‘Expense of our wellbeing’: UNSW students continue push to scrap trimesters
University of NSW students are continuing to pressure the university to scrap its controversial trimester system, which they say has resulted in more stress on students and less holidays.
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University of NSW students are continuing to pressure the university to scrap its controversial trimester system which they say has resulted in more stress on students and less holidays — urging fellow classmates to voice their concern through a survey which ranks universities.
UNSW has conceded the change to trimesters this year has made things “bumpier” for students making the transition, but says it did not expect to get everything perfect from the outset and it is working to fix any issues.
The university says in the long run the move is necessary to cater for student growth on the relatively small campus at Kensington.
The move has seen the university adopt three academic terms in a year changing from the old model of two terms, which is still in place at other major universities across Sydney.
The trimesters include 10-week terms (not including exams) compared to the old system of two, 13-week terms.
The move has resulted in fewer holidays for students meaning less recovery time, less opportunities for international students to travel home, and a shorter break over summer to complete internships or to work.
Students have also complained about course content being crammed into shorter terms, with lecturers being forced to adapt their courses to fit the new system.
“I’m finding it difficult to keep up with the content and do well,” student James Morched said.
“In the first term of the trimester system it was the first time I had dropped below a 70 WAM, and that is very unlike me.
“The subjects weren’t particularly hard but it was 13 weeks of content squished into 10 weeks and then rushed into exams.”
Student Paul Cheng agreed and said he had experienced similar difficulties.
“For example, my lecturer was not able to finish the lecture content of at least 30 pages of slides in my first two weeks of lectures … so he instead just had to put everything online for us to read,” he said.
As an international student, Mr Cheng said he could not go home to Hong Kong between trimesters and had to wait until the summer break now as well.
There are only two weeks of holidays between terms compared to four last year.
Both students are part of a group called Cancel Trimesters and are calling for students to voice their concerns through the online Student Experience Survey, which runs during August and ranks universities across the country according to the results.
UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Merlin Crossley said the university conducted extensive consultation, including with students, before making the shift to trimesters.
He said a key benefit of trimesters was it freed up a lot of campus space and timetable space, with full-time students doing a maximum of three subjects per term rather than four.
As a small campus, he said it was a necessary change with an increasing number of students wanting to study at UNSW.
He added many part-time students studied at UNSW and it allowed them to complete an entire degree in four years if they did two subjects at a time, whereas it would have taken six years under the old format.
Professor Crossley added they did not expect to get everything right in the first year of making the huge change but it was a necessary change.
“We have reconfigured hundreds and hundreds of courses and we have not got everything right,” he said.
“Next year we will have gone through a full cycle of three trimesters, so I would hope we have got a lot right (by then).”
He said it was tougher on students in second year studies and above who were having to transition.
“It is slightly bumpier than normal (for those students),” he said.
“The students that are used to studying in semesters and catching up in midsemester breaks are having to adapt.
“Whereas the students that are new are finding it easier than the ones that are transitioning.”
He added while there were less holidays for students they still had a lot more holidays than any full-time workplace.
He also said that the university had worked with large law and engineering firms to offer more internships, as many of the internships on offer were based around semester calenders.
Student Macy Reen, who was also part of the Cancel Trimesters group on campus who organised a 1000-strong protest in June, claimed the shift was mainly about cutting costs.
“It is about making money at the expense of our wellbeing.”
She added while she mainly wanted to see the university scrap trimesters, she also wanted to see a mid-semester break reinstated, changes to special consideration and longer stuvac periods.
The university has agreed to introduce a flexibility week from next year following feedback from students who want a midsemester break.
The Courier asked five random UNSW students do you think trimesters has been a good move this year?
JAMES: No, of course not, there has been a lack of support during tutorials and the time you get taught is reduced heavily. So overall it has been negative.
ELISE: No. I have found it more stressful because you have the same amount of assessments in less amount of time (in each subject). And I cannot go home as much as I live interstate and there is less holidays. Also, they say you can do more subjects in a year but I have tried to apply to do nine and they told me I could only do eight.
ELEESA: Yes. I generally tend to want to do more at the same time and it keeps me active. It has made it busier but I have enjoyed it. It does get a little stressful but if I push through it is really rewarding. There is the fact that there are less holidays, so I can’t see my parents as much as I am an international student, but overall I have liked it.
TOM: No. I think fundamentally it could have been done better but the execution was quite sloppy. A lot of things have made it more painful than what it should have been. There is not enough courses running so it is difficult to do what you want to do. There is also less time for internships.
XIBO: No. I remember taking courses in that first trimester and it was basically a semester course that was relatively unchanged except it was taught in a shorter period. And that means a lot more stress for the lecturers and it makes it harder for the students. I also have to wait another semester or two before I can do (some subjects) I want to do in my degree.
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