Abigail McCarrol

More community for smaller degrees

In the College of Arts and Social Sciences there are some very small degrees. As someone who is taking undergraduate public policy, I only know 2 people so far who are doing my degree, and honestly, I am sick of explaining to people in my tutorials what it is. There are many other degrees like this, and in a time when their funding is being cut and they need people to turn to, there is no known community to them. Small or open-ended degrees are hard for students to navigate and plan, and so when they need help with this there is limited support available to them. Or if there is, it’s broad and non-specific to their degree. Therefore, I want to ensure that all students can access a community within their degree regardless of its size, and have the opportunities to learn from like-minded people, and receive support that is relevant to their degree and interests.

No Saturday exams

It’s a common cliché that arts and social students work as baristas. But it is true that many CASS students work over the weekends in hospo jobs, and it is so frustrating that CASS students have to cancel weekend employment to attend an exam. It isn’t just if you’ve been scheduled for the weekend, but if you’re working late on a Friday you have to get up exhausted and early for an exam on a day that should be your free time. It’s not fair to us, and it doesn’t allow all students to put their best foot forward. It’s time that the university understood that students rely on their jobs to be able to participate in their studies and they shouldn’t be negatively impacted by doing so. Therefore, getting rid of Saturday exams will make sure that everyone has a fair opportunity to sit their exams.

Better class times/rooms for both professors and students

• The timetabling of specific classes gets in the way of employment opportunities for many students. For students who work in the evenings it is a challenge to make a 4pm tute, but all the other, more ideal, options might be full or clash with other classes. Because of the funding cuts within CASS, there is less flexibility with tutorials which makes it hard for students to balance their work commitments, study and social lives. By scheduling more tutorials at convenient times for students is essential.
• The class location and size also depend on the timetabling. Some CASS tutorials get stuck in poor classrooms – like a lecture theatre instead of a classroom – or every tutorial is packed with 30 students. The quality of your learning shouldn’t be diminished by having to pick a specific time for a tutorial.
• Arts and social sciences courses often have compulsory/marked attendance but then they’re scheduled at bad times or are too full for students to move to a better time, students shouldn’t have to fear for their GPA if they can’t make a specific class time.
• It is impossible to learn in a classroom with 30 people in it, with a one-hour blocking, once a fortnight. The tutor doesn’t have the capacity to assist every student and answer every question, and it doesn’t provide an opportunity for proper discussion and collaborative work.