It is going to get more expensive to study. It’s not just the fees that hit students hard. Students won’t receive a tax break or increase in Super. Instead they will get hit from all directions with any GST rise. The cost of papers will go up 2.5%. The [...]]]>

Hard copy is important at contact courses

It is going to get more expensive to study. It’s not just the fees that hit students hard. Students won’t receive a tax break or increase in Super. Instead they will get hit from all directions with any GST rise. The cost of papers will go up 2.5%. The cost of travel, accommodation and text books will all increase, not to mention the items of daily life - like food.  There are two issues I can take to the university here: one is digitization of study material and the other focuses on contact courses.

Digitization of study material has the potential to cost students. For some it is a blessing for others a hassle and a cost. I will be lobbying Massey to provide choice. “Would you like digital or not?” should be a key question asked of students. Ideally the costs should remain in the students control regarding printed material.

The second area is some sort of regulation regarding contact courses. Currently there are extramural papers that require four visits to Albany campus – the reason they need this is because the website is a simple blog with no forums or discussion available. Not good enough! Stream the site and halve the contact courses. I will be bringing this up with Massey management to see if we can get some traction on providing course controllers with clear policies for contact courses that fit with student’s reality. Your comments assist with this so let me know what you think.