Message to students from the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic
You may have heard that the University is considering introducing a three study period model from 2020.
This change, if implemented, would facilitate inclusion of a summer study period which would support students who may wish to ‘fast track’ their studies. It would also assist part-time students who may wish to study over the summer.
For those students who do not wish to study across the summer period, the proposed changes will provide enhanced opportunities to engage in paid work, placements, or volunteer work.
The proposed changes are also designed to establish a common calendar across our campuses in WA, Singapore, Mauritius and Malaysia, which will provide Curtin students with greater access to valuable study abroad opportunities.
It is important to note that the University is not proposing to move to a mandatory trimester model, where students would be required to be engage in all three study periods. In our proposed changes for 2020, there is no expectation that students would be required to study across all three study periods unless they wish to do so.
Also, the proposed changes will not put at risk student concessions for Centrelink, Private Healthcare and Transperth because the changes will not affect a student’s full time status.
If the changes are implemented there would be a slightly reduced study time prior to exams. However, a commitment has been made to streamline examination processes in order to recover most, if not all, of this revision time.
We are currently out of step with the rest of the sector, given that Curtin and only one other university in Australia currently have two separate tuition free weeks per semester.
At the request of the Curtin Student Guild the University has agreed to extend the consultation period to provide more opportunities for students to engage with the proposal and provide feedback.
Unfortunately a lot of misinformation about the University’s proposal is circulating. We are very happy to meet with students to clarify what is proposed and information about this consultation process will be provided shortly.
Professor Jill Downie
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic
