OPUS Atlantic Conference-— ‘Exploring our potential”

by Paula Gauthier

The Canadian Organiza- ion of Part-time Univer- ity Students Annual At- ntic conference was held on ov. 6, 7, and 8th on the St. ohn Campus of the Univer- ity of New Brunswick. The heme chosen by this year’s ost, “Exploring our Poten- lial,’ was developed in a va- iety of areas and from a va- iety of perspectives.

The opening seminar, Exploring Government and niversity Support; research is Funding of Part-time t

udents,” was led by Rich oyawada, Director of Pol- cy for Student Aid, Secre- ary of States’ Office, Ot- awa. Mr. Woyawada in- lormed the conference that he Student Aid Program s’ under reassesment and hat the “failure of applica- ion” for part-time student bans has been reinterpreted, hrough feed-back from part- ime students, as a “failure o meet the needs” of 40% of he current university pop- lation. Part-time student oans are payable one month ipon receipt. An advi- ory committee is now being ormed; the Atlantic region s being represented. Revi-

ion of policies developed in.

.964 concerning student aid, ind policies concerning part- ime student loans developed n 1984, are recognized by )ttawa as long overdue.

The workshop “Explor-

ng the Potential of Student |

iroups; Effective Lobbyirs— vas headed by Mar*-** Jef-

ties, Local NDP, “andidate n the last vrovincial elec-

ion, N«-# Brunswick. Ms. eff-es discussed ways and .eans of gaining the atten- on of members, the pub- c, government and opposi- on and informing them of 1e principal goals of orga- ization. Special emphasis ‘as placed on the partic- lar difficulties encountered y part-time student organi- ations to develop commu- ication networks given the ‘aditional university struc- ire. Ms. jeffries assured re gathering that most of 1e work involved in success- ul organization is typically

teomplished by a few ded-

ated leaders. 3

Under the topic “Ex- loring your Potential; Ef- ‘ctive Leadership,” James

Millican, Cooperate Train- ing Manager for NB Tel, contrasted traditional man- ager behavior with effective leadership behavior. Or- ganization environments can do much to block or en-

courage commitment by de-

bying or satisfying indi- vidual’s social/pyschological needs. One of the main influencing factors on com- mitment is healthy two-way communication that creates a well-formed body on the issues; communication. facil- itated by approachable, in- terested leaders in informal, open-door

environments. Mr. Millican cautioned that although the concept of communication is understood and paid lip- service, administrators will have to acquire a host of new skills and attitudes about their roles in organizations to be effective in the future.

“Exploring the Poten- tial of the Student; helping the Students to Help Them- selves” centered around as- sistance to students in recdg- nizing and dealing with per- sonal problem areas, along with suggestions as to how a committee might be set up as a liaison with administration to deal with academic penal- ties. The workshop was le~ by Fred Fuller of the E~P!0Y- ment and Student @551stance Program of yew Brunswick.

The Speaker on “Time

Management” discussed the necessity of overcoming orig- inal, underlying decisions characteristically . made _ to avoid doing. he stressed that the rules we live by can be re- evaluated. “All musts — no wants” results in an unbal- anced life-style. For a good return on time-investment, defining goals, priorities, creating time and

making basic decisions must

be perceived as a life-long process. This seminar was particularly relevant to part- time students who typically attempt to balance family, jobs, studies, etc. — not to mention involvement in orga- nizations such as COPUS. Complementing the for- mal seminars and workshops were informal discussions be- tween the attending dele- gates who represented tra- ditional full-time student, as well as part-time student, or- ganizations. Although both groups shared a common need for education; difficulty of access was mainly the con- cern of part-time students.

While the system wo ‘reasonably ‘accessible tothe

mainstream studen+* 4diffi- culty of acce- Was the main concer~ Of part-time stu- ents. Inadequate range of evening classes, lack of fi-

_nancing for tuition and child-

care, limited library hours, student services and business offices operating on a 9 to 5,

establishing

Monday to Friday basis, lack of physical space and fund- ing to facilitate communica- tion, organization and repre- sentation were problems ex- perienced only by part-time students. Systems simply have not been developed to accommodate the needs of these students.

Hence, the issues raised by part-time students are brodd in nature. The con- tention that life-long learn- ing is being increasingly per-

ceived as a valued goal in

our society is supported by the current enrollment fig- ures — 40% of all univer- sity students are part-time. One can only speculate as to how high the percentage might be if equality of oppor- tunity was a reality. Consid- ering that productivity cor- relates positively with edu- cation, the economic argu- ment tends to lose credi- bility. revision of national policy and/or provincial ac- countability is long overdue.

As witnessed by the sup- port. sities from the Atlantic <€-

gion sent delecates, art-

time, traditional<4nd_ non- traditional time © stu- dents, fo<tilty and admin- istratiot were represented;

2idividuals from the pub- lic and private sectors led ‘workshops. All shared their particular views, experiences and expertise. However, part-time students for the main part continue to per- ceive their problems as per- sonal as opposed to social. The needs and potential of part-time students have only begun to be explored. .

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