Tara Murray
As a new university year begins, many students are again returning to online learning. Tara Murray spoke with students from Victoria University about the ups and downs of university life during a pandemic.
Joseph Gattellaro didn’t expect his first year of university to start out at home.
The first year student from Tarneit, who is enrolled in a double degree in psychology and criminology at Victoria University, has been restricted to online classes, with the normal university experience still not possible due to COVID-19.
“The main thing was I wanted to go on campus,” he said.
“It’s all online at the moment, so that isn’t going to happen. The social inclusion is part of the uni experience and being online you miss a huge chunk of that.”
As someone who suffers learning difficulties, Mr Gattellaro said being able to get back into the classroom is vital.
He said he and many of his friends suffered last year as they studied from home while the state was locked down.
Fellow VU student Oliver Kaiser, who is in his third year of a criminal justice degree, said he found the online experience quite unique.
He said he didn’t know how he would have coped if he had been starting university in the middle of the pandemic.
“2020 was really different,” he said.
“I benefited from studying at home, my grades got better. I was more involved in the co-curricular stuff over Zoom than in person.
“I’m now in the student union.”
Mr Kaiser said the big difference he found was that after classes online, he was still switched on and stayed on the computer. On campus, he would normally have headed home straight after class.
While his grades have been on the up, Mr Kaiser said he would love to return to the classroom.
“The vibe is off online,” he said.
“I want to get back in the classroom, as I really enjoy that energy.”
Victoria University Vice-Chancellor Adam Shoemaker said the key for the university at the moment was being able to provide the students with the best opportunity for their learning that they can.
“Our polytechnic space is really important for Sunshine and St Albans especially, as a lot is on the campus,” he said.
“We have well over 1000 students who have started the last couple of weeks for that.
“We are doing a lot of things for the higher [education]section that can be done online. If you have to be in-person we can facilitate that, but if you can be online, we make that the preferred option.”
Professor Shoemaker said despite the uncertain times, VU had seen an increase in number of students studying in their block model, where you study one subject at a time.
He said the ability to work your study around your life was a key to the success of the program.
“Quite significantly people are applying to study at the university directly as undergraduates in the block which is fantastic,” he said.
“People are realising that the university has to respond to their work and lives, and as you know, in the last year a lot of people have lost their jobs or working part time, so it’s a wonderful time to reposition their career and that is what the block is great for.
“You can accelerate the study if you want to or you can slow it down if you want to and you can match it to your life.
“It’s not about how many people start, it’s how many people finish.”
With Australia’s borders effectively as a result of the pandemic, Professor Shoemaker said VU had seen a decrease in the number of international students enrolled at the university.
He said the longer international students were prevented from travelling to Australia to study, the more students they would lose.
“If you spoke with every university in the country, they’ve lost students as the borders are effectively shut,” he said.
“In Victoria, many thousands of people were already here having travelled the year before, so what we are seeing now is a gradual reduction.
“The students from last year are now in their second year and there’s not a new group of people coming,
“It’s the lack of new starting students that you’re noticing. Some are in fact doing online study, but that can’t go on forever.”
Professor Shoemaker said VU tried to provide support to the international students who are still in the country, many without any income.
Zeel Patel was one of those students. With little help from the government, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay in Australia.
Going home didn’t seem like a good option either.
“It’s almost been one year of uni online,” she said.
“To be frank it has been really hard with the government not willing to help international students in Melbourne during stage four lockdown.
“I lost my job which was a bit hard.”
Ms Patel, who has since got a new job, said the whole experience had been tricky, with Zoom classes getting easier as time went on.
She said studying from home did add some flexibility, but like many other students she’s keen to return to the classroom.
Victoria University too is keen to see more students and staff back on campus.
Professor Shoemaker said the uni was looking at bringing back more students on campus for semester two.
“It’s always governed by government health advice and you have to predict that,” he said.
“You don’t want a stop-start mentality.
“We’ve taken the view that we’ll have a default setting, that where possible we’ll be online until the end of June and then if things improve, we’ll gradually look at getting people back.
“It’s important to have clarity and consistency.”
Professor Shoemaker said while ‘COVID normal’ was a bit unpredictable, the university still has big plans for the future.
“We want to be the best dual sector university in the world,” he said.
“We want to see the twin wings of the polytechnic and higher ed working together, with the block and being famous for doing it.”
