Working 9-5

Last Monday, I started my new job at Deakin University. Since then I have received numerous messages inquiring as to how it is going, and what if anything is different about the universities here vs. back at home.

To say it is different would be an understatement. To say it is better or worse than the universities within the American system would be impossible. You simply cannot compare apples to oranges.

Let's start with terminology. I will do my best not to confuse people, but it's a bit inevitable.

1. Faculty of Business and Law. What does this mean? Well, simply stated I work for the "college of business and law" however, my staff id says I am the Faculty of Business and Law. It would be a cool party trick at home I think, to whip my id out and make others think I am a faculty member in law. Certainly, it appears I may be more intelligent here than in Texas. I am a Faculty of B&L Adviser. This does not mean I advice the faculty, although that could be interesting. I advise students studying business and law.

2. Units=classes. The term "hours" is not existent here. Instead, you need anywhere from 24 to 32 units to graduate depending on your course of study. A unit equals 1 class. You typically take 4 units per trimester (I will address this soon too).

3. Weighted Average Mark or WAM= GPR/GPA. A score of 50 and above means you passed. Anything below is a fail.

4. Semester does not exist at Deakin. Instead there are 3 trimesters. T1 starts in March, T2 in July, and T3 in November.

5. Financial aid=HECS. Very different however. Instead of attempting to explain, I will include the link for anyone who is interested in learning more: http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/hecs-help/pages/hecs-help-welcome#WhatIsHECS-HELP.

6. Course=major in the US. Here you might study your course of Bachelor of Commerce. This is your degree. You may or may not have a declared major. You may study a Bachelor of Sport Management and then later declare a major, which could be anything from finance to interactive marketing.

Just a few things I have learned in my first week.

Now let's talk culture. The American system tends to two things different:

1. Campus culture
2. Customer service

In terms of campus culture, there is very little identity associated with the university systems here. No athletic events, no Reveille walking around, no military association, no frats, etc. Pretty much it seems that the students go to university to get an education within the classroom (gasp) and then work. They tend to live at home and it also seems that the majority of friendships happened outside of the university system. There is very little loyalty that I have seen within families as well as to which university one may attend,. Siblings go wherever and there really doesn't seem to be any competition between the universities. This could  be credited to the fact that tuition is the same across the board I believe. Although the system is about to become deregulated and institutions will be able to charge what they would like to. This could cause more competition for students.

In terms of customer service, it seems that the staff here are not as geared towards supporting the development of the individual student or assisting them beyond all means. For most, this is a job in which they advise students on the courses but do not venture outside of that bubble to advise or discuss much else. There does not appear to be much of the "how may I help you" statement as there is the "this is what needs to be done" statement. This is not simply a university only characteristic, but more of the way it is in Australia. As a waitress or waiter, you don't work for tips. You just do your job and hopefully the customer gets served along the way. Pretty straightforward.

In general, the staff in the office are all very pleasant. I am amazed at the work that gets done as they arrive around 8:30 am and leave at 5:00 pm. You don't take work home, you leave the stress at the office (if stress exists). They don't send a ton of emails but instead talk to one another even if it means walking down the hallway (gasp #2). This is taking me time to get used to, but I know I will adjust. I actually monitor the number of emails I send because they would be a bit shocked I think if I went all out American on them. I also try to be a little more reserved at this point in time so that I don't come across as intense. In short, I am still in the honeymoon stage. I will say that there seems to be a much better work/life balance. In fact, I get a RDO, or Rostered Day Off pretty much every 19 days. Work/Life balance=something I could get use to.

They ask many questions about how things are done in the States and they are fascinated by the culture of the universities. They are especially interested in my experiences with athletics.

I believe I am learning from them and them from me.

I look forward to learning more and thinking about the pros and cons about both America's and Australia's take on higher education.