Deakin University Trimesters
DUSA is lobbying the University on Trimester. The main issues for students are, having enough time to revise before exams, making sure assessments are spread out and marked fairly, and ensuring that a wide range of Units are offered in T3. DUSA believes that there needs to be more discussion on about the pros and cons of trimester. Sign the petition and show your support.
Signatures: 84
| #1 |
Nisi Munasinghe
(Burwood, Australia)
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| #2 |
Kellie Turvey
(Box Hill South, Australia)
I did summer semester last year and loved it but i can not do the trimester this year as none of my subjects are offered!!! The are hardly any science core subjects avalible which means that we cannot fast track our degree to lighten our load. It is unfair to the science students! |
| #3 |
NATASHA LEE
(BURWOOD, Australia)
Abolishing the vac is a BADDD thing... but having a trimester means we could possibly graduate faster. but if htat's the case, then there are insufficient units offered in the last summer trimester. IF this were to be implemented, they should offer more units. don't take away the mid semester break!!! we need it to catch up/prepare for exams. if not we'd go straight into exams the week after we finish our last week of school :| |
| #4 |
Jarrod Johnstone
(Newcomb, Australia)
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| #5 |
Ashley Fleet
(St Albans Park, Australia)
I am concerned about the loss of swot vac but also with professional practice which is requirement of Engineers Australia, there is a concern about not having time for it because it usually runs in third year in the break in semester 2 but next year there is no break so it is going to be hard to find the time to it. |
| #6 |
Daniel Hofmann
(Waurn Ponds, Australia)
Trimester really screws over all the Engineering students (No SWOTVAC, what the hell!!). We rarely cover all the material we need to cover during the semester as it is. In addition to this, the new model means that there is no break to include the professional practice units which are a requirement by Engineers Australia each year. The Vice Chancellor mentioned that Engineering has the highest workload out of all the courses, however still disregards how this will impact the students. Deakin will lose Engineers Australia accreditation, and will produce a Tafe style course in which no-one will get employment after graduation. |
| #7 |
Calida Howarth
(Blackburn, Australia)
I'm concerned about the loss of SWOTVAC, a week of classes and the mid trimester break in the second trimester. I also think this has been brought on too soon, we can't really predict what the impact will be for students but things are going to change. What about all the students who can't take advantage of the summer trimester and just have all their time on campus during the other trimesters all compacted? What about the quality of learning and teaching at Deakin? |
| #8 |
kevin tjuanta
(melbourne, Australia)
it too fast to introduced new program and also the summer semester start too early, we haven't know our result but the class already strated. |
| #9 |
Stevanus Juniardi
(Clayton, Australia)
The trisemester is not beneficial for nursing student as none of the unit is offered in the summer semester. We also could not afford any shorted period of study weeks as we do clinical in hospital where sometimes we even have it in semester holiday (like semester break or after exam). It just making it worse for us. |
| #10 |
Verity Guiton
(Ivanhoe, Australia)
I like this Idea because as someone who has failed a numner of subjects and has taken a semester off, I can catch up on my completion of units and will only need to study through half of next year instaed of completing an entire year. I do think they should have more choices in the third trimester though. It means that arts electives are my only choice if I don't full-fill the requirements of many of the subjects. But overall I think it's a good opportunity,especially when we don't HAVE to do the third trimester if we don't want to. I think it gives us more choices. . |
| #11 |
Wael T. M. El-Habrouk
(Carlton, Australia)
More courses should be offered in Trimester 3 |
| #12 |
hiren patel
(surrey hills, Australia)
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| #13 |
Jarryd Bartle
(Newtown, Australia)
I have concerns over how quickly the Trimester changes were pushed through even though I am not against Trimester outright. It does however seem unfair that most Science and Technology units don't appear to run over the third trimester meaning we are sacrificing our study time so that Arts and other faculty students can fast track their degrees. |
| #14 |
Alice Woolven
(Berwick, Australia)
I did a summer subject and found that it was really good. The only concern I have is the lack of services available over the summer break to support our studies. At times, the unit co-ordinator was busy doing other things and was not available for some periods of time to respond to concerns. Trimester's are great, but we need to be supported by the rest of the university. The only downside is the lack of a break in between trimesters, no sooner had I finished Trimester 2, the next trimester started that same week. I notice though that for the coming academic year this has been altered. |
| #15 |
Kate Cumming
(Hamilton, Australia)
more science subjects should be offered! if they were i would definitely do a summer trimester! |
| #16 |
Janelle Kaloudis
(Aspendale, Australia)
I think the whole Trimester setup needed Academic Staff and current student consultation before it was introduced (read: imposed) so suddenly last year. It could be a good system, it has many pros, but the cons really need to be sorted out in consulation with those who are most affected! |
| #17 |
Jenny Baker
(, Australia)
My uni friends and are grieved by the loss of swat vac. It's a very sad situation! Plus no mid-semester break in Trimester 2 will be sorely missed. Where's the student voice in making these decisions?? Lame. |
| #18 |
Jamie Blanchonette
(Sunshine North, Australia)
As an engineering student I believe the trimester system puts us at a severe disadvantage. I don't believe there are any engineering units offered during summer-Trimester and as has already been stated, The engineering sylabus has the highest workload of all courses. Our standard trimester is now one week shorter than previous years, not including swotvac, which is also missed. Other universities like VU have increased the engineering semester by one week after considering the workload. |
| #19 |
Shakti Ram
(Braddon, Australia)
I think this is good |
| #20 |
Jason Kennedy
(Waterloo, Australia)
Three trimesters is a great way for students to complete their studies faster. More subjects should be available in T3. |
| #21 |
Sharon Lynch
(Carnegie, Australia)
More core units in the summer trimester would be of benefit to those of us who work and study part time. |
| #22 |
Brittany Barber
(Bayswater, Australia)
I think that the logic behind the idea is ok - however with minimal classes offered throughout Trimester 3 it hardly seems worthwhile. Also, as en Education student, I have found it nearly impossible to complete all of my assignments and exam preperation whilst having school experience to attend too as part of this semester. Students shouldn't be forced to place focus on one particular aspect of their studies at one time (which happens especially during teaching rounds), as all contribute and are meaningful to the completion of their course. |
| #23 |
Hilson Wong
(Box Hill North, Australia)
I can care less about the new trimester. I dont understand how deakin can just take away our SWOTVAC just like that. Do they even know how important is that SWOTVAC means to us as students? |
| #24 |
Laura Williams
(, Australia)
Personally, having a Trimester system does not really affect me. There are no HMNBS units offered in T3 anyway. If there was, I would certainly enrol in them. It may prove to be difficult having no SWOT VAC though. |
| #25 |
Christina Prickett
(Box Hill South, Australia)
The trimesters being implimented in the last year of my degree have done nothing but cause inconvenience. Not only did it change when subjects were offered, and disrupt my course plan, but it also means that I loose valuable study and revision time for my exams which are crucially important in 3rd year. The only benefit I see is for people starting their degree, who get the option to complete it faster. However as it stands the amount of subjects offered in Trimester 3 is not enough to even achieve this outcome. |
| #26 |
Natalie Richards
(Langwarrin, Australia)
I'm finding it difficult with no SWOTVAC. They say it shouldn't be affected because you do revision in week 12 but I've got 2 other assessments due in this final week not making it feasible to start studying before the end of the trimester. Also there aren't enough subjects offered to be worthwhile. People don't want to teach over the summer and for nursing (me) they can't organise clinical placements counting out most subjects |
| #27 |
Ruth Klein
(Ferntree Gully, Australia)
We are lsoing an entire semester of content and study over the course of a three year degree, this makes a deakin deakin second class compared with other universities, yet I still pay the same fees and I am now going to be discriminated against when applying for jobs because my degree has less content material in it. |
| #28 |
Elizabeth Maxwell
(Rowville, Australia)
I really don't like the no study week situation. Stress levels are through the roof haha. Also, if we are to suffer trimesters, more subjects available would be better. |
| #29 |
Sky Daly-Holt
(mckinnon, Australia)
I am extremely disappointed by Deakin's move into the trimester system after such minimal consultation with students. I feel this is about making the university more profit by trying to attract international students (nothing wrong with this in principle) at the detriment of the majority of the student population. Aside from the fact that there is little option for unit selection over the summer trimester is beside the point. Students and teachers are having their ability to learn and to teach compromised. Losing a full semesters worth of teaching throughout a 3yr degree is appalling. The stress to students by eliminating SWOTVAC and intrasemester break in tri 2 will really become apparent in the coming few months. I am extremely disappointed in Deakin's short sightedness in placing profit before people, to the detriment of the quality of my education (which I pay a lot for)! |
| #30 |
Mary Scalzo
(Kew, Australia)
We need our SWOT vac back, mid semester breaks, we should start the year in the same week as most other universities, the summer units need to be increased for people to actually part-take in them, especially in the hmnbs department! we need to go back to the old SEMESTER system! :) |
| #31 |
Leah Mulroyan
(Lara, Australia)
There is just not enough time to be able to learn everything at the pace that we need to go. Plus no study break really puts on a big strain! |
| #32 |
Amanda King
(Werribee, Australia)
too few units are offered esp. science ones. no study week or mid-semester break is just unfair |
| #33 |
naile alangor
(narre warren, Australia)
i dont think the trimester system is very planned out at all, it feels like the trimesters are rushed, putting extremem pressure on students and teachers, most of the content is left out in order to adjust to the new system and the abolishment of the swotvac is so ridiculous, how are we meant to prepare for exams when we have assignments going on at the same time, i understand ppl want to fast track their degress but its not fair on all the others, i hate the fact theres no study break! every uni gets a study break...the system is stupid!!!! |
| #34 |
Jacquie Mills
(Vermont South, Australia)
I'm just wondering if the university has considered how the lack of a study week could potentially affect our results? Do they not care about the marks their students get? |
| #35 |
Heather Poynton
(Pakenham, Australia)
I don't really care about no midsemester break but they are good to concentrate on assignments that are due.The University needs to offer more subjects across all disciplines for the trimester to be effective. I thought that Semster1 started very late . Perhpas there needs to be less holidays in middle of year, quicker turnaround with results and The uni needs to get the star allocation system up quicker so that people can arrange work commitments around study commitments not all of us are able to study full time and not work. |
| #36 |
Amandine Hamilton-Smith
(Burwood, Australia)
this trimester system is an absolutly terrible idea. the pressure on deakin uni students is intense. with the current global situation and rising prices uni students are forced to work at least 2-3 jobs at once and study at uni full time as well, while try to balance all the other commitments that go with this. we are being stressed and pushed to the limit and all so that about 200 people can study over summer. this seems absolutly absurd. most of the acedemic staff arent offering units over the summer because they dont agree with the trimester system! on top of this a lot of staff are getting paid on casual wages therfore their incentives to hang around and help students out are drastically reduced!! cant deakin see this is impacting on the students capacity to effectivly and efficiently learn..i mean out your extra money away from the library renovations and towards the staff!! on top of this the inclusion of this summer trimester in my opinion is just a money grabbing exercise from deakin. they revamped the library and now someone has to pay..but this is redicuoous we didnt even need a revamp in the first place it looks much worse than before. the money could have been put to much better things. but seriously deakin you should be about healping and supporting deakin uni students to suceed to the best of their capabiltiees..seriously deakin get your priorities right!!!! |
| #37 |
Karlene Murphy
(MORIAC, Australia)
As a mature aged student I am interested in fast tracking my degree and so chose Deakin based on the new trimester system however none of my subjects for second year Social Work are offered over summer. After enquiring about this I was informed the 3 trimester was mainly geared towards international students. |
| #38 |
natalie stocki
(Bell Post hill , Australia)
No good for domestic students at all, no good for science units, none in t3. Revision week was not revision week as lectures still had content to teach!!!! they could not cover every thing in the time provided. We need the midsemester breaks too. Look after your domestic students like you look after the international students. All involved do not seem to be happy with it. We need change, we need it NOW |
| #39 |
jan rilloraza
(deakin university, Australia)
it is hard to revise for exams at the end of the trimester... the addition or return of swot-vac wold be nice |
| #40 |
Julia Robbie
(Glen Waverley, Australia)
Having shorter semesters means the units are rushed and it compromises our learning, which I might add we pay good money for! Without the SWOTVAC studying for exams is extremely limited which will surely have a negative impact on our mental health and our grades. While it claims to “fast track” our degree, it is only for those lucky enough to be studying the small amount of units offered. I am extremely disappointed in Deakin for implementing such a poorly structured and poorly thought out system. Clearly their priorities do not lie with the students. |
| #41 |
Marie Hellemons
(Shepparton, Australia)
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| #42 |
Laura Cullen
(Ringwood, Australia)
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| #43 |
Caroline Tawadros
(belmont, Australia)
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| #44 |
Alexandra Brown
(Belmont, Australia)
Bring back Swot Vac! |
| #45 |
samantha wilson
(belmont, Australia)
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| #46 |
Sharon Green
(Dingley Village, Australia)
I'm a post graduate student and working full time too (so that I can actually afford to study!) and there are no units for my course offered in Trimester 3. As it would make no difference to my fees as to when I can study, I would like to be able to take advantage of this extra trimester to accelarate my course and complete it quicker. I'm studying part time and at this rate it will take me 3 years to complete my Masters however, if they offered subjects that counted towards my course completion I could finish it in 2 years or less. This is something I'd really like to do - even if they offered the T3 subjects as off-campus or ONLINE units i would enrol in them so that I could finish quicker. Is anyone else in this same boat? It's quite frustrating to think that while the T3 option is available many of us cannot take advantage of it because the university is not offering a wide range of subjects to us. |
| #47 |
Stefanie McFarlane
(Geelong, Australia)
I also really valued doing the summer semester last year, being a part time student. However this year I can't continue as none of the subjects I want to do are offered. I wider range or subjects would make the third trimester worth it. |
| #48 |
Zaid Abdul Karim
(ENDEAVOUR HILLS , Australia)
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| #49 |
Samuel Creek
(Hamlyn Heights, Australia)
Things need to change. Either no assignments due in the final week of study, or at least bring back a swotvac in some way, even if it's only a 3 day swotvac.. |
| #50 |
Michelle cheng
(Fitzroy , Australia)
#$%#%^#^@#$%#@$@%$#%#$%#$^#$^#$@% |
| #51 |
Ashley Ng
(Caulfield South, Australia)
Having taken out our midsemester break creates a lot of unecessary extra pressure and stress to students who are working frantically to support their education and complete all assignments! We're lucky to at elast have the Easter break this trimester, but when will happen in trimester 2? Grades will start falling! Bring back the old school SEMESTER system! |
| #52 |
Nathan Kerr
(Linton, Australia)
I'm doing Engineering and there is zero benefit for me having a 3rd semester. Also having the mid semester break was a god send to allow me to catch up on work especially when I had 6 assignments in 2 days due at the end of last year. Also it is very obvious that the lecturers are feeling the pinch because they seem to have to rush to get through all the topics leaving me and most other students confused at the end of a lecture. SWOTVAC was also good to have a couple of days off and get organised for effective study. Can't do that anymore, I just feel so rushed and stressed preparing for exams now. |
| #53 |
Natalie Doyle
(Windsor, Australia)
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| #54 |
Catherine Mitchell
(Belmont, Australia)
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| #55 |
Fiona Taylor
(Burwood, Australia)
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| #56 |
Chris G
(Waurn Ponds, Australia)
As a member of staff I support the aims of having enough time to revise before exams, spread out your assessments reasonably and have more units in T3. I must point out though that rumours that the accreditation of Engineering courses are in any way threatened are totally untrue. The accreditation of our courses is of paramount importance to the University and our Engineering programs are fully compliant with the requirements of Engineers Australia. If you are vstudying Engineering and require further reassurance on this matter I would advise you to contact interim Head of School who will be able to answer any further questions that you may have. |
| #57 |
Rohan Veradio
(Newcomb, Australia)
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| #58 |
Martin Mumo
(Burwood, Australia)
I feel the trimester system is a money making scheme. Every student needs a break and some time to study. the workload is enough as it is and no time to prepare for exams makes it even worse. We pay alot of money. Why this was done woth no consultation with students beats me. We are the mainstackholders in the university!! |
| #59 |
Britt Kennedy
(Belmont, Australia)
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| #60 |
Jessica Tanner
(Fitzroy, Australia)
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| #61 |
Corey Linguey
(Corio, Australia)
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| #62 |
Nadirah Hassan
(Melbourne, Australia)
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| #63 |
Melody Francis
(Sunbury, Australia)
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| #64 |
Aimee Gladman
(Herne Hill, Australia)
Swot vac needs to come back. As do inter-semester breaks |
| #65 |
sriraman pandiyan
(kew, Australia)
Trimester system has to be removed from deakin.. If its a semester students will have enough time to study, revise and soon... T2 is very short students usually take 4 units has to finish in 3 months.. its really horrible screwing students and many students frrl more stressed as well.....Trimester system has to be removed,......... |
| #66 |
Belinda Michael
(Talbot, Australia)
more choices for T3 are needed |
| #67 |
Cheryne Mallett
(South Geelogn, Australia)
At first I thought it was a great idea to introduce trimesters as it would mean I could study extra in the summer and get my degree done quicker. But I had no idea it would impact the rest of my year. The transition from trimester 1 to 2 was way too quick, I had a very exhausting trimester 1 and really needed a break because I was mentally exhausted but before I knew it I was back at uni and because of exhaustion my ability to complete my work has severley dropped and I have needed to get extensions on all assignments. I am not happy that I am going to have 5 months off over the summer and the loss of SWOTVAC is dreadful. Overall I think trimesters are awful.. way too much pressure!! |
| #68 |
Nicholas Trollope
(Burwood, Australia)
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| #69 |
Samantha Rodger
(Canterbury, Australia)
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| #70 |
Joanna Koniuszewski
(Heatherton, Australia)
With the current trimester system there is not enough time to revise for exams making it a more stressful period. Also I think it would be a good idea for a whole range of different subjects to be offered in T3 so that some people who are doing double degrees can maybe speed up the process a bit, can finish a bit earlier. |
| #71 |
Christine Hallam
(Blackburn, Australia)
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| #72 |
Chris Morrison
(Mont Albert North, Australia)
The trimester system is fatally flawed and making minor adjustments around the edges will not save it. Encourage your student association to represent YOU. What has the Assn done to acquaint itself with the thoughts and opinions of students? A few meetings on campus is not enough when many students are off campus, or for a variety of reasons do not attend. The staff is against the trimester system. If students can organise a united front (instead of pissant meetings and numerous on line chat forums) and combine with the staff, then something might be achieved. This would be better than tiimidly complying with the MBA's who went to Harvard for 2 weeks to learn how to talk like Ziggy Switkowski. You either take a stand against the business planners who are motivated entirely by profit rather than the ideals of education (and who obtained their educations at the public expense in a semester system) or give up and take whatever is they deal out to you. |
| #73 |
Wing Tsang
(Box Hill, Australia)
Trimester system makes the study schedule tight, all assignments come together and we don't have enough time to well prepare. Its too stressful. Also, more units shuold be offered in trimester 3! Like me..it has none of my units available in this summer! |
| #74 |
Alexandra James
(Healesville, Australia)
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| #75 |
Chamika De Silva
(Burwood, Australia)
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| #76 |
Bharat Jivani
(Hawthorn East, Australia)
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| #77 |
Narelle Hendry
(Prahran, Australia)
There is some much wrong with the trimester system I dont know where to start. 1. there is not enough units offered in trimester 3; 2. There is not enough support available during trimester 3; 3. The study period is too short to effectively learn the unit materials; 4. The trimester system means all assignments are due at once; 5. The shortened SWOTvac makes it difficult to effectively prepare for exams; 6. The evening exams are unreasonable. Evening exams mean I wont finish until 9.15pm, wont get home until after 10pm and does not give proper preparation time or down time before an exam the next morning. Rushed teaching/studying and night exams will lower the overall performance of students, reduce the number of students who pass and result in a move away from studying at Deakin. If I wasnt in my final year I would be looking to transfer to another university. |
| #78 |
Barry Fyfe
(Grovedale, Australia)
Pro: faster completion of course. Con: WORK WORK WORK!! So much work that the word "break" is dead to me. |
| #79 |
Catherine Colliver
(Greta South, Australia)
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| #80 |
Nasra Al Hinai
(Carlton , Australia)
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| #81 |
Jacki McClymont
(Highett, Australia)
I like the 3 trimesters but i did not like having exams over the shorter period. |
| #82 |
Jude Abeyeratne
(Berwick, Australia)
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| #83 |
Samantha Decker
(Hoppers Crossing, Australia)
I think the trimester system is great! I understand Swotvac week is good but honestly if you do the work during the trimester then only a couple of days are needed to recap. The only problem I think is having exams at night! It is hard to be at your best at night! |
| #84 |
Despina David
(Croydon, Australia)
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