ACU: Five2Study Website Development
“Supporting Veterans Transitioning to Education with Custom Website Development”
The Challenge
ACU, through its student veteran services, identified a significant gap in resources and support for veterans re-entering adult education. Veterans often struggle with the unstructured environment of university life compared to military service. Many veterans were unaware of the support services available to them, and those with PTSD or other service-related issues faced additional barriers. ACU engaged Liberate Learning for the conceptualisation, design, and development of a custom website with resources, content, and navigations to support the specific needs of veterans seeking to enter tertiary education.
Our Approach
Liberate Learning collaborated with ACU by conducting a series of design sprints and workshops. These sessions, which included both ACU representatives and veterans, helped prioritise critical content areas to design an effective structure for the website. We worked closely with the veterans to understand their primary concerns and how they preferred to engage with educational material. The site was designed with mobile responsiveness in mind to accommodate veterans who might still be on the move or in service.
The site now features useful information on various topics and with practical resources to help veterans, including:
- Wellbeing and employment information
- Study tips
- Academic writing tips
- Referencing Tool
- Tips on how to manage group work assignments
- Using AI with Academic integrity
- Veteran Assistance
- FAQ
Outcomes
The “Five2Study” website launched as a comprehensive resource, providing veterans across Australia with essential guidance as they transition into academic life, including from veterans.
Five2Study is accompanied by its sister site, Service2Campus, which helps current and ex-serving military personnel and their families thinking about whether they need uni when considering career options now and in the future.Subsequently, we are currently developing a further companion site, “Veteran RPL,” to help academic institutions better understand and manage the RPL process for veterans, thus fostering a smoother path to accreditation.
Importantly, ACU has made this resource available to all universities across Australia, ensuring that any veteran, regardless of the institution they choose to study at, can access this support. This initiative highlights ACU’s commitment to the broader veteran community and the value it places on making education accessible and supportive for those who have served.
This project, funded through the Veteran Wellbeing Grant 2022-2023, was developed in close partnership between ACU and RSL Queensland, underscoring its broad impact across Australia’s veteran community.
