Dot point email

07 Nov 2006

I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed this until now. All of Ross Kuhn’s enrolment emails follow the same ridiculous form, wherein ideas are grouped by numeric points and sub-points:

Dear Student

1. 2007 STUDENT CARDS.

In both the mailed “Enrolment 2007″ information package, and my recent emails to you, reference was made to the release of a new plastic student card, with a digitised image, for 2007. The University has decided that these cards will be issued during the remainder of 2006 to students who have pre-enrolled for 2007. Please note the following:

1.1 2007 student cards will only be issued to those students who have pre-enrolled online for 2007 or whose paper 2007 pre-enrolment has been processed by their faculty;

1.2 Transport concessions for 2007 will also be issued at this time to eligible students. To be eligible you must be: an Australian Citizen or have Permanent Resident status (private fee paying international students are not eligible), enrolled full-time and not engaged in business or employment. Note that, while the 2007 concession will be issued during 2006, it will not be recognised for the purposes of transport concessions until 1 January 2007. Continue to use your existing concession for the remainder of 2006. Students not pre-enrolling for 2007 will continue using the 2006 travel concession entitlement as usual;

1.3 Student cards will be issued from the following sites during the dates and times indicated. Please ensure you bring your 2006 student card, or some other form of photo identification (eg driver’s licence), with you :

Rooms 7 & 8, The Darlington Centre, Level 1, Schoolhouse Building (1A-174 City Road, Darlington – adjacent to the Institute Building, follow the signs). This site will open at 12 noon on 8 November. From 9 November until late December opening hours will be 9:00am to 5:00pm weekdays. Students with disabilities are welcome to come to the Student Centre in the Carslaw Building to obtain a student card;

Faculty of Health Sciences, Student Enquiry Counter, A Block. This site will be open from Tuesday, 7 November until Friday, 17 November between 11:00am and 3.30pm weekdays. Disabled access is provided. FHS students wishing to use the Darlington Centre as an alternative site are welcome to do so;

Faculty of Law, Phillip Street Campus. The Faculty will be advising its students by separate email as to the opening date of its card issuing facility at Phillip Street. Law students wishing to use the Darlington Centre as an alternative site are welcome to do so;

1.4 Will there be queues? Most likely, particularly at the Darlington Centre. It was the University’s intention to commence issuing cards from the start of the pre-enrolment operation on 3 October. Difficulties in securing the transport concession holograph from the transport authorities have delayed the start. For this reason we will operate the Darlington Centre until late December. If you find a queue which you consider unacceptable, come back later in the day or on a subsequent day. The Darlington Centre will be able to issue approximately 600 cards a day.

1.5 It’s impossible for me to come in, what do I do? Watch for my subsequent emails. If you do not attend campus in-person due to the circumstances of your enrolment, e.g. off-shore, interstate etc, you will need to contact the Student Card Office after 19 January 2007 to make arrangements to obtain your student card. You will notified of the contact details soon.

1. THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE PRE-ENROLLED.

The greater bulk of students continuing in 2007 have now pre-enrolled, please accept my thanks for undertaking this task so promptly. Remember, having pre-enrolled, you can vary your unit choices up until the end of the year.

1. FOR THOSE YET TO PRE-ENROL ON-LINE FOR 2007.

Go to MyUni at http://myuni.usyd.edu.au
Log in
Click on MyAdmin
Click on Student Self Administration (the face of the Lion)
Select Pre-enrolment 2007.

You can select HELP at a number of locations during the process

1. INITIAL PRE-ENROLMENT CLOSES ON FRIDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2006.

Ross Kuhn
for
William Adams
Registrar.
7 November 2006

Goodness. My inner Arts student and lover of writing is bawling its eyes out.

By the way, I love 1.4. It’s such a great text for arguing against bureaucrats writing emails: clearly, someone has plenty of pent-up angst about the transport authorities and feels the need to rant to 45,000 students, most of whom aren’t going to give a toss. The queues are there, we have to go in, and we’re going to blame the administration. That’s just the way it works, stop trying to pass the buck. Sigh. It’d be nice to think that marketing departments shouldn’t need to vet all comms (they certainly don’t in universities, no matter how much bureaucracy is in place — there are plenty of ways around it all), but somehow everything just works better when they do.