Welcome to International Muslim Students Association

Who We Are?

International Muslim Students Association (IMSA) is the representative body of Muslim Students at UNE. Founded by students and staff of UNE in 1985, IMSA has been serving the community for over three decades with the aim to enhance the study and life experience of its members. During this time, the membership has increased from double digits to hundreds.

Who Are Our Beneficiaries?

Our beneficiaries include Domestic and International students, on and off-campus as well as staff from diverse cultural backgrounds. Activities and support services aim to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment to both Muslim and Non-Muslim students.

Our Vision

Our Vision is to improve the everyday life of our members at UNE enabling them to accomplish their educational goals successfully.

Our Values

IMSA is devoted to the following values in all its undertakings:

• Volunteers. We are a Volunteers organisation. We dedicate our time and resources for serving the wider community without any expectations for the work we do.
• Service. IMSA is dedicated to serving the members/community in the best possible way without an expectation of reciprocity.
• Diversity. We embrace and engage all and sundry in pursuit of delivering our services to the community. Accepting people from all backgrounds and cultures without any discrimination.
• Respect. We respect Australian Laws, culture, nature, opinion, and choice of others open-heartedly.
• Reliable. IMSA is always available when needed. We have never failed.

Our Objectives

• Assist students in the initial settlement period.
• Guide and mentor students throughout their stay at UNE.
• Provide a social hub to fulfil Religio-Cultural needs.
• Assist students with understanding, respecting and fitting into a new culture.
• Be a common platform for all without any discrimination of background/ gender.

Activities Already Undertaken by IMSA to Achieve the Above Objectives

Living to its raison deter, IMSA, since its inception in 1985, has been focussing on bridging the gap and help fill the vacuum by becoming a hub to quench the Religio-Social thirst of Muslim Students in the wake of relatively low awareness of their needs by UNE. In this regard, UNE has been very supportive in enabling IMSA to deliver the following to its member:

• Assist students in the initial settlement period by:
  • Providing general support to international students by keeping in close touch with them minimising the feeling of homesickness
  • Providing a platform to international students to connect with their peers especially those from similar backgrounds/ culture enabling them to be part of the larger community.
  • IMSA has its own JP who helps in certifying students’ documents throughout their time at UNE.
  • Providing students with training and jobs
• Guide and Mentor Students Throughout Their Stay At UNE.
  • By keeping close contact with the students and pairing them up with experienced students as their guides.
  • Arranging interaction of new students with already settled community members so they can look up to them as their mentors.
• Provide a Social Hub to Fulfil Their Religio-Cultural Needs.
  • Provision of a dedicated central place to be used for worship and other occasional activities for the members and their families. The Mosque serves not only as a worship place but also as a hub for the daily activities of many students and staff.
  • IMSA has been delivering the following services to its members;

1. Welcome party at the commencement of the educational year.
2. Weekly events in the form of Friday sermons.
3. Monthly dinners.
4. Annual religious events like festivities in the month of Ramadan.
5. Cultural events on the two annual religious days (Eids).
6. Professional Mentoring & Development of international students

• Assist Students with Understanding, Respecting and Fitting into a New Culture.
• Be a Common Platform for All Without Any Discrimination of Background/ Gender

For further information contact

UNE Mosque Management Association Contact us: imsa@une.edu.au