Get the latest

MUGSU/Fusion news

LARGE AND IN
CHARGE
Editor-in-Chief
Shahman Prushuathamun
[Off Campus Vice President
(OCVP)]
ocvp@monash.edu
Creative Director & Design
Co-ordinator
Melanie Zimora
[Student Engagement
Support Officer (SESO)]

EXCHANGE
JUNE 15
FEATURES

MUGSU SNOW TRIP

08 Dont miss it!

melanie.zimora@monash.edu

Staff Writer
Benjamin Dahl
Freelance Writer
Tanya Bird

EXAM PREPARATION
09 Ten exam preparation
tips for upcoming exams
TIPS FOR ONLINE
STUDENTS
15-16 Handy tips to help
online students get the best
results

Photographer
Tanya Bird
Contributors
Luke Icely
[Student Leadership
Program Officer, Student
Connect]

AMERICAN PROM
10 2015 Uni Ball
GRADUATION DINNER
11 Graduating Monash
Alumni of 2015 Dinner

Acknowledgements
-----------------

Exchange is a publication of Monash

University Gippsland Student Union
(MUGSU).
All
articles
in
this
newsletter are provided in good
faith. Exchange is intended to be an
informative newsletter for students
enrolled at Monash University &
Federation
University
Gippsland
campus,
through
Off
Campus/Distance education.

Copyright 2015 MUGSU Inc. All

rights reserved.

NEWS

Bookmark us

MUGSU: https://www.facebook.com/mugsu
Off Campus:
https://www.facebook.com/OffCampusGippsland

REGULARS

A NOTE FROM CRAIG

03 A note from the MUGSU
President Craig Wilson.
UPCOMING EVENTS
06 May- July Events

EXTRA

NEED HELP?
04 Contact our Student
Rights Officers

SPECIAL CONSIDERATION
FOR EXAM?
13 What you need to know!
CONTACT MUGSU
13 MUGSU contact
details for services

HAVE YOUR SAY!

03 National Union of
Students survey

EXAM KITS
05 Dont forget to collect
your exam kits!

FUSION
07 Results of the 2015
Fusion Board Elections

FED UNI LEADERSHIP

05 One small thing
Conference

Want to get published? If youve got the

passion, drive and a good grasp of the
English language, you have a decision to
make:
Wordsmith (Full time editorial team member)
IF you groan at grammatical errors on social
media or cant help yourself but correct your
friend when he makes a spelling or sentence structuring mistake, then you
fit the bill! As a full time member of the Exchange editorial team, youll get
the chance to edit stories, design the newsletter and even write your own
articles! Did we mention how impressive your future employer would be
knowing you were part of an editorial team?

Contributor (ad-hoc)
If theres somethin strange in our
neighbourhood, who we gonna call? Well
you of course! Were always open to
contributors who want to polish their writing
skills or write an article. Youre not obliged
to submit articles or stories every month,
but we do have some guidelines (yes, we
have some) for our contributor program.
Interested? Contact us with a short spiel
about yourself. Dont be afraid We dont
bite (unless you look absolutely delicious)
Apply via email to ocvp@monash.edu

Have your say!!!

A note from the MUGSU President
Hi Everyone!
Hope the stress and anxiety of exams arent
causing too much damage! Just a couple more
weeks and well be enjoying our end of exam
parties and holidays (thats always something to
look forward to!)
It remains a busy time for us at MUGSU as we
continue to help students get the best out of
their university experience and ensure that
student grievances are heard while balancing our
assignments and revision as well.
Shahman, the Off campus Vice President has
created an opt-in survey form for Off
campus/Distance education students (see page
12). If you have not had the chance to complete
the survey, would strongly encourage you to do
so. This would ultimately help us greatly and
make us aware of what is troubling the Offcampus/Distance education student body. Please
feel free to contact us if you require assistance
with the survey.
Also, please do not hesitate to contact us
regarding anything you require assistance with
through the communication channels outlined in
this newsletter. We dont bite!

The National Union of Students has

launched the 2015 Education Quality
Survey as a part of its Demand A
Better Future Campaign.
This is a survey to capture a snap shot
of students experiences in the quality
of their teaching and learning. It is the
only student run student experience
survey in Australia.
The education quality survey is open
to all students enrolled at university in
Australia and is available through the
NUS website
http://www.nus.org.au/quality_survey

The survey will be open from the 1st

of May through to the until the 15th
of June and the final report will be
released in August.

Doctor & Nurses Uni Night

As the transition to Federation University

continues and the push for the establishment of
an independent student union growing in
numbers, it was decided that the first inaugural
th
Fusion elections 2015 be held on the 28 of April
2015. We are very excited to announce that the
new Fusion board has been duly elected, with
st
Stephen Pratt at the helm as the 1 Fusion
president. The MUGSU board endorses the
establishment of the new Fusion Board and will
be mentoring the Fed uni students (Fusion
board) as they develop Fusion.
On behalf of the MUGSU board and staff
members, we wish you all the best for your
upcoming exams!

All the best!

Craig Wilson
2015 MUGSU President
president@monash.edu

Wednesday 29th July,2015

More details on our
website soon!
-3-

UPCOMING EVENTS
@ MUGSU
15 JUNE

MENS HEALTH WEEK

19 JULY

SNOW TRIP (see advert on next page)

29 JULY

DOCTORS & NURSES (Uni Night)

----------

MUGSU would like to wish you the best of luck with your
semester one exams! The student lounge is open for you
to study in during this time and our student support officers
are available if you need any information or assistance!
Good luck!

-6-

The 2015 Uni Ball was held on the 8th of

May and with an American Prom theme,
the night was a certain hit amongst
students!
The Auditorium was decked out to
resemble an American School Hall. The
music by The Farren Jones Band played all
the classic hits and the dance floor was full
of frocks and suits.
The food was amazing with all your
traditional American food on offer.

With excitement and anticipation we

awaited the announcement of who would
be crowned Prom Queen & King! Ashleigh
Rodger was crowned Prom Queen and
Callum Tate was crowned Prom King.
Congratulations again to them both!
The Photobooth was kept busy and
everyone enjoyed the novelty dress ups
and having some fun pictures with friends.
The night was a huge success and would
not have been possible without the
dedication of the MUGSU Board and Staff.

Article by Melanie Zimora

MUGSU with the support of Monash

University offered the Gippsland Graduating
Alumni of 2014 an opportunity to
acknowledge and celebrate their graduation
with a Graduation Dinner held on campus in
the Student Lounge.
The students invited family and friends to
the Dinner to help them celebrate their time
as students at Gippsland Campus and reflect
on successfully completing their Monash
degree on the campus it all happened.
Guest speakers included Head of Gippsland
Campus Harry Ballis and MUGSU Past
President Jenny Farrar along with current
MUGSU Board Member Cameron Bloore.
The vision of MUGSU Education Vice President
Buddhima Edi, made the night a huge success.

Article by Melanie Zimora

Calling All Gippsland Off campus/Distance

Education Students!!
[Applicable to all students doing 1 or more units off campus and enrolled at the
Gippsland campus only] Both Monash and Fed Uni students

Dear Off Campus/Distance Education students,

The MUGSU Off Campus Vice President (OCVP)
would like to hear from you on issues that you are facing
as an off campus/Distance education student, as well as
to get feedback on other matters related to your university
experience. Kindly complete the survey form in the link
provided below:
http://goo.gl/forms/1q5sEbUV5p
Please direct any queries you may have regarding
this survey or any difficulties you have accessing the link
provided, to the OCVP via email: ocvp@monash.edu.
Thank you in advance for participating in this survey.
Thank you
Warmest regards,
Shahman Prushuathamun
Off Campus Vice President | MUGSU

IN THE NEXT ISSUE!!

While waiting, why not like

the Off Campus Facebook
Page to get the latest Off
Campus News!

MUGSU: https://www.facebook.com/mugsu
Off Campus: https://www.facebook.com/OffCampusGippsland

- 19 -

Tips for online students

Utilise the online mentor program while you have
the chance, including the opportunity to have
weekly live chats with other students. Coming to a
weekly chat can help to reduce feelings of
isolation or feeling overwhelmed, it can also be a
great way to ask other students about
assessments and get some clarification in the
moment. All students that are starting in an online
degree with FedUni are allocated a mentor.

Ask for help! There are a lot of people whose job

it is to help you with University life and they will
be happy to hear from you. Ask your online
mentor who to go to for academic assistance,
counselling, legal aid, financial aid, IT assistance,
and so on.

If you are having issues with any of your subjects

make sure you let your lecturers know early on. It's
much easier to get help and to get back on track or
to ask a lecturer to do something different with how
they deliver their information to online students if
you get in touch early on.

Want to meet other online students? Check out

the FedUni Online Students Group on Facebook.
Its a group entirely for students that are studying
online. Meet other people doing the same course
as you, make friends and ask questions of fellow
students. Find it here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1543742799222538
/ or search for FedUni Online Students Group.

Need help with essay writing? Want some

assistance understanding a specific study area?
Your Tutor is a one-on-one service offered from
3pm-11pm from Sun-Fri during semester. Its free,
and done through online chat, so you get a copy
of everything you learn in a session. See
www.federation.edu.au/yourtutor
for
more
details.

Have you forwarded your student email? When

you get started at FedUni you are given a student
email address and lecturers and general staff will
use this to get in touch with you. It will also be the
default email associated with your Moodle
account. If youre worried about missing out on
information, search forward email on the
FedUni website to get information on forwarding
to a preferred email account.

Did you know there are standards for how you

present an assignment? Yep. Before submitting
online, make sure you check out the General
Guide for Writing and Study Skills (search it on the
FedUni website). You need to make sure your
pages are numbered, your assignment has your
name on it, your student ID and what subject the
assignment is for. Dont forget! Put your name or
student ID in the file name as well so your lecturer
knows it is yours.