Off Campus Newsletter

Get the latest
MUGSU/Fusion news
LARGE AND IN
CHARGE
Editor-in-Chief
Shahman Prushuathamun
[Off Campus Vice President
(OCVP)]
ocvp@monash.edu
Creative Director & Design
Co-ordinator
Melanie Zimora
[Student Engagement
Support Officer (SESO)]
EXCHANGE
JUNE ‘15
FEATURES
1
MUGSU SNOW TRIP
08 Don’t miss it!
melanie.zimora@monash.edu
Staff Writer
Benjamin Dahl
Freelance Writer
Tanya Bird
EXAM PREPARATION
09 Ten exam preparation
tips for upcoming exams
TIPS FOR ONLINE
STUDENTS
15-16 Handy tips to help
online students get the best
results
Photographer
Tanya Bird
Contributors
Luke Icely
[Student Leadership
Program Officer, Student
Connect]
AMERICAN PROM
10 2015 Uni Ball
GRADUATION DINNER
11 Graduating Monash
Alumni of 2015 Dinner
Acknowledgements
-----------------
Exchange is a publication of Monash
University Gippsland Student Union
(MUGSU).
All
articles
in
this
newsletter are provided in good
faith. Exchange is intended to be an
informative newsletter for students
enrolled at Monash University &
Federation
University
Gippsland
campus,
through
Off
Campus/Distance education.
Copyright © 2015 MUGSU Inc. All
rights reserved.
NEWS
2
Bookmark us
MUGSU: https://www.facebook.com/mugsu
Off Campus:
https://www.facebook.com/OffCampusGippsland
REGULARS
3
A NOTE FROM CRAIG
03 A note from the MUGSU
President Craig Wilson.
UPCOMING EVENTS
06 May- July Events
EXTRA
4
NEED HELP?
04 Contact our Student
Rights Officers
SPECIAL CONSIDERATION
FOR EXAM?
13 What you need to know!
CONTACT MUGSU
13 MUGSU contact
details for services
HAVE YOUR SAY!
03 National Union of
Students survey
EXAM KITS
05 Don’t forget to collect
your exam kits!
FUSION
07 Results of the 2015
Fusion Board Elections
FED UNI LEADERSHIP
05 One small thing
Conference
Want to get published? If you’ve got the
passion, drive and a good grasp of the
English language, you have a decision to
make:
Wordsmith (Full time editorial team member)
IF you groan at grammatical errors on social
media or can’t help yourself but correct your
friend when he makes a spelling or sentence structuring mistake, then you
fit the bill! As a full time member of the ‘Exchange’ editorial team, you’ll get
the chance to edit stories, design the newsletter and even write your own
articles! Did we mention how impressive your future employer would be
knowing you were part of an editorial team?
Contributor (ad-hoc)
If there’s somethin’ strange in our
neighbourhood, who we gonna call? Well
you of course! We’re always open to
contributors who want to polish their writing
skills or write an article. You’re not obliged
to submit articles or stories every month,
but we do have some guidelines (yes, we
have some) for our contributor program.
Interested? Contact us with a short spiel
about yourself. Don’t be afraid – We don’t
bite (unless you look absolutely delicious)
Apply via email to ocvp@monash.edu
Have your say!!!
A note from the MUGSU President
Hi Everyone!
Hope the stress and anxiety of exams aren’t
causing too much damage! Just a couple more
weeks and we’ll be enjoying our end of exam
parties and holidays (that’s always something to
look forward to!)
It remains a busy time for us at MUGSU as we
continue to help students get the best out of
their university experience and ensure that
student grievances are heard while balancing our
assignments and revision as well.
Shahman, the Off campus Vice President has
created an opt-in survey form for Off
campus/Distance education students (see page
12). If you have not had the chance to complete
the survey, would strongly encourage you to do
so. This would ultimately help us greatly and
make us aware of what is troubling the Offcampus/Distance education student body. Please
feel free to contact us if you require assistance
with the survey.
Also, please do not hesitate to contact us
regarding anything you require assistance with
through the communication channels outlined in
this newsletter. We don’t bite!
The National Union of Students has
launched the 2015 Education Quality
Survey as a part of its Demand A
Better Future Campaign.
This is a survey to capture a snap shot
of students experiences in the quality
of their teaching and learning. It is the
only student run student experience
survey in Australia.
The education quality survey is open
to all students enrolled at university in
Australia and is available through the
NUS website
http://www.nus.org.au/quality_survey
The survey will be open from the 1st
of May through to the until the 15th
of June and the final report will be
released in August.
Doctor & Nurses Uni Night
As the transition to Federation University
continues and the push for the establishment of
an independent student union growing in
numbers, it was decided that the first inaugural
th
Fusion elections 2015 be held on the 28 of April
2015. We are very excited to announce that the
new Fusion board has been duly elected, with
st
Stephen Pratt at the helm as the 1 Fusion
president. The MUGSU board endorses the
establishment of the new Fusion Board and will
be mentoring the Fed uni students (Fusion
board) as they develop Fusion.
On behalf of the MUGSU board and staff
members, we wish you all the best for your
upcoming exams!
All the best!
Craig Wilson
2015 MUGSU President
president@monash.edu
Wednesday 29th July,2015
More details on our
website soon!
-3-
UPCOMING EVENTS
@ MUGSU
15 JUNE
MEN’S HEALTH WEEK
19 JULY
SNOW TRIP (see advert on next page)
29 JULY
DOCTORS & NURSES (Uni Night)
----------
MUGSU would like to wish you the best of luck with your
semester one exams! The student lounge is open for you
to study in during this time and our student support officers
are available if you need any information or assistance!
Good luck! 
-6-
The 2015 Uni Ball was held on the 8th of
May and with an American Prom theme,
the night was a certain hit amongst
students!
The Auditorium was decked out to
resemble an American School Hall. The
music by The Farren Jones Band played all
the classic hits and the dance floor was full
of frocks and suits.
The food was “amazing” with all your
traditional American food on offer.
With excitement and anticipation we
awaited the announcement of who would
be crowned Prom Queen & King! Ashleigh
Rodger was crowned Prom Queen and
Callum Tate was crowned Prom King.
Congratulations again to them both!
The Photobooth was kept busy and
everyone enjoyed the novelty dress ups
and having some fun pictures with friends.
The night was a huge success and would
not have been possible without the
dedication of the MUGSU Board and Staff.
Article by Melanie Zimora
MUGSU with the support of Monash
University offered the Gippsland Graduating
Alumni of 2014 an opportunity to
acknowledge and celebrate their graduation
with a Graduation Dinner held on campus in
the Student Lounge.
The students invited family and friends to
the Dinner to help them celebrate their time
as students at Gippsland Campus and reflect
on successfully completing their Monash
degree on the campus it all happened.
Guest speakers included Head of Gippsland
Campus Harry Ballis and MUGSU Past
President Jenny Farrar along with current
MUGSU Board Member Cameron Bloore.
The vision of MUGSU Education Vice President
Buddhima Edi, made the night a huge success.
Article by Melanie Zimora
Calling All Gippsland Off campus/Distance
Education Students!!
[Applicable to all students doing 1 or more units off campus and enrolled at the
Gippsland campus only] – Both Monash and Fed Uni students
Dear Off Campus/Distance Education students,
The MUGSU Off Campus Vice President (OCVP)
would like to hear from you on issues that you are facing
as an off campus/Distance education student, as well as
to get feedback on other matters related to your university
experience. Kindly complete the survey form in the link
provided below:
http://goo.gl/forms/1q5sEbUV5p
Please direct any queries you may have regarding
this survey or any difficulties you have accessing the link
provided, to the OCVP via email: ocvp@monash.edu.
Thank you in advance for participating in this survey.
Thank you
Warmest regards,
Shahman Prushuathamun
Off Campus Vice President | MUGSU
IN THE NEXT ISSUE!!
While waiting, why not like
the Off Campus Facebook
Page to get the latest Off
Campus News!
MUGSU: https://www.facebook.com/mugsu
Off Campus: https://www.facebook.com/OffCampusGippsland
- 19 -
Tips for online students
Utilise the online mentor program while you have
the chance, including the opportunity to have
weekly live chats with other students. Coming to a
weekly chat can help to reduce feelings of
isolation or feeling overwhelmed, it can also be a
great way to ask other students about
assessments and get some clarification in the
moment. All students that are starting in an online
degree with FedUni are allocated a mentor.
Ask for help! There are a lot of people whose job
it is to help you with University life and they will
be happy to hear from you. Ask your online
mentor who to go to for academic assistance,
counselling, legal aid, financial aid, IT assistance,
and so on.
If you are having issues with any of your subjects
make sure you let your lecturers know early on. It's
much easier to get help and to get back on track or
to ask a lecturer to do something different with how
they deliver their information to online students if
you get in touch early on.
Want to meet other online students? Check out
the FedUni Online Students Group on Facebook.
It’s a group entirely for students that are studying
online. Meet other people doing the same course
as you, make friends and ask questions of fellow
students. Find it here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1543742799222538
/ or search for FedUni Online Students Group.
Need help with essay writing? Want some
assistance understanding a specific study area?
Your Tutor is a one-on-one service offered from
3pm-11pm from Sun-Fri during semester. It’s free,
and done through online chat, so you get a copy
of everything you learn in a session. See
www.federation.edu.au/yourtutor
for
more
details.
Have you forwarded your student email? When
you get started at FedUni you are given a student
email address and lecturers and general staff will
use this to get in touch with you. It will also be the
default email associated with your Moodle
account. If you’re worried about missing out on
information, search ‘forward email’ on the
FedUni website to get information on forwarding
to a preferred email account.
Did you know there are standards for how you
present an assignment? Yep. Before submitting
online, make sure you check out the General
Guide for Writing and Study Skills (search it on the
FedUni website). You need to make sure your
pages are numbered, your assignment has your
name on it, your student ID and what subject the
assignment is for. Don’t forget! Put your name or
student ID in the file name as well so your lecturer
knows it is yours.