The student/staff profile of those whose lives are involved with AU is a new column in The Voice. It is our hope that reading about those who are part of what makes AU unique will draw our students closer together although we span countries and continents. We are a part of AU, and as such, we carry a common bond.
I hope you will enjoy reading about the students and staff at AU – and be inspired to participate in our new PROFILES column!
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AU STUDENT:
Wayne E Benedict
Voice: What province and city/town do you live in?
Wayne: Prince George, British Columbia
Voice: Do you have a family/ kids/ pets?
Wayne: I am married with two children, 6 & 4, and two dogs, a Newfoundland and a small cross.
Voice: What are your hobbies / interests/ activities/ etc.
Wayne: I like to hunt, read, write, compute, learn & practice industrial relations.
Voice: Can you tell us about the AU Courses you are taking at the moment, or a favourite course?
Wayne: I am presently taking Introduction to Human Resources (ORGB386), Labour Relations and the Law (IDRL320), & Writing in Organizations (ADMN233). My favourite courses have been Collective Bargaining, Labour Relations and the Law, & Rights at Work: Grievance Arbitration.
Voice: How long have you been a student? (And where)
Wayne: I have been taking courses through AU on an ad hoc basis since 1996.
Voice: What do you think of your courses/ the AU experience/ distance education?
Wayne: I love distance education through AU. The autonomy and flexibility that the course-contract system provides to me is indispensable to my familial and occupational situation. I attained my high-school diploma through distance education so I was, and am, entirely comfortable with self-study. There have been very few wrinkles in my relationship with the university and those have been dealt with to my satisfaction.
Voice: Do you work? What do you do?
Wayne: Yes; I am a locomotive engineer and president of the Canadian Union of Transportation Employees Local 1. I divide my fulltime work between the two. Acting for the latter, I perform various functions such as: worker advocacy; WCB appeals; Grievance Arbitration; Collective Bargaining; instructing; etc. I also write a weekly column for the Voice.
Voice: How (or) Is AU helping you towards a goal?
Wayne: I will finish the Certificate in Industrial Relations and Human Resources in the next month or so and plan to either finish the Bachelor of Human Resources program through AU & eventually attend Queens University for its Master of Industrial Relations program; or, attempt to enter the University of Victoria law program as a mature student. I really haven’t decided which route to go, but AU is laying the foundation for my educational future.
Voice: Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for other students?
Wayne: Time will pass, and life goes on, whether you take courses or not, so you might as well set an educational goal for yourself and try to achieve it. When you turn around twice and several years have passed, there could be a parchment hanging on your wall.
Voice: Anything else we should know? Funny stories about the dog eating your laptop/ praise for your favourite tutor/ recommendations for a course:.
Wayne: Many of my life’s humorous antic-dotes are contained in the archives of the Voice. I have yet to work with a tutor that has not impressed me. If I had to choose one course to recommend, it would be Introduction to Statistics (MATH215); everyone could apply the knowledge gained through it to many aspects of life.
Thanks, Wayne, both for taking the time to do the survey, as well as for writing such wonderful material for us for the past few years! We appreciate your hard work and dedication and look forward to reading more from you in the future. All the best to you!
Anyone interested in being featured in AU Profiles should email Tammy Moore, Editor of The Voice at voice@ausu.org My thanks for your participation and readership!
