The $15 subscription for full members and [...]]]> The members of EXMSS have agreed that the changes proposed in our SGM should go ahead. As well as being able to introduce a subscription fee of $15 for membership there will be a re-balancing of the executive roles so that the workload is spread and risks reduced.

The $15 subscription for full members and $10 sub for associate members will be introduced alongside an optional StudentCard. The StudentCard, normally $20 can be added to membership for $15, making the membership plus student card $30. We see this as excellent value with EXMSS providing advocacy, information, representation, scholarships, and discount travel and the StudentCard providing discounts all over NZ for anything from movies to pizza.

The problem is Massey University has not yet agreed to collect the subscriptions on our behalf. The Education Act requires them to do so if we request it, but also states that they may recover costs. With our subs being so low any fee may make the administration costs an unpleasant tax on students. EXMSS does not want students to waste their money paying for admin services.

We have been pushing to have this conversation with Massey since the beginning of the year but have struggled to reach a conclusion. I have been told by the Massey IT services that we have until the end of June to decide how subs will work. Until then EXMSS is not willing to start charging subs or release the StudentCard at a discount rate.

EXMSS will restructure its executive and make the StudentCard available at $20 for any student while it waits for Massey to make this key decision: a decision which the future shape of EXMSS depends on.

Too much study to cope with?

The Government is consulting with students and tertiary institutions about placing a limit on the amount students can borrow in any one year. The National Party has a manifesto commitment to consult on and institute a limit on funding EFTS units per year. Using Equivalent Full Time [...]]]>  

Too much study to cope with?

The Government is consulting with students and tertiary institutions about placing a limit on the amount students can borrow in any one year. The National Party has a manifesto commitment to consult on and institute a limit on funding EFTS units per year. Using Equivalent Full Time (EFTS) removes the problem of differing costs for differing courses.

What they are proposing is that a maximum of 2.0 EFTS worth of funding can be drawn from a student loan in any one year.

Their concern is students borrowing for a large amount of study and changing their minds multiple times about what they will study. It therefore also appears that they may seek to limit the number of times a student can change their mind about a course of study in a year.

The Ministry document does not mention a relationship with student failure but suggests that this limit would prevent taxpayer money being wasted on large student loans that provide no benefit to the borrower.

Feedback is through online survey and closes on the 3^rd of May. The key point to address is the proposal that a maximum of 2.0 EFTS worth of funding can be drawn from a student loan in any one year.

I encourage students to have their say.

I have had the honour of attending both this and the previous DEANZ conference (2010) on behalf of distance students at Massey University. At both conferences I have made contacts and found information that has benefited EXMSS and have had the opportunity to present EXMSS, and [...]]]>

Dr Oblinger CEO EDUCAUSE offering a USA perspective

I have had the honour of attending both this and the previous DEANZ conference (2010) on behalf of distance students at Massey University. At both conferences I have made contacts and found information that has benefited EXMSS and have had the opportunity to present EXMSS, and students views, to the conference.

This year the Review It poster was included in the proceedings and it won the Best Poster competition. Credit need to go to EXMSS staff member Adam Dodd for the brilliant visual interpretation of my ‘crayon’ drawings.

The value of these conferences is two-fold:

• Through discussion and connections with other delegates, the President is more able to comment publically, plan for the future, and be seen as a credible player in the field of distance education;
• Typically EXMSS represents students at these conferences. No other student organisation exists to represent distance students. The people at DEANZ are aware of this and seek to include the student representative in plenary discussions. This is good for the conference and good for the reputation and reach of EXMSS.
  

  Review It poster wins Best Poster

Attendance at the DEANZ conference is therefore valuable for our Society: in order to inform our President and to build our reputation as the distance student voice in New Zealand.  I encourage EXMSS to support continued presence at this valuable bi-annual conference.

The Review It poster can be found here

My concern is growing, and is shared among many distance, part time and adult students, that the priorities of the government’s Tertiary Education Strategy do not address the societal need, particularly for women, for accessible second chance education opportunities. Neither does the TES recognise the benefits of study while working. Equally alarming [...]]]> Dear Minister Joyce,

My concern is growing, and is shared among many distance, part time and adult students, that the priorities of the government’s Tertiary Education Strategy do not address the societal need, particularly for women, for accessible second chance education opportunities. Neither does the TES recognise the benefits of study while working. Equally alarming is the impact on our young students who are expected to commit to a specific area of study and a student loan at age seventeen.

Your recent commitment to publish earning data to assist students in decision making alarms me. At age seventeen young people need a holistic understanding of the outcome of the education they are pursuing. Using financial return as a key factor for career choices will not support good decision making from this group.

The current emphasis on young students is reducing access for many looking for a second chance at education; these people, many of whom are women, deserve equitable access. Students who study part time and as adults have a lower loan uptake and do not leave the country following graduation at the same rate as youth students. They also make educational choices borne of experience.

I feel Government has failed in its responsibility to evaluate the options in tertiary provision and outline a tertiary education policy that takes New Zealand to a better place. There is no efficiency in the strategic priorities of the Tertiary Education Commission and it appears socially unjust.

Stephen Joyce, I am asking for you as the Tertiary Education Minister to look closely at the Commission’s priority settings for tertiary education and support a review so a more balanced approach to tertiary education priorities can be developed.

The Committee is a friendly group and the atmosphere relaxed, however [...]]]> EXMSS is looking for a committee scretary with professional skills and the ability to attend six or seven meetings a year. The role revolves around these Committee and General meetings where the secretary takes minutes and sends them on, once formatted, to the Committee.

The Committee is a friendly group and the atmosphere relaxed, however the prsentation of the minutes must be to a professional standard.

If you have an interest in supporting distance, part time and adult students and have the skills to be a committee secretary please contact Ralph Springett on 027 245 8223 or Ralph@exmss.org.nz for more information.

Let's communicate Massey

Stream

Students should expect their Stream sites to be opened in the week before semester. If this has not happened by Friday please contact Ralph@exmss.org.nz and EXMSS will find out what is going on. If EXMSS has its way there will soon appear some sort of notification [...]]]>

Let's communicate Massey

Stream

Students should expect their Stream sites to be opened in the week before semester. If this has not happened by Friday please contact Ralph@exmss.org.nz and EXMSS will find out what is going on. If EXMSS has its way there will soon appear some sort of notification on not-open sites that tells you when to expect engagement. We struggle to understand why the admin guide could not be available weeks in advance alongside a date for the site to open. EXMSS continues to bring these issues to the attention of the University.

Printed Study Material

Providing printed study material has been messy this year. Massey is in the throes of changing its policy and has struggled to label its papers accurately. Furthermore the web-material is often a batch of PDF’s that Massey seems to be expecting students to print. Many will do so, being unaware that the policy states that material will be provided at no cost. But getting the material has meant spending time on hold with the contact center and then being told to speak with the course coordinator and then waiting for the material to arrive. From the student point of view a pretty poor show.

But Massey does has good intentions. Squeezed financially and looking to develop a better web environment for students, it must change the way it delivers its study material. My point is that this should be a managed process with the students informed at each step. EXMSS will continue to work with Massey to find solutions that do not leave students with poor material and wondering what the hell is going on.

Print Material last resort hotline

EXMSS has brokered a direct line into Massey that can quickly resolve your printed study materials issues. Please try the contact center first, but if you are being pushed from pillar to post then email

student-information-resources@massey.ac.nz

All the best for your study. Don’t forget to join EXMSS and support your voice on campus.

These are not silly questions. Students have a right to ask them and be answered. The Massey website [...]]]> Can I leave an exam for a toilet break, who else is studying in my region, how do I get hold of a printed study guide, when will stream open, how do I reference a TV programme?

These are not silly questions. Students have a right to ask them and be answered. The Massey website is useful, so is EXMSS’s site, but they have their limits. The contact center is only open during the day.

So cut to the chase and join EXMSS on facebook. Here you will find discussion of

Join EXMSS facebook

the academic and support issues that are not entirely straightforward: when can I use an aegrotat, the contact center says no print material is available yet there is a 200 page study guide on Stream, why have I been overcharged for overseas postage, when will my Stream site open? These are the questions that get answered quickly and efficiently, often by fellow students who have had the same difficulty.

There are EXMSS and Massey staff who also contribute solutions – a big thanks to you – it is fantastic to see you going beyond the normal working hours to help students out.

Events, competitions, new initiatives, news from other campuses, as well as political discussions about the place of distance study are all posted here. It is interesting, supportive and engaging.

So, sign up and don’t miss out on being part of the Massey student experience!

EXMSS has been preparing for this transition and has funds to cover the shortfall in 2012.  Membership benefits include a super-cheap shuttle service [...]]]> For the first few months of 2012 membership of EXMSS will be free! If you are enrolled for 2012 I advise you to join EXMSS now. Membership is for the academic year.

EXMSS has been preparing for this transition and has funds to cover the shortfall in 2012.  Membership benefits include a super-cheap shuttle service to and from the Manawatu campus, insider knowledge, through the e-zine Off Campus, about what’s going on in the tertiary sector and behind the screens at Massey, access to high-level advocacy support, and the EXMSS scholarships, plus other giveaways.

Become part of the EXMSS community

Members are also supporting a student voice that raises the concerns of distance, part-time and adult students at national level and within Massey. These students, particularly part-timers, are singled out as underachievers by the Government and that needs to stop. Massey is caught in the middle and has effectively been forced to reduce its distant student numbers or risk millions in government funding. All because the Government doesn’t get the role part time study has in our society.

Services delivered to all students will eventually be delivered independently of EXMSS, although during the 2012 transition period some may still be managed by EXMSS.

I am pleased to say that EXMSS has a clear strategic plan, clarity about the services it wishes to provide to its members and good strategies for providing an independent voice for distance and part time students. The first EXMSS media release is taking shape and the details of the great deal in shuttle services will soon emerge. Stay connected and stay strong!