AUSU Update – AUSU Executive Election; Student Issues

AUSU Update – AUSU Executive Election; Student Issues

AUSU Executive Election

AUSU has recently held its internal election for the Executive. We wish to congratulate Barbara Rielly (President), Bethany Tynes (Vice President External and Student Affairs) and Sarah Kertcher (Vice President Finance and Administration) on their election and thank those that ran for their willingness to serve.

Internal elections are being held to determine committee membership and we expect that all will be in place shortly. Our new Council is taking its bearings and has already begun to set the direction for this term.

Student Issues

AUSU recently completed a compilation of reported student issues covering a two year period; all issues were recorded in such a way as to ensure that student information remains protected and private. This effort confirmed what we long suspected; that tutor problems were the single biggest issue faced by our students (56 of 120 complaints).

Outdated course materials and errors in texts continue to be reported as well as were exam issues, slowness of the transfer process, and the scantiness of information in School of Business FAQs. Over that two year period there was a decrease in the number of complaints about student financing, exam request problems, difficulty registering in more than six courses, and materials shortages for courses. Kudos to AU for improving in those areas. Now if we could only get the Tutors? Union to the table . . .

New 2010 AUSU Handbook/Planners ? Arrived!

Finally! People have already started receiving the new planners in the mail, and we’re currently shipping them out as fast as the orders come in. Full of useful information about AUSU, writing styles, course grading, great finds online for your studies that you may not have known about, as well as having places to write down your phone numbers, keep track of your assignments, and, oh yeah, a year’s worth of calendar to plan out your schedule too. we’ll give one free to each AUSU member just for the asking.

Remember, though, we only print a limited number of these each year, so when they’re gone, they’re gone.

Let ?em Know who Represents for You!

AUSU logo mugs, hoodies, USB keys, and much more are all available for sale from our office. Also, used locks can be purchased at half price! Check out our merchandise catalog on our front page. You should check out our hoodies in particular?made in Canada and 100% bamboo, we’re offering them for just barely over our cost, and they’re both durable and comfortable.

And if you have new little ones in your family, or know somebody who does, check out our baby onesies. Made by American Apparel, these onesies are high quality and let folks know your kids are growing up to great things as a “Future Graduate of Athabasca U”

AUSU Scheduling Meeting with Tutors? Union ? Not really an Update

Some things resist change. we’re still waiting for a response from the Tutor’s Union as to when we might be able to meet with them to discuss ways that AUSU and the Tutor’s Union can work together to ensure that students are getting the contact they need. Unfortunately, they haven’t yet replied, so we’re stepping up our campaign to get in touch with them. If you want to help, the next time You’re talking to your tutor, ask them if they know when the Tutor’s Union will meet with AUSU so that the groups can work together on common issues.

Our statistics we’ve been collecting from the forums and your calls show that issues with tutors ? specifically the amount of time taken for marking assignments and exams are your number one concern. Help us help you.

SmartDraw Program Renewal

Some of you who took advantage of our program to provide SmartDraw software to members have been getting notifications that your software license will soon be expiring. Fortunately, AUSU will be continuing this program, so if you haven’t already, go to the AUSU home page to download the newest version.

SmartDraw allows you to create a wide range of graphics for your assignments and submit them electronically in a Word file. You can also place your graphics in Excel or PowerPoint files, or export them as TIF, GIF, or JPEG files to make a web graphic or even a logo. Just a few of the graphics you can make include Venn diagrams, genetics charts, graphs, organizational and flow charts, and Gantt charts.

For any course that requires charts that cannot be easily created in Word or Excel, this should be a real time saver and make it easier to submit all portions of an assignment by email.

Remember, though, that you should always check with your tutor to find out if there is a specific format he or she prefers. Your tutor does not have to have SmartDraw to view these graphics, however. Installations under this program are good for one year. The package includes both the Standard and Health Care editions of SmartDraw.