Paper Title
The University Supportive Communication Perceived By Freshmen In Indonesia

Abstract
University support perceived by freshmen influence their academic performance through their emotional aspects. Communication as a tool of delivering support still need to be explored. The aim of this study is to explore how the communication delivered by university perceived as supportive by the freshmen. Focus group discussions were conducted among freshmen from 3 universities in 3 big cities in Indonesia (Jakarta-capital of Indonesia in West Java, Surabaya in East Java, and Medan in North Sumatera). This study found that university supportive communication includes academic (material delivery, level of difficulty of assignments, and the consequence of the assignments) and non-academic aspects (facility provided by university and lecturer’s interaction with the students). There are demand differences between freshmen with higher and lower academic performance. The implication of the present findings on how the training for university staff to deliver supportive communication are discussed. Keywords - Supportive communication, freshmen, university staff