Civil Engineering - Student Newsletter 13 July 2012

Semester 1 Results

Your results for CIVL units of study will be available on MyUni soon.

To students who have reached or exceeded your goals – well done. Keep up the good work.

Some of you may not have performed as well as you had hoped last semester, and we offer the following advice:

• Many students experience issues that affect their academic performance. These issues may relate to areas such as performance anxiety, career uncertainty, lack of motivation, financial pressures, relationship problems or family expectations. Nearly everyone experiences situations like these during their lives, and there should be no embarrassment or shame about experiencing difficulties. The School encourages you take advantage of the range of student support services to help you with your academic and career decisions.
• We suggest you re-assess your approach to your academic endeavours. Are you using your time effectively? Could you perform better by reading notes before the lecture or creating a study group with your friends? Should you consider a reduced enrolment next semester? Some of our performance advice may help you.

Semester 2 Enrolment

Did you fail a subject last year?
Are you attempting too many credit points?

Faculty rules state that if you failed a core unit last year you must enrol in it this year. If you have a clash the earlier year subject must take precedence. Students are not generally permitted to enrol in later year subjects unless they have done all the previous cores.

Timetable clashes can occur where you are taking units across different years. We have removed formal prerequisites to allow enrolments of this type, however, it is your responsibility to ensure that any clash is manageable. We strongly recommend against you enrolling in a program with clashes without first seeking the advice of your academic advisor. Advisors will normally only recommend high loads above 24 credit points or clashes for students with good academic records.

If a clash occurs between a lecture in one subject and a tutorial in another it may be possible to rearrange tutorial times and you should approach the course coordinator of the subject with the tutorial. If you have any other concerns about clashes you should speak to your year advisor.

Are you taking on too many subjects?
The usual full time enrolment is 24 credit points. We recommend against enrolling in more than 24 credit points or in a program with clashes without first consulting your academic advisor.

We advise students who have failed subjects in previous semesters against taking on a larger enrolment to “catch up” missed credits. If you have not successfully passed 24 credit points in previous semesters, you should be considering reducing your enrolment to 18 credit points (3 subjects), rather than trying 30 credit points (5 subjects) to "catch up"

We have plain English guidelines to help you with enrolment regulations at http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/civil/current/undergraduate/enrolment.shtml.

Please honestly review your academic performance and consider whether your current enrolment is appropriate. It is in your interest to make any changes to your enrolment as early as possible, as this will allow you more opportunity to change your timetable if possible.

Have you just finished your degree? Well done!

For those of you who have now finished your degrees – well done. As you embark on your engineering careers, take time to review how university has prepared you for entry into the Civil Engineering profession. We want to do much more than just teach you how to use technology - we want you to be able to change technology. We hope that you will be able to do more than use existing knowledge, software and design codes - but instead to push the boundaries to find solutions to the problems of the today and tomorrow - such as climate change, transportation infrastructure, population changes, renewable and sustainable design, and water.

We wish you all the best for future and challenge you to make a positive impact on society.

Have you changed your address or phone number recently?

If we found your wallet or USB, or need to contact you urgently concerning results, it is important that you have your current contact details registered with the university. Many of you may have changed addresses or phone numbers since you first started university.

Please follow the instructions to update your address and phone contact details.

Infrastructure Update - PNR Building

The Engineering precinct has been full of construction activity since you last finished lectures, and we look forward to big improvements when the semester starts.

In the PNR building, the remaining teaching rooms on Level 2 have had complete reconstructions. PNR Drawing Office 2 will now replicate the high-tech teaching space we had in Drawing Office 1 last semester. Tutorial rooms 315 and 316 are receiving similar technlogical advances.

The PNR foyer is getting significant upgrades with seating, computer spaces and new flooring.

Staff and students alike should look forward to a great learning experience in Semester 2.

In the Civil Engineering Building we are expanding the wi-fi coverage for the entire building.

Australian Engineering Week: 6 – 12 August 2012

In the first week August 2012 Engineers Australia will be host to many events throughout the country for Australian Engineering Week. The purpose of the Week is to celebrate engineering, raise awareness of its contribution to society, and to highlight the amazing career opportunities studying engineering can provide.

Be proud that you are studying to be an engineer. With your skills, you have a great opportunity to improve the quality of life in your street, your city, your country or the world.

We encourage you to participate in the activities of Australian Engineering Week. You may be working on some of the projects open to the public between 6 – 12 August. This is a great chance to keep yourself motivated during your studies about the career opportunities in your future.

Full details are at the "Make It So" website http://www.makeitso.org.au/australian-engineering-week.