Dr Amanda Pearce is Associate Director, Language and Learning at Victoria University. She has taught in Rome, London and Melbourne. Her publications focus on NESB immigrant workers and student diversity, and her PhD thesis explores contending discourses about work, education and training, ethnicity and language. In the context of a range of VU initiatives including academic language and learning support, Learning in the Workplace and Community, Student Leadership and Problem-Based Learning, Dr Pearce and her staff have been centrally involved in the development of the Learning Commons at VU, particularly its innovative service model incorporating Student Rovers.