DIVERSITY REPRESENTATIVE ACSHAYA VIJAYARATNAM

As repetitive as this may sound, my advice for first years is to get involved in University activities — especially societies that are related to your degree.

Hey everyone! My name is Acshaya and I am the Diversity Representative for MULS 2023. I am currently in my third year studying a double degree in Law and Arts (majoring in English).

My role at MULS is to work alongside the Education team to create events and initiatives that are mindful of and support the diversity within Macquarie Law School. By initiating inclusivity-based events, organisations, and social media engagement — this role allows me to ensure that every student feels seen, heard and comfortable to share and embrace their diverse experiences and identities.

As repetitive as this may sound, my advice for first years is to get involved in University activities — especially societies that are related to your degree. This allows you to befriend older students who are studying the same degree as yourself — which can be extremely resourceful as they may have advice from experience, insight on a particular unit that can help you academically or even guide you to on-campus services that you could have been completely unaware of.

One MULS event that all first years should look forward to is the First Year Afternoon Tea, as it is a great opportunity to make friends and become comfortable around your new cohort!

Sessions, Courses, HECS, Enrollments?

All of these sound confusing to you?

Answer: 'Yes.' ☹

Don't worry — We got you covered.

These terms will be used regularly in the next few sections, and also throughout your time at university, so it is good to get familiar with them early!

> A session is synonymous with a semester. The academic year consists of three sessions:

SESSION 1 (FEBRUARY - JUNE)

• First half of the year.

SESSION 2 (LATE JULY - DECEMBER)

• Second half of the year.

SESSION 3 (DECEMBER - FEBRUARY)

• An additional semester that runs during the summer break for students to complete more units and accelerate their course.

> A unit is a subject studied within your course. Units work similarly to a subject in high school but they only last for one session.

Example: LAWS1000 https://student1.mq.edu.au

• The letters signify the unit’s subject area. Here it is a Law unit.

• The number signifies the unit’s year level. Here it is a 1000 level unit.

> A course is another word for a Bachelor Degree.

• A Bachelor of Laws is one of your courses. If you study two degrees, then that is two courses.

> Your eStudent account is different to iLearn. It is an administrative portal that allows you to do essential yet exciting tasks such as enrol into units, choose classes and pay your fees.

The tabs have different functions as follows:

‘MY DETAILS’

• Check and update your personal details.

‘MY ENROLMENT’

• Enrol into units — a maximum of 4 units per semester.

‘MY CLASSES’

• Create your timetable by registering in classes for your units each semester.

‘MY RESULTS AND GRADUATION’

• View your mark and grade for each unit

• Request a copy of your Unofficial Transcript which employers will often request from you.

‘MY FINANCES’

• View and pay your fees.

Law degrees are a lengthy investment and are on the expensive side of university degrees. The good news is that the Australian government pays for a portion of your fees if you have a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP). All domestic undergraduate students are classified as CSP students. The remaining amount that you have to pay is your student contribution.

The second piece of good news is that you can defer this payment through the Government’s HECS-HELP loan initiative rather than paying the fees upfront. You will only be required to pay back the loan later in the future when your annual income exceeds a certain threshold, currently $48,361.

Make sure you are up to date with your finances by completing the steps below before the census date. This is on 17 March, 2023 for Session 1, on 18 August, 2023 for Session 2 and 21 December 2023 ( https://students. mq.edu.au/study/course/dates). This date is the last day you can withdraw from a unit without incurring financial liability or academic penalty. Before this date, you can withdraw from any of your enrolled units without penalty but if you do so afterwards, you will have to pay the unit fees and receive an academic penalty.

Applying For Hecs

HECS is available to all CSP students and assists with the cost of your units of study. There is also SA-HELP available which allows you to defer the cost of the Student Services and Amenities Fee (SSAF). To apply, you must have a Tax File Number (TFN) and provide the university with it.

Log onto eStudent and click on the ‘My Offer’ tab > Submit Commonwealth Assistance Form > HECS-HELP eCAF > SA-HELP. Submitting a SA-HELP form is optional.

If you do not pay your fees upfront before the Census date, your student debt will automatically be deferred as a HECS loan.

Paying Upfront

If you wish to pay your fees upfront, head to eStudent > (My Finances) > (Financial Transactions).

If you intend to do this and do not defer to HECS, make sure you pay before the payment due date. If you pay fees after this date, you will incur a $200 late payment fee (https://students.mq.edu.au/finances/fees/key-dates).

Domestic students have a choice of studying either full-time or part-time. International students holding student visas must study full-time. Fulltime involves studying 3 or 4 units per session and part-time involves studying 1 or 2 units per session.

• Major: a compulsory sequence of study within one of your degrees. Eg Accounting in a Bachelor of Commerce or Italian Studies in a Bachelor of Arts

• Minor: a sequence of units within a major, but with a smaller volume of credit points

Another requirement for your courses is the specified number of credit points. For each degree, you must study enough units to meet this credit point — for your Bachelor of Laws that is 320 credit points. Undergraduate units are worth 10 credit points each.