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Hello,
I'd like to hear directly from the author of this article.
I'm interested by "School of BEES is just barely holding together .." and especially in the apparent decline of geology.
But maybe it is all of science that is in decline and perhaps society does not value it as much today as it used to?
Some time ago, when the rot set in, Robyn Williams wrote that "science itself has never been so poorly regarded, at least in my lifetime".
Geology ceased being taught in high school and geology departments in the metropolitan universities steadily declined.
What is the situation now? And what caused the decline?
The latest stage in shrinking seemed to be to fuse various former schools into the BEES, and now we read even the BEES is strugling still?
Cheers,
John
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Hi Powen. I am an international student from the US. I am currently on a student visa, but will likely apply for PR when I am finished at UNSW. I realise that the majority of internat�l students at UNSW are Asian, but it is important to recognise that those of us from North America also have some integration and immigration issues. All other US and Canadian students I have talked to in Australia and New Zealand have experienced similar difficulties to me. Please find my answers to your questions below. Thank you for taking the time to address these issues.
Some general questions:
How much are you spending in total (tuition + expenses) in Sydney right now? Nothing for tuition (I am on IPRS scholarship); was paying $300/wk in rent (although I was living with my partner, who helped offset costs) and about $100/wk in food in Sydney, but have now moved to Newcastle to pursue a lower cost of living.
What do you think of the current educational system in Australia compared to your home country ? I feel that the emphasis for postgrads is too much on the time limit, which as I understand is fostered by the government system of paying a uni when a student submits in less than 4 years. There doesn�t seem to be much interest in research quality compared to getting us out of here under that time.
What do you think of the current immigration system ? My knowledge of it is only anecdotal at this point, but from what I�ve heard it�s much easier to get residency if one is a citizen of a fellow commonwealth country, which seems ridiculous and frustrates me. I would love for all countries of the world to open their immigration doors to all and let things balance themselves out, but realise this is unrealistic.
What do you think of the current quality of teaching, the facilities and the experience you are having at UNSW ? School of BEES is just barely holding together financially, resulting in substandard facilities, but yet we hear stories of the high life the vice chancellor and other administrators are living. I am not doing any coursework, so am unable to comment on the teaching overall, but have found my supervisor to be quite insensitive to cultural and communication differences. The good points I have found are the Learning Centre on campus and the workshops they offer, the administrative support staff in BEES (specifically the Head of School�s secretary Mary O�Sullivan and administrative manager Louise Mazzarroli). I have also had positive experiences with the library, especially the ILL system and staff and the response to new book purchase requests.
How do we compare to other universities in Sydney ? Can�t really comment, since I don�t have any personal experience with this.
Is there anything you find particularly difficult as an international student ? As I stated before, my supervisor�s lack of recognition that I come from a different educational system that did not prepare me for postgrad work in the same way as an Aussie uni would have. The fact that my cultural style of communicating makes this problem more difficult to overcome than it otherwise might have been.
How do you find things academically, socially and culturally ? It seems that lots of the international student opportunities are aimed toward students from Asia, but I do understand that this is only practical. Other than that, I have been able to find support systems where I need them (international student centre counseling, for example).
This will be used to assess the general welfare of international students at UNSW. Perhaps you have a few suggestions of your own. Would a mentoring program for international students help ? What about a program where you get to meet the locals ? I think it would be valuable to have an introductory session for people that is segregated by place of origin, but don�t want to segregate from others socially. So maybe a Saturday workshop where there are different sessions running simultaneously for people from different areas with a social mixer in the evening afterward. As for the �meet the locals�, it would be great to advertise on campus for an �adopt a foreigner� programme where a UNSW student agrees to take their designated student to various social events for the first session. Ideally, the �adoptors� would also be international students who have been here a couple of years so that they understand some of the issues the �adoptee� might face.
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