Monash Passport video transcript

Adam Shoemaker: People have asked me what is the Monash Passport all about?

The exciting thing about the Passport is that it’s not just a new blueprint for education or higher education at Monash. But one which really revolutionises the way we teach, the way we learn and the way we think. It’s very very student-centred.

[Caption: Choose, Professor Adam Shoemaker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education]

One of the wonderful things about being at Monash is the amount of choice that one has. It’s just phenomenal. Not only do we have campuses all over Victoria, including Parkville and Clayton and Caulfield, Gippsland, Peninsula and Berwick but we also have offshore campuses as well. All up more than 55,000 students and 7,000 staff.

In addition, you don’t have to wait to become a postgraduate to do a professional degree whether it be in law, engineering or medicine. You can start straight away because you are ready and we are ready to receive you.

Finally, there is a huge choice in the range of postgraduate offerings that are linked to undergraduate offerings through such things as the honours program and combined degrees, it’s just fantastic.

[Caption: Hsiang-Yun, Bachelor of Early Childhood Education]

Hsian-Yun: I chose Monash because I heard the Monash teaching style is very practical and lively and where you get a lot of hands on experience and practical placements in schools and other different settings. I just finished a hospital placement. You get to choose where you want to go, and that is very valuable. You need that practical experience to be ready for the outside world I think. It’s really, really important.

[Caption: Monash University is recognised as one of the top 50 universities in the world - Times Higher Education Supplement 2008]

[Caption: Explore  Professor Adam Shoemaker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor,  Education]

Adam Shoemaker: All of us love to explore. But at university you can do it in a way which is broader and deeper and richer. That’s what the passport is about. If you want to explore a discipline, do it here. If you want to have a combined degree, do it here. If you want to do it in a way which says to you, I want to be someone who goes somewhere else in the world you can do it with Monash without ever leaving the Monash name. We have campuses in Johannesburg, in Kuala Lumpur a very important university centre in Prato, in Italy, all of which one can study with scholarships while one is actually a Monash student. It’s fantastic.

[Caption: Timothy Leach Bachelor of Engineering/Bachelor of Commerce]

Timothy Leach: I just got back from thirteen months overseas travelling with Monash Abroad. Monash Abroad is a fantastic program and it’s really just another example of a great opportunity here at Monash. What I actually did is two different exchanges, which I guess I was fairly lucky to do. The first semester I was on exchange at Boston College in the US and then after that I also did a second exchange in Lyon in France where I was working on my language. It was such an amazing experience and it’s really something that I’ll carry with me forever.

[Caption: Enhance Professor Adam Shoemaker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education]

Adam Shoemaker: So why is the enhancement theme important in the Monash passport? The key there is where students are before they come to university and how they transition into that tertiary space into really learning about it and what it’s for. So this means having schools on campuses. Really high quality schools on our campuses. It means having things like the Australian Science Olympiad training camps on the Monash Clayton campus each year preparing people for the Olympics in physics, chemistry and that kind of area. Or it also means having 400 to 500 students studying with us in year 11 or 12 before they even become Monash students themselves and getting credit for it and a higher entrance score.

[Caption: Julia Szabo Bachelor of Business Information Systems]

Julia Szabo: When I was in year 12 I studied Enhancement studies which enabled me to get my teeth into a couple of university subjects. It was a really great opportunity for me in that it enabled me to challenge myself and also try something a little bit different. Enhancement studies enabled me to move into university level with a lot of advantages in that I knew what to expect, I’d already done some of the subjects, I could do a couple of second year subjects, and also I knew a couple of people going into the same degree from the Enhancement studies. So it just made me really confident coming into my first year of university.

[Caption: Monash Art and Design houses outstanding purpose built facilities and produces skilled graduates who shape the future of art and design practice nationally and internationally.]

[Caption: Investigate, Professor Adam Shoemaker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education]

Adam Shoemaker: Research is a really important theme of the Monash passport and undergraduate research is what distinguishes it for us. Take for example the idea that someone who is in their second year of university could be in fact be producing work so good that it would be published in an international journal. Take someone who is on a special honours scholarship, of which we’ve now many hundreds, also working with teams perhaps in a medical ward, in a laboratory, in an archive and doing original research themselves. Think about the idea that in careers that being a researcher is going to be absolutely essential to success, in science in medicine in engineering in many professional walks of life. That is why research is so important for us.

[Caption: Bradley Watmuff Bachelor of Pharmacy (Honours)]

Bradley Watmuff: I chose honours because I always had an interest in research and I wanted to see if I be able to continue that as a career. Doing an honours degree here at the faculty is a good lead into a research career for me.

[Caption: Act, Professor Adam Shoemaker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education]

Adam Shoemaker: One of the main themes of the Monash Passport is action. We want everyone to be involved in what we call direct action or giving back to the community. Now you might say doesn’t that happen anyway, but really what is remarkable is that in all of our campuses the number of students who volunteer and give very specific skills back to their outreaching community in a special way.

In fact, more than 400 students at the South African campus are involved every weekend on a Saturday morning with local school children who are disadvantaged and do fantastic work there. Every week we have law students who volunteer at the Monash Springvale Legal Aid clinic and help members of the community with 100 different language backgrounds, helping to do practical things like how to write a will, how to learn to take a lease or open a bank account, really practical things that have a legal side to them. And in essence what its saying is the education is there and the basis is excellent but what you give back beyond that is what defines you.

[Caption: Panagiota Kakridas Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery]

Panagiota Kakridas: As part of the second year program every student does 84 hours of community service in a variety of different areas and my chosen placement is with Anglicare Victoria. That’s at Glenroy youth services so I help out with the homework club that they are running and it’s just basically helping year 5 and 6 students with any schoolwork and other issues. Lots of them come from different backgrounds and might not have that support structure at home. It’s been a really rewarding experience, and I’ve gone back there a few times even though my hours have finished and I really enjoy it.

[Caption: Lauren Giles Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery]

Lauren Giles: My time in PNG will really help me in my future career as a doctor. I got to experience life and medicine in a whole different cultural context and I got to deal with patients who were all from a different cultural and social background. It was really important for me to learn how to do that.

[Caption: Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts (Global) gain a truly international education by completing part of their degree overseas.]

[Caption: Professor Adam Shoemaker, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education]

Adam Shoemaker: So what is the Monash passport all about then?

Really it’s about not waiting to be the best you can be, it’s a very student centred project. And indeed as we often say why wait until the third year of your course before you start looking through a telescope -- don’t wait.

Beyond that it’s a matter of giving back to society, it’s a very ethical program, a very engaged program and one which we have lots of volunteers and interns working with organisations such as Oxfam or World Vision and actually doing it for credit in their academic careers while they are studying for their degrees. It’s a fabulous opportunity. Please come and join us.

[End of video]