Meet your OLAs

Your Online Learning Advisors (OLAs) have the experience and knowledge to guide you through your coursework and prepare you for your career following your studies. All while providing you the support you need to succeed all the way through.

Western Sydney Online's OLAs have expertise in their subject areas. Meet a few of the faces that you might see in your online classroom.

Stacey Lumsden

Course taught:

Subject taught:

  • Understanding and Teaching Children

Stacey has worked as a Primary Classroom Teacher for the past ten years. She has earned both a Master of Education (Student Wellbeing) from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Education (Special Education Needs) from Deakin University. Her personal interests include literacy education, student wellbeing and being able to support students with additional needs in the mainstream classroom.

Fleur Vanderheld

Course taught:

Subjects taught:

  • Primary Health Care in Action
  • Approaches to Professional Nursing Practice

Fleur has been a registered nurse for over 20 years and has worked in many different areas of healthcare, both domestically and internationally. She is currently working in a hospital outpatient clinic and will soon begin work within a research project looking at discharge support for carers. Fleur has been a Subject Coordinator and OLA with the Western Sydney University Online team since 2018.

Sarah Eastlake-Smith

Courses taught:

Subjects taught:

  • Introduction to Criminal Justice
  • Crime Deviance and Society
  • Crime Prevention and Community
  • Perspectives in Criminology

Sarah started as a Subject Coordinator and OLA in 2019, following seven years of tutoring in the School of Social Sciences at Western Sydney University. In 2014 she completed Western Sydney University’s Sessional Foundations of University Learning and Teaching and Tutor Professional Development programs. In 2018, she received the WSU Sessional Learning and Teaching Award and also began academic marking across six criminology subjects with Deakin University.

Sarah Olson

Course taught:

Subjects taught:

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
  • Professional Practice Experience 4
  • Research for Nursing and Midwifery

On top of her Bachelor of Nursing, Sarah has undertaken a Graduate Diploma of Nursing specialising in paediatrics, a Master of Business (Public Sector Management), and a PhD in Nursing Candidature. Her passions include education, paediatric nursing, emergency care and Aboriginal health. Sarah has worked in Brisbane, Sydney, Kalgoorlie and Broome and undertaken many different roles to extend her skills.

Nikki Cameron

Courses taught:

Subjects taught:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Usable Design

Biography:

Nikki is a registered Psychologist who has completed a Master of Educational and Developmental Psychology. She enjoys working with students and helping them reach their full potential. Her passion is educational psychology, and as such, she works as a School Psychologist supporting high school students in their learning and well-being.

Maya Sonji

Course taught:

Subject taught:

  • Marketing Communications

Maya is an accomplished educator with over 10 years of teaching, coordinating and leadership experience across multiple Australian universities. She has founded and co-founded multiple small business ventures and currently operates a freelance venture that caters to small and medium companies seeking business development, marketing or graphic design consultancy services. She also manages her own capital as a ‘macro trader’.

Arthur Tsang

Course taught:

Subject taught:

  • Accounting Information Systems

Arthur has extensive experience teaching undergraduate and postgraduate learners in the Accounting, Business Information Systems and Finance disciplines. He has supported students from varied nationalities and diverse backgrounds, and has received university-wide recognition for his high-level teaching and learning skills and commitment to his students.