About Us
Students Without Borders follows in the footsteps of Doctors Without Borders and Engineers Without Borders. It began as the brainchild of Gerry Georgatos, Manager, and a former President, of the Murdoch University Guild. It arose from within initiatives by Gerry, many that he inspired from within the Guild of Students, others separately throughout Murdoch campuses and in liaison with the University and with other non-campus organisations.
Students Without Borders is an inclusive peak student association with no borders.
During 2005, 2006 and 2007 the Murdoch University Guild has been concentrating its efforts on developing programs that add to students’ education and make a difference to the wider community. These initiatives inculcate the belief that education should be holistic, sentimental, caring and intellectual. The argument is that education should be ensuring policies of social inclusion. We have branded these programs under the banner of Students Without Borders.
Students Without Borders is underwritten by human rights, social justice, community development, sustainability, the environment, conservation, local and global social reach.
Students Without Borders encompasses programs that provide students with pre-entry workplace skills and hands on experience. SWB programs take advantage of our student community, which represents tremendous natural and social capital. By tapping into this capital interactivity and proactivity are enabled and encouraged. We realise our social being.
As of September 2006, Students Without Borders has a permanent Murdoch University office. The office is located at Murdoch's hub, Bush Court, near the Guild Shop and next to the Physical Sciences building. SWB offices will slowly appear on campuses throughout the country. Murdoch's regional campus, Rockingham, will soon maintain an SWB office.
We encourage students to visit the office and register their interest in the current and developing programs. There are a number of programs already up and running. The Guild continued on from the computer recycling program Gerry began in November of 2004. During 2005, Gerry and a few students (Lloyd Johnson, Stuart Guthries, Dylan O'Callaghan, Surjit Singh) recycled from verges, and refurbished, 540 computers which were donated to Murdoch students in need. The I.T. students improved their hardware skills and this was recognised by employers.
During 2006 Gerry expanded the program to some 20 I.T. students. Volunteers were acknowledged on their University Academic Transcripts for their contributions. This is now standard for SWB programs. During 2006 the program recycled, refurbished and donated over 7,000 computers. It became the largest program of its type in the country. It remained grassroots and non bureaucratic. Two I.T. students, David Lee and Richard Lee went on to become recipients of the 2006 Community Development and Social Justice Awards for providing over 1,000 hours of their time pro bono to refurbishing these recyled computers. Sensational stuff. David and Richard were part of 6 SWB recipients of these awards during 2006, and there are another 5 SWBers as recipients of these awards for 2007. David has won one of these awards again for his continuing efforts.
During 2007, 1,500 computers were donated to Murdoch students indicating harsh student poverty. 3,300 were donated all up to university students across Perth. Computers have been donated to schools, regional communities, organisations, to the impoverished. We have accepted all reasonable requests. We have achieved global social reach beginning with a load of 80 recycled computers to Tanzania for media students. The Zanzibar Film Festival sponsored the container. To Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, Kenya - all to students or training centre. To Indonesian jails to the incarcerated in the hope that this will assist with the opportunity for an education. To Uganda, where we recently sent a load of 110 computers for 110 primary schools in the northern Ugandan province of Kasese where these schools do not have a computer, but now they have one, albeit a recycled three or four year old computer - but it's a beginning.
We have followed the Basel Convention where we ensure we send computers to regions where voltage compatibility and electricity are available. We do not want computers donated so they become junk litter and toxic waste.
The computer recycling program and some support learning programs are the inspiration to the birth of Students Without Borders.
During July of 2005 Gerry Georgatos designed a simple Peer Tutoring program through the Guild while he was the Education Vice President. During that second semester stretch he scored some 100 students, as 'tutors', from within the Murdoch student community. They were required to have minimally a Distinction in a completed unit of study. They went on to tutor struggling students. During the 2005 second semester Gerry had 100 student tutors covering some 300 units of study out of Murdoch's 600 available units of study, with all the introduction units for undergraduates covered. Undergraduate and postgraduate students all benefited. This program assisted in improving academic performance and therefore retention rates, making a difference to people's lives and society. Gerry placed 400 Murdoch students through the program. In the ensuing year, 2006, Katy Stanlake, the Education Vice President, maintained 100 student 'tutors' covering more than 300 units of study and doubled the beneficiaries throughout the year, both semesters. During 2007, Eden Ridgeway, the Education Vice President, has continued with these same numbers indicating the vast need for programs of this nature and how we can all assist one another.
There are programs in computer literacy, literacy, numeracy, specialist studies, English language, other languages, in the environment, sustainability, the environment, social justice, etc...
Our dreams and hopes are pivoted in Students Without Borders generating interest and initiatives from others and organisations to partner with us in ensuring that all our programs grow, new ones developed and we ensure their success and ensure that we can assist everyone.
Ultimately, the dream will be realised when Universities ensure that Students Without Borders is an integral part of a University education, that it is recognised not only on an academic transcript as a mention but rather as a unit of study. Universities are the presumed bastions of critical and identity forming education, they most certainly are endowed with this capacity, and once they and Universities Australia (formerly the Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee) bring on this holistic education into the curriculum then they will conclusively add to the university experience. This will improve the quality of education which for two decades has been consistently eroded. They will be ensuring that a university education culminates in graduates who will go out into our world with not only the belief but also the evidence that they can make a difference - with an ethos of caring.