Dont go to Central Queensland University ,Australia
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...should know this news
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AT 10 o'clock yesterday morning, a group of international students at
the Melbourne campus of Central Queensland University,Australia , told
the media that they were planning to start a hunger strike.
They accused the university of treating them as "cash cows", interested
only in their money.
Within hours it was called off - the students were under the mistaken
impression that protesting would threaten their visas - but their
concerns remained.
The students' claims came after 62 per cent of them failed a tax and
accounting postgraduate subject at the Lonsdale Street campus. The
students complained that they were tested on material not covered in
lectures, were not given the opportunity to challenge their marks and
suffer from substandard facilities - all claims that the university
strongly disputes.
A representative of the 60 masters students said CQU treated the
Melbourne campus like a bank rather than an education institution that
was concerned about its students.
"When you compare us to RMIT or Monash, we don't have adequate
facilities and libraries. They are just taking our money," the student
said. CQU has the highest proportion of international students of any
Australian university. Almost half of its 24,000 students are from
overseas. The Melbourne campus has 3753 international and 100 domestic
students.
They pay $24,000 for the two-year masters degree.
Melbourne campus executive dean Gus Geursen said while he was alarmed
by the hunger strike threat, the university aimed to prepare students
for life.
"The fact that 38 per cent of students passed the subject is evidence
that the students were well prepared for the exam," he said. "Our
standards are not low, our standards are high. This is not a backyard
university."
Professor Geursen said students could apply to have their work marked a
second time. He said he was confident CQU Melbourne students have the
same access to resources and facilities, such as libraries, as students
at other Victorian universities.
The academic programs at the Melbourne campus - faculty of business
and informatics - are run by the university, but the campus is
managed by a private company.
Former Victorian premier John Cain, who has researched city
universities, said the campus did not have appropriate facilities for a
tertiary institution.
"The university is detached physically by some thousands of kilometres
from its base, giving its name and blessing to the courses but the
campus is being run by a private company," he said.