Some of Our Parts

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.

The Vision Australia Further Education Bursary 2015 is now open for Applications. In 2015, Vision Australia will award Further Education Bursaries to a select number of students who are blind or have low vision. These Bursaries provide assistive technology, laptops, magnification, audio or Braille devices tailored to the individual student’s needs.

Eligibility Criteria

Students of any age can apply for a Vision Australia Further Education Bursary.

Applicants must:

• Be or become, a client of Vision Australia
• Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• Be living or moving to Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory or Tasmania
• Be enrolling to study at an institution in Victoria, ACT, NSW, Queensland, the Northern Territory or Tasmania
• Be enrolling to study in at least Certificate IV or higher accredited courses including undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (not a Foundation or Enabling course) at the start of the year or be already enrolled in such a course (preference may be given to those in the early stages of a course).

Each year a Victorian Bursary recipient selected by our committee to have best met these criteria will also receive the Fairhall Memorial Scholarship of $150.

The closing date for applicants is 31 October 2014.

See the Vision Australia website for more.

Have you ever had a lecturer or tutor who went that extra mile to ensure you were accommodated for in class? The MSA Teaching Awards are now open, and include a new category for Inclusive Teaching.

Make your vote count here!

GOOD NEWS! There are now new access parking bays  in C2 at Clayton. Please note that  the signs are not up yet, but its very clear by the markings on the ground.

Also good to know – people who require access parking will not be booked for parking in yellow bays provided the disability permit is properly displayed. If you are having difficulties finding a close access car park contact Monash security.