For however long you’ll be at Sydney Uni, you’re bound to become tangled in the finicky world of student administration. Here are some tips on making sure you get the right answers from the right people…
Once you get to uni, you can no longer expect that someone will come chasing you with all the information you need! You need to get active and take responsibility for all aspects of your study, including important administrative issues like your enrolment details, timetable, subjects and fees. Here are some tips to ensure you never miss out on important administrative details:
1. Never assume that the university will tell you what you need to know and do. You need to take the first step in asking. It's not scary at all.
Here are some hints:
- First, go to your faculty office and ask.
- Next, go to the Student Centre and confirm the answer you were given.
- If you are also receiving assistance from other university departments, such as the Scholarships Office, the Koori Centre, the Disabilities Service or any other service, also ask them. Often one administrative change or status affects another. For example, if you are on a scholarship but you enrol part-time in Semester 2 due to personal issues, you will probably need to speak with your faculty, the Student Centre, the Counselling Service and the Scholarships Office.
>> Learn from my Personal Experience: When I transferred from a Bachelor of Arts to a combined Bachelor of Arts/Law, no one told me that I had to get permission from my Faculty’s Dean to have my scholarship transfer with me also. How did I find out about this? I recieved a letter when I started in my new degree telling me that I would lose my scholarship if I didn’t get the Dean’s permission! Save yourself the worry and find out what you need to know before it becomes a problem.
2. Never assume that one faculty knows anything about another faculty. If you’re doing subjects from more than one faculty, you need to speak to both faculties and make sure you get the same answer.
>> Learn from my Personal Experience: Honours is a research-based year you can do after you finish an undergraduate degree. You need approval from your faculty to be accepted into the Honours program. As a combined Arts/Law student, I finished my Arts degree at the end of third year, which meant I could postpone fourth and fifth year law to do my Honours year.
When I applied to Arts Honours, I asked the Arts Faculty whether I had to do anything more to ensure that I would still be enrolled in fourth year law, just in case I didn’t get into Honours. The Arts Faculty said all I needed to do was to lodge the Honours application to them and, voila, all would be fine.
Two hours before the closing time for enrolment applications, I felt the answer I was given was a bit suss – and frankly too simple for the bureaucratic systems that exist in this place – so I called the Law Faculty. They gave me a different answer! I called the Student Centre and they confirmed what the Law Faculty had said. I finally had the right answer – and only two frantic hours in which to lodge an application which would ensure that I didn't lose my place in law in case I didn't get into Honours!
And then…
The university computer server crashed preventing me from enrolling. I called the Student Centre again and was put on hold. Apparently, thousands of other students were also in my position. Thankfully this time, the application period was extended due to the server crash – but it taught me a few good lessons. Never rely on an answer from one faculty if the question is with regards to another faculty! Generally, faculties don't talk with each other - you need to do the bridge work.
This experience brings me to points 3 and 4:
3. Never trust an answer from one source. If you have a question about your enrolment status, HECS/fees, timetable or other such administrative questions, always ask your faculty office AND the Student Centre. If those answers don’t match each other, someone has given you the wrong answer.
4. Always ask your administrative questions early. Often there are forms to fill out, permissions to get and online applications to complete. Leave yourself plenty of time.
Remember, the onus is on you. If you don’t get the admin stuff right, you could find yourself losing out big time due to an administrative technicality. So ask questions early and don’t assume everything will tweak itself when you change something with one department. It's a big, ole' clumsy bureaucracy. But let me tell you, it's better than dealing with Centrelink. Now that's a whole other posting..