STARS (Students Transitions Achievement Retention & Success) Fellows are colleagues who have been recognised for their:
- extensive & sustained scholarly contributions to the sector in Australasia and beyond
- depth and breadth of influence
- willingness of their engagement across the sector in multiple fora and ways
This year, the STARS Fellow award has gone to IML’s Kathy Egea, who will be no stranger to readers of the Futures blog and attendees of the FFYE (First & Further Year Experience) forums.
![](https://wordpress-futures-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/06104826/Image-K-Egea-1.png)
Kathy’s leadership of the FFYE program has built a thriving community of practice on first-year transition with colleagues inside and outside UTS. She shows a passion for student success and inclusive practice in learning and teaching, commitment to distributed leadership practices and collaboration, and an enthusiasm for connecting and engaging academic and professional staff across UTS and beyond. Her achievement provides recognition of the sustained commitment many at UTS have made to supporting the student experience and transition over the past ten years along with the dedication, work and passion of our FFYE community.
![](https://wordpress-futures-prod.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/05140535/2019-ffye-forum-3-group-activity-1-1-1024x631.png)
In 2015, the FYE (First Year Experience, as it was originally known) team was awarded the UTS T&L program award for its student equity and participation work. In 2016, the FYE team won a national Office and Learning and Teaching citation for leading the First Year Experience program; supporting student transition and success through engaging academic and professional staff in curriculum innovation and collaborative communities.
The forums are known throughout UTS for their large and engaged community of participants, relevance to current issues, sharing of successful FFYE ideas across UTS, and inclusive practices for students and staff. There are now more than 1000 academics and professionals in the FFYE community, with over 200 grants – keep an eye out for some upcoming blogs that showcase grants that have come out of FFYE!
Please join us in congratulating Kathy – and book your spot for the next FFYE event on July 20th, which launches the latest Hot Topic from the TACT team: Feedback and Assessment.