they need to be successful with their UNE studies.
Drummond & Smith College has a strict policy about students' academic performance, and placement in the college is dependent on consistent academic success. This ensures that an appropriate study environment is maintained.
Drummond & Smith Residents' Association
The Drummond and Smith Residents’ Association comprises all the students at Drummond & Smith College. Students pay a small fee at the start of the year which goes towards the entire year’s worth of social, sporting and cultural events. The Drummond & Smith Residents Association Committee (DSRAC) is elected to represent the general student body and is responsible for the social, cultural and sporting calendar. They also organise charity and community events as well as college dinners and fundraisers. The College elects the Committee’s president, Vice President, 
Secretary and Treasurer. Each member of the committee has a specific role, from social and sport representatives to marketing and merchandise officer.
The Committee (DSRAC) meets every Sunday to discuss upcoming events, functions, dinners, sponsorships and other important issues. The DSRAC President will then relay this information to the Resident Fellow, who, in turn, provide all the College members with the relevant information. Just to make sure nobody misses out, most announcements are often made via Facebook too.
The recently updated DSRAC constitution can be found here.
College Fellows
The Drummond and Smith College Fellows are a group of University and Community members who are associated with the College. Their range of expertise provides our students with extra support in an expansive variety of areas. They also assist with fundraising and Scholarships as well as the organisation of formal events, working bees and study sessions. They offer extra support for exams and advice with assignments. They also prove to be helpful career contacts. The Fellows are an integral part of the support system at Drummond and Smith College.
Safety & Security
Drummond and Smith is one of UNE’s most secure Colleges. Only D&S residents have keys to the gates that prevent unwanted visitors from entering the College facilities and courtyard. All student rooms, common rooms and blocks are also lockable. Cupboards within the students’ rooms can also be locked if necessary.
Each night, the Resident Fellow on duty locks up the common rooms and does a check before going to bed. The RF also has the College phone with them all the time in case they are needed (they remain sober whilst on duty).
UNE’s Safety and Security is conveniently located right next to the College and monitor the car parks and College area regularly. They can be called from one of the help phones across campus. They can also be called during the night in the case of a disturbance or emergency.
Every possible measure is taken to ensure that students are able to live in a safe and secure environment.