University grumble....
When I was an undergrad student at UWS, I was also on a sole-parent pension. I got no child support and the 'system' decided they would pay me my pension less what they deemed Sean should pay. That left me with about $120 in my hand a week. I paid $115 in rent. I robbed Peter to pay Paul, begged, borrowed and scraped together everything I could. I pushed through that degree and all the adversity because I knew it would free me from ever having to live like that again. That's just to give some context here.
Nearly every semester my results would be withheld because I couldn't afford to pay the student services fee, which was around $280 per semester. You can see that $280 was simply not within my reach. The student services fee covered, back then, things like the uni bar, the gym and recreational facilities, the landscaping. Yes, I can see that these were vital to my educational experience because I regularly got pissed in the bar after I'd lugged 20kgs of law books around campus all day and before I drove 120kms back down the freeway to take care of my two babies. Would have loved to have used the gym because I would have really felt like it for the same reasons. And to be honest, I would have climbed mountains of rubble to get to my classes. I didn't give a shit about the landscaping. I used to despair about this...like really despair.
And here we are again....13 years later....as a distance ed. masters student dealing with the same bullshit service fee. You want me to fill in your survey? Ok...I'll fill in your survey. I don't give a shit about the way survey monkey sets it up, you can still get your point across. I don't need any student services!!!! I don't need financial advice. I don't need career advice. I don't eat or drink at the university. I don't use the recreational facilities. I don't require child care. I don't need accommodation advice. I don't need legal advice. I don't use superfluous web sites. I simply use what I pay for in my course fees and that is access to a course facilitator, course materials and the online forum. Surely my $1700 a semester per subject covers that.
Now I don't begrudge a young uni student having the ultimate uni experience and I believe if you need to access these things, then you should pay a fee. But to make it law and to hold results to ransom is so unconscionable it takes my breath away. What about all those people who are putting themselves through university against the odds? What about those who simply don't use any of the facilities? I'd rather know that my fee - today - could pay the fee of someone who can't pay. It's just bullshit. It's the one thing I've always hated about our tertiary education system.
There...and now I need to go use the service I pay for.
Pfft.
Nearly every semester my results would be withheld because I couldn't afford to pay the student services fee, which was around $280 per semester. You can see that $280 was simply not within my reach. The student services fee covered, back then, things like the uni bar, the gym and recreational facilities, the landscaping. Yes, I can see that these were vital to my educational experience because I regularly got pissed in the bar after I'd lugged 20kgs of law books around campus all day and before I drove 120kms back down the freeway to take care of my two babies. Would have loved to have used the gym because I would have really felt like it for the same reasons. And to be honest, I would have climbed mountains of rubble to get to my classes. I didn't give a shit about the landscaping. I used to despair about this...like really despair.
And here we are again....13 years later....as a distance ed. masters student dealing with the same bullshit service fee. You want me to fill in your survey? Ok...I'll fill in your survey. I don't give a shit about the way survey monkey sets it up, you can still get your point across. I don't need any student services!!!! I don't need financial advice. I don't need career advice. I don't eat or drink at the university. I don't use the recreational facilities. I don't require child care. I don't need accommodation advice. I don't need legal advice. I don't use superfluous web sites. I simply use what I pay for in my course fees and that is access to a course facilitator, course materials and the online forum. Surely my $1700 a semester per subject covers that.
Now I don't begrudge a young uni student having the ultimate uni experience and I believe if you need to access these things, then you should pay a fee. But to make it law and to hold results to ransom is so unconscionable it takes my breath away. What about all those people who are putting themselves through university against the odds? What about those who simply don't use any of the facilities? I'd rather know that my fee - today - could pay the fee of someone who can't pay. It's just bullshit. It's the one thing I've always hated about our tertiary education system.
There...and now I need to go use the service I pay for.
Pfft.