Executive Blog

My first post for the AUSU Executive Blog, for June 2017 – what topic? Community & gratitude. Okay, that’s two topics, but a worthwhile combined topic to me. When I reflect on the nature of AU, and listening to the continual concerns of the AU community, one of the large ones is community.

AU comes from the newer tradition of distance and online education and holds the title of a “Global Pioneer” in open, online, and distance education.I feel honored to serve students, as their needs arise. In reflection on a proper topic to write for the Executive Blog, I looked at previous posts.

I wanted to gauge the reported concerns and hopes for the community from the view of AUSU executives, past and present. Some of the topics included, in one word, waiting, advocacy, representation, AU, cheating, surveys, requirements, vacation, and affordability – more or less.¹Continue Reading

“Thank you for your patience.  Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received.”

Do you hate waiting?  I know I do.

It seems we are living in a “right now” society, where everything we want can usually be found at the tip of our fingers.  Waiting has become something we are less and less used to.  Our society has evolved in a very short period of time into one where waiting is not only inconvenient, it’s unacceptable.Continue Reading

Advocacy Ammo!

A large role of AUSU, especially the executive members, is to meet with AU on a regular basis and express the voice of the members. The list of things that we discuss is very long, and I like to think that it includes all the topics that are important to the members that I am elected to represent. I take this role very seriously, and hope that I can affect some change for the good for current and future AU students.

AUSU membership is both diverse and dispersed across the country and beyond. It is difficult to engage everyone, and AUSU has a staff member and a committee devoted to improving engagement. Continue Reading

Hey everyone!

I’m going to give you all a little update on some of what AUSU and AU have been up to.

Over the past few weeks, I have been busy with working on consultations and committees regarding the future of Athabasca University. Chances are that you all have heard something over the past few months about a “provostial model” or the “third party review”, and maybe have been wondering what your future looks like since you decided to attend AU. Well, fear not! These are both good things to be happening right now, and after the consultations are done, AU will be better for it!

So what is a provost? A university provost is considered to be the university’s chief academic officer, and at AU, they would also have the role of VP Academic. Continue Reading

Who Goes to AU?

I go to AU.

If you’re reading this, there is a fairly good chance that you do too.

Take a moment, and ask yourself – WHY do I go to Athabasca University?

Here’s why I’m asking.  As the President of AUSU, I have represented undergraduate students at AU in countless meetings with people from inside and outside of our University.  I talk about AU and its students every single day, and I have found that there seems to be a misconception about “who” goes to AU.Continue Reading

Would You Knowingly Cheat?

I was hoping that my turn writing the executive blog would be a bright and cheery one with the holidays fast approaching, and a well-deserved break from school and work for some of us.  But really, how would I fill a whole page with holiday wishes?  It seems it would be a better use of this space to give you some really important information that could save you from accusations of academic misconduct.  Sounds serious, doesn’t it?

One of the hot topics at AU and across post-secondary institutions recently is plagiarism and cheating. Continue Reading

November is here!

It is now nearing the end of the year, and this will be my first post as the new VP External and Student Affairs. It has been an exciting and busy first few months in this role. I am excited to bring you all some news and important information for the month!

First off, the Government of Alberta is currently undergoing a tuition and fee review. They are seeking input from students and stakeholders to aid in future directions for governing tuition and student aid. They have released a discussion guide with questions, along with a survey to get input. This can be found online here.

The survey will be open until November 30, 2016. Taking this survey will require some time, including reading the background information provided. However, it is very important that you, as stakeholders, provide your valuable input.Continue Reading

Here we are, in October.  The last 9 months have been extraordinarily busy for me, as I have led AUSU’s advocacy efforts against retrospective program changes at Athabasca University.

In my July blog, I wrote about a situation that was unfolding within the Faculty of Health Disciplines (FHD) at AU.  At the heart of the matter was that the Academic Planning, Policy, and Standards Committee had approved significant changes to the post LPN-BN program, and applied them retrospectively to all students already enrolled.  This had never been done before at AU and there was no policy related to retroactive changes at AU.

At the same time, the Faculty of Health Disciplines also passed a number of changes at the course level to apply higher GPA pre-requisites for each clinical course throughout the program.  For a detailed list of the changes, who approved them, and what the effect of them was, click here.

I was shocked to learn that these changes had been made, and had it not been for tireless and constant pressure from AUSU, they would have remained “as is” regardless of the negative, costly, and detrimental effect on students.  With the support of AUSU Council, Executive and staff; I began the biggest advocacy effort in recent memory at AUSU.  I’m pleased to report that while we are not finished yet, we have begun to see the benefit of our hard work.Continue Reading

Happy September!!!

If you have children, I am sure your house has been filled with lots of activity and excitement this week as summer vacation ends and the new school year begins.  If you are like me, you are probably feeling a sense of relief that order will (hopefully) be restored in your household and that the predictability of the school year routine will soon set in.

But, if you are an AU student, you may not follow a traditional semester and you may not have had a traditional summer break.  That’s why I love AU!  It can fit into everyone’s schedule.

For myself, I would love to tell you how I worked hard all summer and completed numerous courses with top marks.  But, that’s not what happened.  I trucked along at my normal pace, with the motto that slow and steady gets the grades.

As an AUSU executive councillor, summer is an exciting time for different reasons.  It’s the wrap up of the current year goals list, and the proposal of next year’s goals list.  Continue Reading

For those of you who eagerly await the release of the executive blog each month, you will notice that this one is late.  My wife and I are expecting our third child any day now and every time that I sit down to start writing this article, her contractions pick up so I need go help her and our two children.  On top of getting ready to have a baby any day, I am frantically trying to finish a course with an August contract end date while still working full-time.  When I talk to my friends who are currently attending brick and mortar universities, they say that my life sounds crazy and chaotic.  Most of the time they are right. But, when you hear other AU students’ stories, my experiences are not unique by any means.

Many AU students are working either full-time or part-time while trying to balance family life and complete their courses. While there are many reasons why students choose to attend AU, one key factor is often flexibility.  Personally, I could not work full-time while still attending traditional classes.  I need to work to support my family so AU was a great choice for me.  If it was not for AU, I would not have been able to go to university because I would not have been able to afford it.

Many students rely on AU because it has allowed them to change their lives, and continued to do so. Since AU plays such a key role in the lives of AU students, it can be very troubling when it is reported that AU is facing financial insolvency. Continue Reading