Dear Parent/Student
Catholic Education Tasmania has directed that all school interstate and overseas travel for 2020 is to be cancelled. I have sent a separate update related to trips to parents involved.
I have some of the latest updates. This will also appear in place of my ‘Blog’ for the newsletter (see the last paragraph).
TASC advised us that they are considering options for interruptions for students in regard to their learning, certification for the Tasmanian Certificate of Education, tertiary entrance and ATAR. They assured us that their priority is ensuring that no student is disadvantaged.
The College is considering all events that will bring groups into the school. As a precaution, it has been decided that it best serves everyone's wellbeing to postpone the Information Evening for those looking to enrol in 2021. We will provide an online experience as an alternative, or parents/friends can contact the College.
We are contacting groups who use College facilities out-of-hours to negotiate usage and management to minimise risk to students.
The Athletics Carnival has been postponed.
Students on School-Based Apprenticeships/VET Placements can continue, however, the same personal protective/hygiene controls apply.
Work placement (such as those planned for the upcoming Term break) that is not connected to such courses will be cancelled.
I have included, as a Postscript, a copy of a communication that I received from UTas. It is not related to Covid-19, but this is a good opportunity to share it.
I have some minor knee surgery tomorrow but plan to check emails on Thursday and Friday and be back on-site on Monday. Please contact me if you have any questions In my absence, Mr Gavin Hicks will act on my behalf.
Yours sincerely,
Frank Pisano (Principal)
Postscript: (From Jim Cavaye Pro Vice-Chancellor, Cradle Coast Region, UTas)
The University has accumulated a complex range of course offerings with over 514 degrees. Approximately 200 of these degrees have no enrolments. Up to 200 further degree programs have an average of 5 or fewer students enrolled. From a student’s eyes, most of the courses we are removing don’t exist; they don’t appear in the course guide and they receive very limited interest on our website or through enquiry channels.
Students have described our enrolment experience as difficult to navigate and it has caused students to give up, go elsewhere, or not attend University at all. The reason is that the scale and complexity of our degree offerings have created an almost unmanageable set of rules, placing constraints on subject choices and students’ ability to enrol. There are 3,855 such rules in total involving, for example, pre-requisites and co-requisites for courses. These rules were overridden 8,422 times last year following requests from students, demonstrating a clear need for streamlining.
Managing this complex array of courses, units and rules is inherently inefficient and takes us away from delivering the student experience we aim for. Our efforts are better spent on improving the quality of courses with strong student interest and in developing new courses that continue to build upon our uniquely Tasmanian offering to attract both Tasmanian and mainland students. Reducing our degree programs to about 150 that students want to enrol in, will affect just over 500 students out of our total enrolment of 38,000. These students will be supported through to graduation, provided all course requirements are met.
We want to be focused on the courses that students are excited about and want to do, giving them the best possible experience. We’re continuing to develop a suite of regionally-distinctive courses that are place-based, leverage the strengths of each region, meet the needs of the community and align with workforce requirements. In the Cradle Coast region, we are currently offering the following new courses from start to finish in Burnie:
• Associate Degree in Equipment Design and Technology,
• Diploma of Construction Management,
• Graduate Certificate in Business.
From 2021, we will offer a Bachelor degree in Nursing and we expect 60-70 enrolments each year in the four-year program establishing over 240 nursing students at West Park by 2024. From 2021, we will also offer a new Accelerated Bachelor of Business. Plans are progressing to also establish a Bachelor of Psychological Science to be offered from start to finish at the Cradle Coast.
Our announcement last week to simplify our complex systems and programs is vital to us attracting additional students to the University’s new campuses, in line with the commitments we have made to each region. This includes 4,500 students engaged with the West Park campus each year by 2032.
The acceleration of the redesigned course structure will not impact the development of new campuses in Burnie, Launceston and Hobart, nor the ongoing strengthening of our presence in the North and North-West. At West Park and in Launceston, funding is secured, construction is underway and our new campuses will be delivered as we have announced. These will deliver economic and social benefit for those communities.
