ARO Weekly Newsletter #50–19December 2016
Careers and Employment:
-The Careers Centre have moved and are closed for student support until 9 January 2016. This week we may be able to answer inquiries via telephone and online, but will have no in person availability.
-From 9 January 2017, we will be open for student service in the Student Centre. Careers staff will move between offices in ECL and the Student Centre. All phone numbers and emails remain unchanged.
-Wishing you all a happy holiday season from the Careers Centre!
Communications and Events:
-A massive thank you for all your help in 2016, have a great Christmas!
-Congratulations to Kayla who was nominated for the WW Mitchell Public Relations Institute of Australia (WA) Student of the Year Award.
-Conversion update:
Domestic
-Telephone calls to 64 students who were unsuccessful in their applications and have been offered alternative courses. 11 of these students have now applied for alternative courses and 21 are considering re-applying
-eDM to 62 TISC students who have received an offer but not yet accepted
-eDM to 216 deferred students who have received an offer but not yet accepted
-eDM to 259 students who did not respond to their offers for S2, 2016 and have status of “lapsed”. These students have been encouraged to re-apply
International
-eDM to 336 students who have received an offer but have not yet accepted and are eligible to receive the IWS
-A web banner promoting the International Welcome Scholarship has been displayed on the Agent Portal:
-The latest IWS face book post has reached 11956 people, received 2314 likes, 2 people shared it, 27 link clicks and 118 post clicks Overall page likes have increased from 3093 to 6023 since 9.11.16.
Centre for University Teaching:
(all areas)
-Learning Innovations, in conjunction with ITS, will maintain an enquiry service Tuesday-Friday, 9am to 5pm during the limited service period in order to support the release of Trimester 1 units. This is accessible via the normal LMS mailbox.
-We would like to wish everyone in ARO a happy and restful Christmas and holiday period.
Engagement:
(International)
Christmas shutdown staff leave times
-Carol – 26th December to 6th January, returning to work on the 9th January
-Fozzil – 9th December to 4th January, returning to work on 5th January
-Justin – 23rd December to 6th January, returning to work on 9th January
-Natasha –20th December to 6th January, returning to work on 9th January
-Neville – 26th December to 13th January, returning to work on the 16th January
-Tim – 26th December to 4th January, returning to work on 5th January
Kaplan China Inbound to Murdoch University
-In conjunction with Murdoch Institute of Technology, International Engagement hosted a group of 27 Chinese delegation to the South St campus.
-The delegation consisted of 3 Kaplan China senior staff ( Deputy Director, Managers), 2 Kaplan In-country BDMs from Malaysia and Vietnam, and 20 performing staff from our top student agent partners ( Head Counsellors, Managers), from across all different provinces and cities in China. For many it was their first time to Perth and to Murdoch. They were extremely impressed with Murdoch’s facilities and hospitality and they commented on how beautiful the campus is (albeit scheduled landscape maintenance happened around Bush Court)!
-Overall they were impressed with the insightful ofthe presentations and the illustration of industry relevant projects relating to those courses in areas of Information Technology, Life Sciences, Arts and the Health Professions. They were particularly impressed that they had the opportunity to meet and hear from the Head of Discipline, Academic Chairs and Associate Dean directly for those specific courses. The fact that some of the presentations were delivered in Chinese made it more engaging with the audience!
See photos here
Singapore Leadership Mobility Program
-Early December Jeannette chaperoned 25 Murdoch University students on a 4 day Leadership Program in Singapore, hosted by Murdoch Singapore. Students discussed if Singapore is really a smart city and the personal aim for the students was to develop cultural intelligence.
We are moving!
-On the 21st December we will be moving to our new office which is located in the ITRI Building (525) and expect to be settled in by the 23rd December
Enrolments & Fees:
Enrolments
-Course Transfers have commenced and are the main priority. Most unrestricted requests have been done, and restricted courses are being done as they are returned from Schools. International students have to go through an offer and acceptance process as a new COE is required, and the transfer cannot be processed until the acceptance is returned.
-Academic Progression has been assessed and students advised of outcomes and what they need to do. In early January we will be doing end of year progression which affects mainly graduate students, in mid-January the TNE September trimester academic progression will be assessed. In early February we will be assessing late results for 2016 semester 2.
-Action on other student issues, such as pre-requisite waiver requests, has taken second place to course transfers and academic progression, and is under control.
Fees
-There is an issue with the online Commonwealth Assistance Form, with some students not able to fill it in and submit it; and therefore not been able to select units. The exact cause has been difficult to pin down, as there have been a number of recent changes. We may need to decouple the e-CAF from unit enrolment.
-The summer semester has started, and we are looking at outstanding fees for those units with census dates this side of the end of the year. We will be deferring fees to HELP at the end of the week, which is a shorter time frame than normal, to assist Finance in finalising 2016 finances.
-Fee set-up is continuing for 2017.
ESOS
-This area is now busy with updating details for completing and withdrawing students, extensions to the time required to complete, and transferring students.
Equity and Social Inclusion:
-We will be short staffed between 19 December through to Monday 16 January, and the Equity and Social Inclusion Office will be closed from 22 December – 6 January inclusive
-We have GjystinaSimoni who is undertaking relief work in the Admin Support Officer position from time to time
-We also have Rachel Drewry who is undertaking relief work in the Disability Advisor role on a part-time basis
Graduations and Results:
Graduations
-We have graduated the bulk of eligible students. We continue to graduate eligible students as results are updated.
-We will have 4 Graduation Ceremonies in Perth (11, 13, 15 & 17 February) and 2 ceremonies in Singapore (11 March). Details can be accessed via the following link:
Results
-We are still processing S2and TS 2016 results
-A big thank you to all our colleagues in the ARO, Happy holidays and looking forward to seeing you in 2017!
MU Health:
Acupuncture Guided Meditation Workshops
-Murdoch University Health (Medical) is offering further acupuncture guided meditation workshops for staff wellness, run by one of our doctors Dr Su Lin Wan. ( See attached flyer)
-The four-week workshop will train you in qigong meditation techniques with the guidance of acupuncture (max 8 participants per course)
Workshop Dates and Times
Mondays 23rd January to 13th February
11-00: Beginners class
1230-1330: Continuation class
Costs – Part-funded by Medicare with a gap fee of $30 per class, attendance is require for all four classes, deposit for attendance $30x 4 ($120)
For enrolments and bookings please contact Murdoch Uni Health: Medical ext. 2293 or to request an enrolment form.
The Student Centre:
Power outage in The Chancellery Building - 28 Dec to 6 Jan.
-There will be a complete power outage in the Chancellery Building from 28 December through 6 January.
-For staff in the Chancellery, please ensure everything is powered off at the mains at your desk.If you have anything in fridges, make sure to empty them by this Wednesday at the latest before the contents are jettisoned forever!
-The Student Centre will have a generator to supply power (and air conditioning!) during this time. Some staff from Admissions will be re-homed temporarily back of house in The Student Centre.
Opening Times over the Christmas Break
-The Student Centre will be open on the following days/times, primarily for admission and TISC/ATAR enquiries and we will also assist any stray current student enquiries as well.
Friday / 23rdDec. / 8.30am-4.30pmWednesday / 28thDec. / 8.30am-4.30pm
Thursday / 29thDec. / 8.30am-4.30pm
Friday / 30thDec. / 8.30am-4.30pm
Tuesday / 3rdJan. / 8.30am-4.30pm
Wednesday / 4thJan. / 8.30am-4.30pm
Thursday / 5thJan. / 8.30am-4.30pm
Friday / 6thJan. / 8.30am-4.30pm
-The Future Student Team, Admissions Teams (Dom and Intl) and MIT will be present to assist with the admissions related queries.
-And spare a thought for the MeetMurdoch Team who not only will be available from 8am-8pm on these days, but will also be taking calls from 5-8pm on 27th Dec. when ATAR results are released …
Student Support:
Scholarships
-We have been working with MCA to update the Undergraduate Scholarship and George Alexander Foundation brochures. These will both be available mid-January.
-Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!
Special Programs
-Semester 2, 2016 Murdoch University Australia Awards on-campus farewell was held on 14 December, 2016. The event was a great success with students having a chance to celebrate their time at Murdoch.
-Welcome letters for 2017 Australia Awards students have gone out, also booking airport transfers and temporary accommodation
-11 new Australia Awards students for semester 1, 2017
Transition and Retention Officers/Orientation
-All publications for orientation have arrived
-Come to The Student Centre to check out the great publications (z card, Student Guide)
-Orientation planning ongoing
TNE:
-Affiliate Lecturers in Singapore have been given access to the LMS sites of the units they will be teaching in January 2017
-Singapore students will be able to access LMS for their January units as from 27th December 2016. Dubai students will get access as from 3rd January 2017.
-Jenny Crawford will be monitoring emails during limited services period and attending to urgent requests from partners. Contacts in each school have been identified for Jenny to get in touch with should the need arise.
-Orientation week commences on the 3rd January in Singapore, staff from the School of B&G will be travelling to conduct sessions.
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