aaaand lame
AUSTRALIA | Wednesday, 16 April 2008 | Views [393] | Comments [2]
Dear All,
Further to my previous email regarding travel concessions, I regret to tell you that I have since been informed that under no circumstances are we to issue documentation to Study Abroad students. I can only apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused many of you.
Customer Service and the Division of Student Administration staff have clarified with the Transport Authority (government body which manages travel concession matters) that Study Abroad students are not entitled to travel concession.
All students that come through USAC are considered 'Study Abroad', because they are fee paying. When students apply for the student concession card at the train station, they are required to present either their offer letter or their COE, both of which state that they have been offered a place at Deakin as 'Study Abroad' students.
The students who come to Deakin on 'Exchange' are those nominated by their home institution with whom we have a reciprocal agreement. These are non fee-paying students. Basically a Deakin student and a student from another institution exchange, or swap places for a semester.
Full-fee paying international students are not eligible for any student concessions on the Victorian Public Transport (VPT) system and unfortunately this includes 'study abroad' students. Students who are studying in Australia as a part of an Exchange program are entitled to the concession as they are taking the place of an Australian student who has also gone abroad.
These are state government regulations that Deakin University, nor any other Victorian university has any control over. I've attached the link to 'Metlink', the Melbourne metropolitan transport authority which will take you directly to their literature regarding student concessions. I know this seems unfair, but again this is something that really is out of our control.
http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/fares_tickets/concessions/students
Apart from students lobbying the government, there is no solution to this problem in the immediate future, however with the recent changeover in our government, hopefully we shall see some changes.
I hope this makes sense for you, please let me know if you require additional information
Again, my humblest apologies for the inconvenience this may have caused.
Kind regards
Caitlyn
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