Dear Students
We hope that you are enjoying your break and are also making the most of the opportunity to catch up on any aspects of your study that may currently require attention.
In order to assist you with your preparation for 2019, the Summer School and Semester 1 Timetables will be released to students early in October. Enrolment and allocation to classes and clinics will then be available. You will be notified via further information on the LMS in relation to this release.
Scheduling Rationale
Timetables, by their nature, are data driven and many details need to be taken into consideration in their construction. Scheduling to cater for the needs and wishes of all students is challenging and we are certainly cognisant of the fact that Endeavour students have a wide variety of situations impacting on their study.
We have student requests for afterhours study only and others from students who only want to be on campus during the day. Some students wish to have their studies spread out over a number of days and others prefer class times to be condensed in order to ensure attendance on a minimum of days. These requests sit across both part-time and full-time students. It is in this context and across each individual request that we need to manage expectations that it is not possible to satisfy each standalone request as it is part of the bigger jigsaw puzzle of data driven timetables that incorporate over 540 class offerings and 600 hours of clinical practice in five degree disciplines across six campuses.
Based on a data driven approach, classes are scheduled based on students’ eligibility to attend these classes and for selected subjects, only one class will be offered. Multiple class options have been reduced to ensure adequate numbers of students fill existing offerings. This allows for group work and other activities to be conducted effectively in the teaching and learning setting. Clinics need to have a balance of junior and senior practitioners and appropriate numbers to provide opportunities for experience in the various clinic roles, but cannot be so large that supervisors are unable to communicate satisfactorily with all students or that insufficient clients are able to be sourced for a beneficial clinic experience. Specialist lecturers may also be unavailable on certain days of the week. Other considerations such as campus room resourcing are also taken into consideration. We certainly welcome your feedback once the timetables are released, but also ask that you are aware of the constraints mentioned above.
Summer School
In an effort to keep cohorts of students together and allow for progression in line with the College’s Course Structures, you will notice that no clinics are being offered in Adelaide, Perth or on the Gold Coast in Summer School. The number of students who are eligible to undertake clinics on these campuses would result in clinic sizes below those required for successful operation of the clinic and the very real possibility that they would all be cancelled prior to the commencement of Summer School. It is also important to remember that the purpose of Summer School is to assist students to get back into progression, not to fast track study. There will be Clinics offered on larger Campuses that have viable numbers and for those students who may choose to travel, please ensure you have the necessary Working With Children Check (WWCC) required to attend Clinic in another state.
Feedback
As mentioned previously, your feedback is certainly welcome, but please be mindful of the fact that everyone has their own differing set of circumstances and these may not be the same across all cohorts and campuses. In the first instance, you should contact Student Services if there is a genuine problem with your timetable and you would like course progression advice. The Student Services staff will assist where possible and seek a resolution supporting your enrolment into classes. Submission of timetable feedback can be completed via the student portal and this will also allow us to collate and assist with tracking similar issues, resolving genuine subject clashes and as required, investigate and respond to feedback appropriately.
We wish you success in your studies for the reminder of the year.
The Timetabling Team