Some of Our Parts

Monash Disability Services will be running an Open House for all of O Week (23rd-27th January). That means if you have any questions at all about disabilities or mental health conditions that you feel might impact on your studies pop into the Disability Services office at 21 Ancora Imparo Way (formerly Building 55 – right at the bus loop, near the Law Building and Menzies). You can speak to one of our friendly Disability Advisers who will be able to assist you with any inquiries you might have.

Biostatistican, Disability advocate and I CAN Network founder Penny Robinson has been profiled in the School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine’s blog! Find out more about Penny and the journey of how she got to where she is today. Have a read of her many accomplishments and her goals for the future.

You might have noticed something new about the campus this year.

By January 2015, every building at the Clayton campus will have a new street address. That’s right – no more random building numbers. The new system will be attractive, logical and easy to navigate. We are transforming Clayton into an activated and inviting campus that attracts, enriches and fully engages with the surrounding community.

It’s all part of the campus Masterplan. Central to the Masterplan is a network of wide, tree-lined walkways, which will improve way finding and navigation across campus. We are numbering Monash buildings along the walkways in the same way as houses are numbered along a street. So it’s not just about the buildings – it’s about the connections and walkways between them.

It’s all about getting around campus without getting lost, and being physically part of the Monash community.

Disability Services is now located at 21 Ancora Imparo way.

See the Campus Maps to find out what’s changed!

Conversational English Programs are beginning next month, with a range of different kinds of classes available.

These classes are a set of extra-curricular language activities aimed at developing the global competences of domestic and international students and enhancing the student experience through cross cultural communication and making new friends!

Classes for 2015 include:

Let’s Chat MUISS!

• Groups of 30 students + 3 student facilitators
• Structured but flexible, fun classes addressing conversation starters and other themes identified by Monash students
• Last session in collaboration with Monash Sport includes games and a BBQ lunch
• Clayton campus only
• One 1h session once per week, Week 3 to Week 11, Semesters 1 and 2 – Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4pm-5pm or 5pm-6pm
• Open to all Monash students
• Registration open from February 16 to March 6

Let’s Chat BusEco!

• Free conversational English sessions to improve communication skills
• Groups of 30 students + 3 facilitators
• Structured but flexible, fun classes addressing conversation starters and other themes identified by Monash students
• Last session in collaboration with Monash Sport includes games and a BBQ lunch
• Caulfield campus
• Open to Monash Business School (Faculty of Business and Economics) students only
• One 1hr session once per week, Week 3 to Week 11, Semesters 1 and 2
• Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4pm-5pm or 5pm-6pm
• Registration open from February 16 to March 6 with a new intake of registrations during Survival Week (Week 4)

Peer Support

• Help with written or spoken academic work
• Free, one to one, ‘drop in’ 20 min sessions – no bookings necessary
• John Medley Library, Campus Centre, Level 1, 21 Chancellor’s Walk, Clayton
• All students welcome
• Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 11am-2pm, Week 3 – Week 12, Semesters 1 and 2

Aussie Connect

• Social interactions with local community in collaboration with Monash City Council
• Once per month social group gathering
• On Clayton campus and various council’s venues
• Semester 2 only

There will also be a range of workshops and seminars across the semester looking at topics of cross cultural communication and international education. Watch this space for more information in early February!

The Walter and Eliza Hall Trust Opportunity Scholarship is available to undergraduate students who have a physical disability (and receive the Disability Support Pension) and are experiencing financial disadvantage.

For more information including eligibility criteria, please contact the Monash Coursework Scholarships Unit.

It’s that SWOT VAC kind of year. Hope everyone’s exam preparations are going well! You might have seen yesterday we posted that there are now 24 hour study spaces at Clayton, for all those night owls who work best after dark.

Also its Halloween! Are you getting your trick or treat on?

• For those wheelchair users, here are some really clever Halloween costume ideas!
• Heading to the UK soon? The Festival of Dyslexic Culture is on this November.
• While you’re there, check out Ben Holt’s Tube Challenge!
• Why Musharaf Asghar feels lucky to have a stammer.
• Have you heard of the Teal Pumpkin Project?
• Are you graduating this year? How do you feel about the future?’
• Check out the new parking logo at this New York college.

Are you interested in Disability Studies? There are two great new opportunities being advertised at the moment!

Curtin University has an ARC funded project within the Faculty of Humanities in Disability and Digital TV: Access, representation and reception. This project investigates the impacts digital televisions have on the social inclusion or exclusion of people with disability through a user-focused analysis of accessibility and representation.

Further abroad, the University of Leeds has a position for a University Academic Fellow in Disability Law.

As we start to enter exams period, all current Monash students can access a 24 hour study area to study in preparation for exams around the clock:

Building 10, Ground floor, Center Cellar Room

Students will require their Monash Student ID to gain access to the space after hours. This space is now available for use and will be until at least Friday 21 November.

Are you a student or recent graduate with a vision impairment? Would you like to help improve access to graphical materials in university educational materials?

Graphs, maps, schematics, diagrams, cartoons, non-standard scripts and many other visual representations can be used to convey important information in study materials. A research team from Monash and Deakin Universities is investigating how vision impaired University students access these materials and how the current processes can be improved.

You will be asked to share your experiences and opinions in an interview up to one hour in length at your place of study or via phone in November 2014. Participation is entirely voluntary and confidential, as detailed in the attached explanatory statement.

Responses from the interviews will be used to develop a model for improved provision of accessible graphics which will be promoted throughout Australian Universities. Participants will have the opportunity to register to trial this new model for their 2015 study materials.

To get involved and help make a difference, please contact Leona Holloway at leona.holloway@monash.edu or (03) 9903 2401.

KPMG has been engaged by the Australian Government Department of Education to conduct an evaluation of the Disability Support Program. The Disability Support Program is one of the Australian Government’s key responses to assisting people with disability and removing barriers that may be preventing access and participation.

The evaluation will use a variety of methods and tools to collect information including this online survey.  The survey asks broad questions of your experience as a student with disability at university and you do not need to have knowledge of the Disability Support Program. The survey is entirely voluntary and please be assured your responses will be confidential.

Interviews (face to face or telephone) will also assist in the evaluation of the program. The final question of the survey asks if you would be willing to participate in a short interview with one of KPMG’s team. Your participation, whilst very much valued is optional. If you would like to be a part of the interviews would you be so kind as to indicate “Yes” and then complete the contact details as KPMG will need a way to contact you. Guidance about how KPMG will store and use your information can be found in KPMG’s privacy statement.

We greatly appreciate your participation in this survey as we understand this is busy part of the year for you.

Follow the link to the online student survey.