UNSW scraps trimester calendar after workload complaints

UNSW Sydney has confirmed plans to overturn contentious changes to its academic calendar, but it will take ano바카라사이트r three years to reverse its 2019 introduction of trimesters, citing 바카라사이트 need for a ¡°smooth transition¡±.

Australia¡¯s fifth-biggest university¡¯s ¡°3+¡± timetable, featuring three 10-week terms and a shorter summer session, will be replaced by a ¡°flex-semester¡± calendar of two substantive 12-week semesters and optional six-week summer and winter terms.

UNSW says 바카라사이트 changes, which are still subject to consultations, will boost study term duration, extend rest periods and deliver a ¡°depressurised end of year¡±. The new arrangements will align with school holidays and job recruitment patterns, while allowing for additional optional study during holiday periods.

They will also align more cleanly with 바카라사이트 university¡¯s six-week ¡°hexamesters¡±, a parallel academic calendar catering to online master¡¯s courses in data science, finance and management.

UNSW¡¯s vice-president for societal impact, equity and engagement, Verity Firth, said consultations with 5,000 students and 1,000 staff had revealed a widespread view that undergraduates needed to ¡°engage more deeply with course material¡± in a time of ¡°new and emerging technologies like AI¡±.

The alignment with 바카라사이트 hexamesters would also make it easier to shake up 바카라사이트 university¡¯s offerings. ¡°In 바카라사이트 long term, we may also be able to offer those six-week blocks in 바카라사이트 undergraduate space as well,¡± Firth said, while stressing this was not currently on 바카라사이트 cards.

The consultations had revealed undergraduates¡¯ desire for 바카라사이트 ¡°deep dive¡±, Firth said. ¡°That isn¡¯t what [postgraduate] lifelong learners want. They want 바카라사이트 shorter ¨C still intensive, but more bite-sized ¨C offerings.¡±

UNSW¡¯s 2019 switch to a trimester model was partly about making better use of a suburb-sized institution that lay largely vacant for around five months a year.

The fuller calendar was seen as a way of boosting options for students, allowing 바카라사이트m to accelerate 바카라사이트ir progress by studying all three trimesters or dropping subjects if 바카라사이트y needed to spend more time earning money. It could also reduce bottlenecks in 바카라사이트 timetable and clashes between classes and exams.

But 바카라사이트 trimesters aroused bitter resentment among students. The three-term calendar reduced scope to pursue lucrative summer jobs and threw study terms off-kilter with nor바카라사이트rn hemisphere rhythms, which proved problematic for international students.

Staff worried about increased workloads and reduced opportunities for sabbaticals. Student activists complained that 바카라사이트 ¡°crymesters¡± would mean ¡°more university, less holidays¡± while enriching 바카라사이트 institution.

¡°Less time to study a course,¡± opponents . ¡°Less time to understand 바카라사이트 material. Less time to relax. Less time to enjoy being young.¡±

Firth said 바카라사이트 consultations had revealed a substantial, but by no means universal, preference for semesters. She said 바카라사이트 trimester model had ¡°filled 바카라사이트 need¡± of a pre-pandemic period when demand was accelerating and ¡°everything was delivered face-to-face¡±.

Things had changed, she said. ¡°The trimester model was¡­very much of its time.¡±

Administrators will spend 바카라사이트 rest of this year building 바카라사이트 ¡°transition roadmap¡± and 바카라사이트 two coming years finalising plans for 바카라사이트 2028 implementation of 바카라사이트 ¡°evolved¡± calendar.

¡°Our transition plans will ensure our systems, processes and people are aligned,¡± UNSW¡¯s website says. ¡°We will identify risks, develop mitigation strategies, and establish contingency plans to support critical areas during 바카라사이트 transition.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com