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Become a PASS facilitator
- Overview and what's involved
- Eligibility and how to apply
- What happens next
- Facilitator profiles and awards
Facilitator profiles and awards
Our PASS facilitators are students committed to improving the learning experience of their peers. They develop valuable skills in leadership, communication, time management, stakeholder engagement and more, giving them a competitive advantage and foundation for a successful career.
Find out where some of their journeys have taken them, and see how they have benefited from their PASS experiences. Join us today and be the leaders tomorrow.
Kate Coffey
Degree: Bachelor of Commerce and Advanced Studies (Finance and Business Information Systems)
Degree completion: 2021
Years active in PASS: 3 years (2019-2021)
Subject(s) facilitated: BUSS1030 )Accounting, Business and Society), FINC2011 (Corporate Finance I), FINC5001 (Foundations in Finance)
Current position: Consultant, Oliver Wyman
How did you benefit from PASS?
Working as a PASS Facilitator was the perfect job for me throughout university. It gave me a solid foundation of transferable skills while being flexible and introducing me to a great bunch of friends. As a facilitator I learned how to lead in a collaborative style, hear from different perspectives and draw people into conversations, which is something I continue to try and adopt in my current day to day.
Having to prepare and develop questioning strategies and activities for each session gave me the chance to practice organisation skills and learn to manage various deadlines and tasks. Then having to alter and adapt these questions to meet the needs of each session allowed me to practice flexibility and agility, which is especially crucial stepping out of university into a graduate position. PASS has given me a solid foundation in communication, collaboration and problem solving as I’m grateful for the experience as I look towards solving new problems, in new teams in the future.
Sakilan Gopalarajah
Degree: Bachelor of Commerce (Business Analytics, Accounting)
Degree completion: 2022
Years active in PASS: 2 Years (2020-2021)
Subject(s) facilitated: ACCT2011 (Financial Accounting A), ACCT6001 (Intermediate Financial Reporting), ACCT6008 (Managerial Accounting and Decision Making)
Current position: Business Analyst, Kearney
How did you benefit from PASS?
PASS provided me with significant practical and professional experience that I could leverage successfully in the workplace. PASS primarily helped me hone my communication skills which are critical in management consulting. The ability to read other people and adapt your communication style is a core foundation behind effective communication in the workplace and I was able to train this skill every day at PASS. The ability to facilitate discussions and ask strategic questions in PASS is also instrumental in the workplace, especially when you learn to adapt and think on your feet, something I do every day in the workplace. Finally, the PASS environment instills a strong professional demeanor which prepares you for the rigor of the workplace whilst still being a place where you can make many friends. PASS was a great place to work, learn, and grow, I would go back and do it again in a heartbeat.
Jonathan Gu
Degree: Bachelor of Commerce (Economics) (Hons I)
Degree completion: 2019
Years active in PASS: 3 years (2017-2019)
Subject(s) facilitated: ECOF1003 (Understanding Business), ECOF1004 (The Business Environment), BUSS1001 (Understanding Business)
Current position: Research economist, Productivity Commission
How did you benefit from PASS?
PASS was a vital part of my university experience that equipped me with skills that I use daily when managing stakeholder relationships in the workplace. Being a facilitator required me to create an empathetic and welcoming classroom atmosphere where students felt that they could share their views and ask questions without judgement. Facilitating PASS also involved the use of questioning strategies to prompt students to think deeply about topics and discover new insights about accounting or economic concepts. I use these interpersonal and questioning skills frequently, particularly when consulting with stakeholders to understand their perspectives, or when analysing the nuances of complex economic issues.
The time management and teamwork skills that I developed from PASS have also been crucial to my current role. Facilitating PASS required careful planning to ensure that materials were relevant to the course, timely and as engaging as possible, all while balancing the demands of my own personal full-time study. It also involved being a team player, being available to provide suggestions to other facilitators to improve their sessions and accepting their suggestions. In the workplace, I use the same time management skills to meet the multiple demands that arise during my own policy research, while also finding the time to provide constructive views to help inform work by other team members.
Lastly, I am very grateful for the opportunities for further skills development that PASS offered outside of facilitating. This included working as the PASS Social Media Manager, which required taking the lead in creating relevant content for students and marketing the strengths of the program. It gave me the opportunity to develop my photography and graphic design skills, both of which have helped with my work responsibilities when designing graphics for reports and presentations. Working as the social media manager also gave me exposure to social media data and analytics, which I use when exploring alternative data for policy areas where conventional data sources are absent.
Name: Abhay Mahajan
Degree: B. Advanced Computing / B. Commerce
Degree completion: 2022
Years active in PASS: 4
Subject/s facilitated: BUSS1020 (Quantitative Business Analysis), QBUS1040 (Foundations of Business Analytics), QBUS5001 (Foundation in Data Analytics for Business).
Current position: Data Analyst
Current Company: Quantium
What employability/ transferable skills has PASS helped you develop that are relevant in the workplace?
Working in PASS over four years set me up strongly for full time work post uni. The key skill I took away was the ability to lead an effective problem-solving session in a way that activated deep thinking. Structuring my thoughts, communicating concisely, and adapting to unforeseen discussion are key tenets of leading effective sessions, and I was regularly exposed to this during my time at PASS. In my current role as a data analyst working in a primarily client-facing role, these skills are essential and in use everyday.
Working as a PASS facilitator also comes with a network of some of Sydney Uni’s best and brightest. The PASS “family” really lives up to their name – as facilitators, we share constructive feedback on sessions, were always open to conversations about the latest career opportunities, and were willing to take on new challenges as a team. This is a great network to have and to learn from!
Our PASS program is the most awarded program in the Australasian region. Over the past 11 years the program has won consecutive awards, across the institutional, national and international levels.
The program has greatly enhanced peer education and student engagement, and contributed to the overall satisfaction of our students’ university experience. Students from the University of Sydney Business School and Law School have been recognised for their contributions in the 2018 Australasian Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) Leader Awards.
Australian PASS award winners
University of Sydney Undergraduate Accounting Team: Joshua Arackal, Matthew Turner, Anna Arezza, Joshua Yeoh, Harish Manoharan, Amante Abela, Zacchary Van Lathum - 2022 Australasian PASS Team Award
The Australasian Centre for PASS has awarded the University of Sydney Undergraduate Accounting PASS Team the most Outstanding Peer Educator Team for 2022.
The Outstanding Peer Educator Team Award recognises and rewards outstanding collaboration and the role that teamwork plays in innovation, creativity, and sustainability within larger peer learning program objectives.
The Award is granted to teams that have gone above and beyond normal teamwork within a peer learning environment to contribute to student learning and to the development of a culture of peer learning. Outstanding Peer Educators also demonstrate outstanding performance, commitment, and/or leadership in PASS.
The team are very proud to receive this award in recognition of our efforts and will use it as motivation to deliver an even stronger PASS program in the future.
Outstanding Supplemental Instruction Program - 2020 International Centre for Supplemental Instruction, University of Missouri
The International Centre for Supplemental Instruction at the University of Missouri, in Kansas City, has chosen Sydney's PASS as this year's Outstanding Supplemental Instruction Program.
PASS at the University of Sydney, has grown since its implementation in 2005 to provide 200+ hours of support with a weekly capacity for 3600+ students. PASS will be implemented in 32 units in 2020, supporting core and transitional units in the Business School, Law School and Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The impact of PASS is significant with not only a consistently high participation rate, but also enhanced student academic performance and a high satisfaction rate amongst students and facilitators.
Read more about the award for our PASS program.
Anastasia Radievska - 2018 Australasian PASS Leader Award
Anastasia has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment not only to building her own skills as a facilitator, but also to delivering an active learning environment for her peer participants. Her focus on student collaboration has required Anastasia to cultivate strong questioning techniques and engaging materials to allow students to learn on a deeper level; both of which are the essence of the PASS model.
In addition to her in-class strategies, Anastasia’s commitment goes beyond the classroom as she manages the administration and execution of timetabling for the entire team each semester. She embodies the true spirit of the PASS program and it is an honour and a privilege to have someone so engaging and dedicated to student learning in the Sydney Law School.
University of Sydney Business Law Team: Karen Gan, Bryan Dai, Luna Jia and Stephanie Noronha - 2018 Australasian PASS Team Award
Under the mentorship and guidance of their team leader, Karen Gan, the Business Law team has contributed significantly to the academic achievements of both their undergraduate and postgraduate cohorts, as well as well as helping students develop their critical thinking skills.
The challenges faced by this team were plentiful, including facilitating a high percentage of international students, and facilitating a unit with challenging reading materials. The strategy and emphasis was consistently on collaboration to transform the traditionally independent self-study of law into one that the PASS model prescribes; an active learning environment.
The University of Sydney Business Law PASS team are truly deserving of the honour of this award.
Rita Mikhael - 2017 Australasian PASS Leader Award
Rita Mikhael was awarded the Australasian Outstanding Senior Leader prize for her exceptional contribution to peer education. Rita quickly became an indispensable member of the PASS team through her contribution in multiple role as facilitator, discipline team leader and PASS mentor during 4 years.
Rita’s true embodiment of the PASS spirit shines through her professionalism, superior interpersonal skills and communication skills which have allowed her to cultivate strong relationships with her peer students and university academic staff. Her demonstrated interest in the welfare of her colleagues, students and PASS program, as a whole, makes her a valuable asset to not only her discipline teams, but also the wider PASS community.
Law Team - 2016 Australasian PASS Leader Award
Law Team is the second University of Sydney PASS team to be awarded the Australasian "Outstanding PASS Team” of the year, by the PASS Australasian Centre. The team consists of (top - bottom, left - right) Jialu Xu, Henry Cooper, Musood Darwish, Anna de Sterke, Michael Gvozdonovic and Adam Hanssen. The evidence of the team’s success and hard work not only comes through the enhanced grades that their students have achieved but also the extremely positive feedback from all stakeholders. The International Judge, Catherine Unite, from the University of Texas Arlington, commended the team on their understanding of peer learning theory as demonstration by their outstanding performance, commitment and leadership. They deserve such an achievement for their dedication to the student experience and mental wellbeing of their students in these highly competitive courses.
Last updated: 03 July 2023
