Myself when young did eagerly frequent Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument About it and about: but evermore Came out by the same Door as in I went (Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, xxvii).

What does a university actually do? A university does two things: it pushes back the frontiers of knowledge (research) and passes on to the next generation what we know or think we know (teaching). The academic staff do both these things. They also run the place, along with the administrative staff, so that there is much administrative work to be done. Do not assume that the four hours or whatever you see a staff member teaching you is all they do - they are likely to be teaching in several other subjects, as well as involved in various administrative duties and undertaking research. If you cannot find them in their office, they will probably not be lounging on a beach somewhere.

You might be baffled by the titles of some of the academics about the university. In simple terms, there are only two groups of titles. The first refers to their job level. Here you will find, in ascending order, Teaching Fellows, Senior Teaching Fellows, Lecturers, Senior Lecturers, Assistant Professors (once called Readers), and Professors. The higher up, the more they are paid and the more responsibility they have.

The second group refers to their title. All academics are either Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss or else Doctor. The latter have gained their Ph.D. whereas the former have not. You cannot assume that everyone without a Ph.D. is not as good as those with one. In some cases it may not be particularly appropriate, e.g., for many language teachers. In other cases it is merely the workings of supply and demand. In this case there is such a shortage of people able and willing to teach that topic in universities and so much money to be made outside academia, that few people bother to spend their time working for a Ph.D. Skills that are relatively scarce in society, such as Marketing, Accounting and high level medicine, often fall into this group. A final group consists of academics still studying for their Ph.D., some with immense ability, but who are still too young to have gained the doctorate or else came in late to the profession. If someone is both a Professor and has a doctorate, it is usual to address them as `Professor' rather than `Doctor'. In this university, but not in all, it is quite common to be asked to address the staff member by their given name rather than title.

You might as well be told now that academics are much better educated than average, are somewhat more intelligent, but are not particularly more good or moral than anyone else. In other words, they are prone to the same weaknesses as normal human beings; they can be as intolerant, jealous, envious and back-stabbing as the next person. Indeed, since some of us have more time on our hands than many workers in what we might incorrectly but popularly call the real world, we have the time to engage in petty politicking if we so desire. Some do.

How is the university organised? All universities tend to have a similar structure, although they may use different names for certain jobs. There is an academic side, consisting of the people just mentioned above. At the top is the Vice-Chancellor (VC) who is the most important person in the university and in a sense it is `his/her' university. In the USA he/she may be called the President. The academic side does the actual teaching and research, although few VCs have much time for anything but running the place, which includes both administration and politics, the latter especially outside the university. The academic side also formulates the policy of the university and determines the rules.

The other side of the university is the administration. This side actually runs the university in the administrative sense, follows the rules and ensures that what should be done is done. Such things as running the Refectory, looking after the grounds and buildings, organising the parking, and paying the staff all fall within the area of responsibility of the administration. At the top is the Registrar (called Bursar in some colleges or universities).

If you have an academic problem, you should go to see one of the academic staff. If you have an administrative problem, you go to the administration. For most students, the Faculty Office is the immediate contact point with the administration. If you change your address, do remember to tell the Office about it. Should the University wish to make contact with you, it is in your interest to see that they can.All universities are divided into smaller groups, often Faculties (which group similar disciplines or subjects into one area) and Departments (one for each discipline). Griffith University, like many modern ones, is divided first into several Faculties and then into Schools (see figure 1). As an example, as well as other Faculties we have the Faculties of Asian and International Studies, Science, and Humanities each of which undertakes the work appropriate to its name. Each Faculty has a Dean as its head. There are usually one or two Deputy Deans to help with the running of the Faculty. Within the Faculty there may be one or more Schools (e.g., Modern Asian Studies), which specialise in some area covered by the Faculty. The leader of each School is called the Head of the School. Each part of the First Year, such as Economics, and History/Politics, has a Convener. Every subject that you will study in the University has its own Convener, who is responsible for what goes on. If you have a problem of not understanding a bit of a lecture, the person to approach first is the person who delivered that lecture. If you still have problems, see a different member of staff who is in that discipline. If however you have a more general problem, you might choose to approach the lecturer you know or failing help there you can go to the Convener. If that fails, there is the Head of School, and above that the Dean. The Dean tends only to get involved if the problem is really serious.

The School and Faculty are the levels that probably matter most for things that will concern you. You are actually a member of a Faculty, but may take most of your subjects from one particular school. You are free to choose any subjects within a Faculty that would not be either silly or specifically precluded. You cannot for example do the First year in two Schools in a Faculty and count this as your first two years work. There may also be prerequisite subjects demanded, for instance you cannot study `Global Marketing' in the School of International Business Relations until you have successfully completed `International Business Systems'. The current Undergraduate Studies Handbook explains carefully all your subject choices and any limitations.

The University is run using a large number of committees that have a variety of functions including making suggestions on university policy concerning matters within their jurisdiction, all under the rules and guidelines established by the University Council. This is the top ruling body, somewhat like a Parliament, which meets once a month and approves policy. The VC is the Chief Executive Officer who actually runs and is ultimately responsible for everything, both academic and administrative. The Registrar is the most senior member on the administration side, and he is responsible for the administration of the University but has no responsibility for academic matters.

LECTURES, WORKSHOPS AND TUTORIALS:

Johnson: I had no notion that I was wrong or irreverent to my tutor. Boswell: That, Sir, was great fortitude of mind. Johnson: No, Sir; stark insensibility (Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol.i, p.60, Nov. 1728).

Lectures are for staff to pass on information in an efficient way to you. At this University you may ask questions by raising your hand. You should not hesitate to do this if there is something that you do not understand. Usually this is a question of grappling with a new concept, but occasionally it is the accent of the staff member concerned. In the latter case, you will normally `tune-in' to the accent in a couple of lectures. Most staff do not mind questions, indeed they are only to pleased not to press on blindly, leaving the group in ignorance. If after a repeated explanation you still have trouble with understanding, it is often better not to persist. It often works better if you wait until the end of the lecture and raise it again or go and see the staff member during their office hours. In this way, you will get a one-to-one explanation and the lecturer will not be worrying that he/she will not be able to get through the planned material if more time is spent on that particular part.

If you have come straight from school, you may have picked up some bad habits there. One is giggling and talking in lectures. It is easy to slip into the habit of doing this, but it is not acceptable conduct in a university lecture theatre. It distracts the other students terribly and is off-putting for the lecturer. Remember, you do not have to be in the lecture theatre, so if you want to talk, either stay away or simply get up and leave. By doing so, you are harming your own prospects but at least you are not damaging those of other people.

You should not just turn up for the lecture because it is scheduled, but try to psych yourself up for it and raise the level of your interest in the topic being covered. You are there to listen and learn, not just put in an appearance. You can start early, say the evening before, and read the part of the text book devoted to the issue, or discuss it with friends, try to explain it to them, and argue about the content if needed. On the way to the lecture you can turn the issue over in your mind. When you sit down, after organising your pen, note pad etc. comfortably, you can try to recall the main points of last night's reading on today's lecture topic. All such efforts raise your level of interest, increase your concentration, and help you to understand the lecture at the time, while remembering more of it later.

Workshops are where you do something yourself, either alone or in a group. You will be told what to do and left to do it, under supervision of a staff member. The approach of workshops varies a lot, so in some you may do a quiz, in another undertake role playing, have small group discussions or some other activity. Before attending it is vital that you read any set material, as you can only make a contribution from a position of knowledge. If you are not ready to discuss an issue because you have not read the material, you are not entirely wasting your time by attending, but you are wasting perhaps ninety per cent of it. There is not much to be gained by the group from pooling the ignorance of the members. If workshops or small groups are to work really effectively and be enjoyable, the members must put in prior effort. You will find ultimately that you tend to get out roughly what you put in to workshops. If you turn up not having read anything and/or sit quietly and not participating, you will get less from them than if you read up beforehand, know something about the topic, and then present your views and argue cogently, listening to the comments of others.

Do not expect to have the textbook chapter regurgitated to you as a lecture. You are not led by the hand through each chapter at University but are expected to read through it and learn it yourself. The lectures may cover some of the basics, expand on them and might add new things. The lectures are unlikely to be identical with the textbooks and may criticise part of them. Nor are they likely to go through the content of the textbook in the same chapter order, unless they think it cannot be improved upon.

Tutorials will usually have a paper delivered by a student on a prearranged topic. In a similar way to workshops, you benefit greatly from doing the set reading before the day of the tutorial/seminar at which someone else is presenting a paper. If you merely turn up on the day and trust to your wits, you are probably being brave and just might be going in to battle unarmed. While you read the material in advance, you will find it helpful to jot down on a piece of paper any thoughts that come into your mind and any criticisms you can think of. If the reading is from a book you own, or you have a copy of the article etc., then you can highlight or mark if it helps. Otherwise, it pays to take notes of the main ideas or thoughts. You can then use your notes and jotted ideas to help you understand the orally presented paper, remember the main points, and ask questions or make points during the discussion period after the paper has been presented.

Generally, tutorials and seminars work far better if the paper is read aloud without interruption, then questions are asked at the end and the points discussed. If interruptions are allowed to the paper, commonly the questions asked at that point will be answered later in the paper. This means the interruption was a total waste of time, and also destroyed the flow of the paper and the line of argument. When a thought occurs to you while listening to the paper, jot it down and ask at the end, assuming it has not been answered in the meantime.

You should try to join in the discussion at tutorials and seminars, and the notes you made before and during the session will help to give you both confidence and ammunition. Do not be afraid that you will make mistakes and people will laugh at you. Many ideas that may have seemed idiosyncratic or incorrect can resurface subsequently and become respectable. If you have an opinion or suggestion, state it. This helps to encourage diversity and debate, which makes the session more interesting for all. In any case, if you are going to make a mistake, or cling to theories or opinions long discredited, the seminar or tutorial is a good place to air them and find this out. This is how you learn. In addition, if done here, there is no penalty, whereas in the examination room such a mistake may cost you marks. When making your points, remember that you should criticise a view or an idea, not the person who made it. It is easy to hurt someone's feelings without meaning to.

It is important to attend tutorials and workshops, and you should not avoid going because the topic looks boring or perhaps of little relevance to your immediate needs. Under these circumstances it may be tempting to absent yourself, especially if you are starting to fall behind and an assignment is due in shortly. Bear in mind that what you are supposed to do is the result of much discussion and planning, and there is a reason for it, even if this is not instantly obvious to you. Part of the first year's task is to give you a basis for proceeding to second year and doing well there. It is not only the actual hard information you get in the first year that matters. The process of the workshop, `learning by doing', is also part of what you need. Some of what you do, particularly in the first year, may also be aimed at preparation for subsequent years and may not seem to you an obviously vital part of the First year. It is still important for you to go and absorb both the process and the information; both will stand you in good stead later.

THE LIBRARY:

`Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it.' (Dr. Johnson, Boswell's Life of Johnson, p.365, 18 April, 1775).

Use the University library - learn how to find information and to look up references in the catalogue. You should learn how to access the computer and search for information by subject, author, and title. You also need to discover where the call-numbers are physically located in the library. There is a mass of information waiting for you, but it will not come to you, you have to go to it. It can be a fairly daunting prospect at first. The University provides an introduction to library use - you should attend this and make careful notes.

The Library contains books and periodicals, but also has few other things worth knowing about. The government publications' section can prove valuable and there are various data basis available for electronic search. The Business Periodicals on Disc programme allows you to read articles, and if you wish you can print up any of interest (at a price). This is often a good place to find information that is not yet in textbooks, and sometimes never will be.

Do not ignore the reference section either, which contains masses of information. You might find it useful to make a note of a few shelf call numbers of interest to your subjects, so that you can check easily in the future if seeking information.

When in the library, keep silent and allow others to study in peace.

Do not mark or write in library books, it is annoying to others. You can, and many argue should, write in your own books. Do not hide books in obscure places for your own use and please do not steal them or tear out chapters or articles from books and journals. This is not only very antisocial, but the punishments are severe. Try to get your library books back on time - you can renew by telephone. If you are late, you accumulate points and eventually will be banned from borrowing books or fined. Until you pay off the fines, you cannot receive a degree. It helps if you write in your diary or wall calendar when they are due back. You can also keep them physically separate on the shelf from books you own, so that you do not `lose' a book and not realise it is a library book and overdue.

Remember that there are other libraries in Brisbane, including not only public lending libraries, but also the State Reference Library. These can sometimes provide an alternate source of information. It is not normally worth wasting time going round several public libraries to see what is on offer, but it may be worth checking out the nearest one to where you live. The University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology both have excellent libraries and you can request books on the Inter Campus Loan system. Most of your main books and journals should be in Griffith University Library and that is the one that you will probably use the most.

One of the most useful skills you can learn at university is how to use a library to your best advantage. After you have graduated and found a job, it is probable that many of you will have to find information quickly for a boss, or write a report on something you know little or nothing about when you are given the task. If you can get into a library and pull out masses of relevant and recent information quickly, this will be of great advantage to you. You will also have your own interests in life, be it surfboard designing or bee-keeping, and again there is usually a lot more information available than you would think, if you know where and how to look. It is a total waste of time to reinvent the wheel, and others may even suffer if you try. The highly intelligent and famous Germaine Greer recounted in a newspaper article how she started to keep chickens in her rural English garden and how they fought and suffered quite badly. She did not know what to do. It was clear that she had not done sufficient, if any, homework, as letters telling her what seemed to be standard information on how to avoid the problems immediately came in. The message is clear: you can look up much of the information you will need and do not need to start experimenting all over again.

3 YOUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSITY:

Some of the world's greatest thinkers have asked the question `why am I here?' often without reaching a simple answer. It ain't easy but we still ask.

It is most important to think about your purpose in coming to university and then organise yourself to achieve it. Do you just want a degree of some kind and not fail? Do you want to achieve the best quality degree you can? Do you want to learn a lot about one thing in which you have a strong interest? Do you have a particular career in mind that you wish to study for? Do you simply want a better job and feel a degree will open up doors? Do you wish to broaden your mind and improve your personal quality as a human being? Do you seek intellectual stimulation and enjoyment? Does the life of a student merely sound attractive to you? Are you returning to study after some years in the work force because you need a challenge, or can now afford to study? Are you here because your parents, family or friends think it is a good idea? Are you trying to postpone decisions about what to do with your life? The answer to such questions may affect your allocation of time between study and leisure, and help you to decide what things to study in more depth.

Self discovery and development are an important part of university, especially for those straight from school. Mind-widening is one great benefit from attending university, in addition to gaining a degree.

You have come to learn not just to be taught - there is a clear difference - although we do try hard to teach you well and to help and guide you in other ways. In less politically correct times, Galileo summed this up as `You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself'. `Being taught' is something that happened to you at school and is rather a passive experience, where you sit and listen, take notes, and memorize them later. Learning is what you do in higher education and perhaps for the rest of your life. It is in fact very hard not to keep learning for the rest of your life, although it may not seem like learning at the time. Learning is a much more active experience than being taught and is something you must do for yourself, for no one can do it for you. You learn in many ways, one of which is by other people teaching you. The process of learning at the university level involves you going out and looking things up in the library, discovering information, reading for yourself and thinking about what you are reading. It also includes discussing and arguing with other students. That is one reason why you will spend perhaps twelve hours a week in formal contact. You are supposed to be learning for yourself and the time is made available for you to do this. You get guidance in your learning of course, including subject handouts, reading or booklists, probably with chapter references, and the like.

In the end it is up to you. You must learn for yourself, using what the staff say, what the other students contribute, and what you read in the library all as a basis for your greater understanding and improved capacity for thought. Thinking, as opposed to regurgitating views you have read or been told, is not as easy as one might think and you might find it very tiring at first.

Do ask if you do not understand something. At this university, unlike most of the older and traditional ones, the staff expect you to interrupt and ask questions in lectures. If you keep quiet they will assume you are following what is being said. Once you do not understand one thing, it might be impossible for you to understand the next step. If you have trouble with a concept, go and see a staff member in their office Hours. This is the period when they guarantee to be in their rooms and available to answer questions. You do not need to make an appointment, you just turn up and knock on the door. If you could not understand a point in a lecture see the person who gave the lecture, take your notes and ask them about the point. If the problem concerns something you read in the textbook or in an article, take the book etc. with you. It helps if you write down something about the difficulty or the workings that you tried to do, as a staff member can more easily see where your problem lies. If you turn up with the statement `I cannot understand any of it', it is hard to help you, as you have made too broad a statement and there are no pointers for the staff member to consider. Such a broad statement often merits the response `Go off and think about it some more, then come back', although most staff are probably too kind to say this and you may not be told this often.

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU?

Great Expectations. (Title of a book by Charles Dickens).

What is expected of you at university? First you are exposed to learning in several ways. You are expected to attend lectures and take notes. You will also go to seminars (possibly called a tutorial) where you will listen to a paper given by a student (including you eventually) and make notes of anything that seems of particular importance or interest to you, then discuss the paper and its contents. A tutorial should really refer to a staff member talking to one or two students privately, but the term is often used to refer to what is in fact a seminar where a paper is read out in a room full of students and a discussion is lead by a staff member. In AIS, but not in all Faculties, you will also go to workshops where you do whatever is set in advance or you are instructed at the time. You will participate in an appropriate fashion, e.g., discuss a topic in small groups, argue a case for some proposition, or do a quiz and discuss the answers. Whatever you have to do will be explained to you fully. Other Faculties have their own versions of practical sessions called by different names, such as laboratory sessions or field trips.

Second, you will prepare assignments. You will give tutorial papers, where you are assigned a topic that you prepare and if it is in the form of a question, answer. You can write it out in full and read it out loud, or work from notes. The former is more common and easier to do. The latter way is harder, but it is good practice for later life, when you may have to talk to notes. The handout you receive for the subject may tell you which way it should be done in that subject. Remember, if you have a free choice, writing it out in full is easier, especially in the early days. Expect to have to answer questions about the paper you gave and perhaps face criticisms of your expressed views by your fellow students and the staff member.

In some subjects, you will also write semester essays. The title, expected length and date of submission will be given to you. Sometimes you may choose your own title, after discussion with the staff member concerned. Examinations will also appear, usually once a semester in each subject, although mid-semester exams are also possible. The proportion of marks for each assignment that add up to the total for the subject should be communicated to you at the start of the subject, probably in a handout.

For the assignments you will receive a grade, as follows:

Fail = 1 - 49 per cent (First Year)

Pass conceded = 48 - 49 per cent (2nd-3rd Years)

Pass = 50 - 64 per cent

Credit = 65 - 74 per cent

Distinction = 75 - 84 per cent

High Distinction = 85 - 100 per cent

You are here to get a degree, but what does this mean? An ordinary degree is made up of 240 credit points, with 80 achieved in each year for three years. Each semester you do four subjects each worth eighty credit points. After the First Year, should you fail a subject or two, you can apply for permission to carry an overload and do five subjects in a semester. Unless you are a strong student that is frequently a bad idea however. Just think - you got in the mess by not being able to pass four subjects in one semester, so deliberately undertaking five can be expected to be very difficult. If you fail a subject, it is often better to take another semester at the end, and do the degree over three-and-a-half years instead. This usually gets you better results.

Above the level of the ordinary degree stands the Honours Degree. In Australia this usually takes up a fourth year and is started only after you have gained the normal degree. Only a small minority of students goes on to do Honours and there are rules about entry standards to ensure only those better than average are allowed to try. The Honours Programme generally consists of course work and a thesis, roughly half and half in importance. When the course work is completed at the end of the first semester, you normally start on the thesis that takes up the second half of the year. In practical terms, however, work on the thesis must be begun in the first semester also. After submission the thesis is marked.

Your overall result, based on both the course work and thesis, will be one of the following:

First class Honours (`a First')

Upper second class Honours (`a Two-one')

Lower second class Honours (`a Two-two')

Pass

Fail

Few people ever fail (the students are preselected and generally are among the best), and a pass is not worth achieving as it is not above the ordinary degree level. Most of the academics that you see about the university attained a First or Two-one.

Above the Honours degree stands the Masters (MA). This can be done either entirely by dissertation (fairly rare) or by course work plus a shorter dissertation. The former can take some years; the latter way often takes one year full-time or two years on a part-time basis. You either pass or fail; there are no grades. Entry is normally restricted to those with Honours (First or 2/1 only usually) so even fewer do this degree.

There are three universities in the Western world that are still allowed to sell Masters degrees for money. These are Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England, and Trinity College, Dublin. This is remnant of their feudal past that no one has yet managed to eliminate. Unfortunately, you will not be allowed to purchase one, as the applicant has to obtain an undergraduate degree at one or other of the three Universities before being allowed to buy his/her Masters. If you come across anyone with a degree MA (Cantab.) or MA (Oxon) it merely means that they did an undergraduate degree in one of the three places, then subsequently they had a small sum of money with which to purchase a Masters degree and felt the status gained worthwhile. These three universities also give `proper' Masters degrees, which are earned in the normal way, and given a different name.

The final degree available for most people is the Ph.D. which is also known as a doctorate, as it allows the holder to call him/herself `Doctor'. A Ph.D. is mainly done by extended dissertation that must contain a significant amount of original work and be a significant addition to knowledge. There may also be some course work required, especially in the USA. A Ph.D. usually takes at least four years (there is a minimum time requirement in most universities of perhaps three years) and some take up to around ten years to obtain. You either pass or fail; there are no grades. Entry is often, but not always, restricted to those with a Masters or at least a first class Honours degree. Most academics have a doctorate or are studying for one. In many disciplines they need to obtain their Ph.D. to get employment.

Some very few scientists are awarded an even higher degree called a Doctor of Science. This significant honour is awarded as a result of their published work and the name they have earned in their field and does not require any examination.

For most people, the first degree is sufficient. To an extent it is used by employers as a sort of sieve, through which the brighter and better people have gone, and thereby demonstrated that they are very employable. For a few of the better jobs, notably the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, an Honours degree is usually, although not inevitably, required. Few employers seem to take much notice of post graduate degrees, except for teaching in higher education, research and development jobs, and some posts in science and technology. In the more extreme cases in private industry and commerce, a higher qualification might even count against you. This attitude is not generally popular among academics, who often value education for its own sake, but surveys have shown it exists. With a steady drift upward over time in the qualifications deemed necessary for any particular job, it is possible that the negative attitude of some employers will eventually change.

MOTIVATION, TIME USE AND SELF-ORGANIZATION

`Nothing puzzles me more than time and space.' (Charles Lamb, Letter to Thomas Manning, 2 Jan. 1810).

A strong motivation is really needed to learn and succeed at anything. Recall you were earlier advised to think carefully about your purpose in coming to university. This was suggested to assist you to strengthen and develop your motivation and to help you to organise yourself in the most beneficial way.

Think about why you want to be here and keep remembering what main aim you are trying to achieve and why this is important to you. It will help you to learn and succeed generally. It just might also help you to buckle down and read your notes or the textbook when you should do this but are tempted to go out, or watch TV. Mental work is hard and the mind is very clever at throwing up feelings and suggestions to you so that it can avoid working, especially going through the agony of thought. It might, for example, suggest that making coffee and talking would be nice, or a beer, or ringing up a friend.... The brain is clever at devising such ruses to avoid work. A strong motivation can help to keep you studying and succeeding.

Note that worry and pressure are not in themselves bad things. They can cause you to work harder and concentrate more and hence can be beneficial. The trick is to make use of them as a positive thing and harness them to work for you in this way. Too much worry and pressure can be bad, and cause you to mope about or get depressed, rather than study harder or longer. If you are unlucky enough to find this fits you, first try to harness them to work for you. If this does not work, you can talk to the people in the medical centre or seek spiritual help from some religious person. Yoga is often beneficial in reducing stress, as is meditation. When you are stressed out, whatever helps you to reduce your stress level is good, be it a hard game of squash or bush-walking one day a week.

Oganisation and self discipline are both needed. If you have not developed these capacities before - start to do it now! With all the free time at your disposal you will often face a choice between work and play - choose work whenever you can. Forcing yourself to start is often the hardest part - once you are in to the reading and note-taking or whatever, it tends to seem interesting, rewarding and generally worthwhile. It is easy to sit around thinking `I should be working' but not actually doing so. Should you notice that you are falling into this habit, then do something at once. You can just open your textbook at the place you last marked, or read over your last lecture notes to get yourself going. Naturally if you have an assignment due shortly, then that is more likely to be a profitable thing to work on. The fear of deadlines can be put to good use.

You need to make lists and draw up a personal timetable to allocate your time in the most productive way. I suggest you make a standard weekly timetable, divided into seven days, and then into hours. As we work on the half-hour, you will find it more useful to make it on the half hour, e.g., 8.30 - 9.30 a.m. is better than 8 - 9 a.m.. Fill this in, with the set time for lectures, workshops and tutorials you must go to, perhaps on one colour, and what topic or subject you will study in the blanks, in a different colour. Run it into the evenings and weekends too, as these are prime study time. At the start, allocate equal time per subject and only adjust this when you need, e.g., if you find you are falling behind in one subject you should increase your time allocation to it. This will help to prevent you from spending most of your time on the subject you like the best and ignoring your weaker subjects. If your scheduled study and learning time, including lectures etc., does not add up to at least 40 hours a week, you are probably not working hard enough. Many people in business work longer than this.

As part of time allocation, have a good look at the assessment weighting system. There was a time when your final results depended entirely upon your examination results. People then studied old examination papers and `spotted' topics, allocating more time to those areas that appeared more often on the exam papers. These days many universities have a system of continuous assessment plus examinations. The weighting of each part of your work should affect your choice of where to place emphasis. If one semester essay is worth half the total marks, it makes sense to put more effort into that essay; some advocate putting about half your effort into the essay in such a case. Likewise, if `participation' is given a high weighting in seminar performance by non paper givers, then it pays you to read the material even more carefully beforehand, think of questions and develop your views, then express them at the seminar. You should be doing work along those lines in any case, of course, if you want to develop yourself and gain as much as possible from your three years' attendance.

Carry your timetable always - photocopy it and put a copy in front of your loose-leaf binder for your daily notes. Refer to it constantly as a check on where you are supposed to be and what you are supposed to be doing. In addition, you can make a separate list of things to do each day, including lectures to attend, appointments to keep and people to see. If you make this long and thin, you can fold it and easily carry it about in an accessible pocket. You should do this and refer to it often. As soon as you have finished a task, such as attending a lecture, make sure you cross it off and enjoy the feeling of satisfaction this should give you. This crossing off and gaining enjoyment practice can help to increase your motivation to work and to both start and finish tasks. Most managers and many academics do this as a basic way of surviving the day. Be prepared to put up with a bit of gentle teasing at first, as less-organised people are sometimes inclined to jeer at those doing a better job. This may be because it is easier for them than changing their poor habits and working harder, or they may unconsciously hope to reduce you to their level that means they can carry on not trying quite so hard. It is best to ignore any such behaviour and put on a quiet smile.

You may find a personal diary useful, or else a calendar, with dates clearly marked for assignments due, when to start writing them. You might find the bank at the university or some other institution gives away a free calendar that you can use. An annual plan of what you have to do and when can help you to organise better, so that you have adequate reading and writing times for projects, semester essays and the like. Making such a plan is also useful after you graduate and start work, as many jobs require predetermined tasks to be achieved at certain times over the year. Familiarity with making and working with an annual plan may come in useful later. It also gives you something to discuss at interviews if there is a seasonal rhythm to the post for which you are applying.

Note that the University schedules `student vacations' rather than `holidays'. The vacation time not only allows you to relax, it also provides time for reading and study. You should use at least part of the vacation for such things and it might help to make a rough timetable for the way you will use the vacation.

It is your own responsibility to organise yourself and your life - what you study, when you study it, how you study and so on. You should be flexible in this and be prepared to redo your timetable or schedule in the light of experience. Do not just drop scheduling yourself completely, but alter the schedule itself if it proves unsatisfactory.

FRIENDS AND SUPPORT GROUPS

You will become a member of several different groups, such as one or more social ones, perhaps a political one, as well as more formal university ones such as tutorials and workshops. It is often useful to get together with a few students you like and form a small study group to discuss the topic covered in the lecture, or the contents of an article or book chapter. This could be very informal and individual members might meet when convenient, or it could have a regular meeting, say after the lectures. Aim first to ascertain what the main points were, then you might go on to analyse and discuss them. The group size is up to you but between two to six people might work well; try it and see. If you find one other person works well for you, try to get and retain a `study buddy' - although you might find it useful to have one or two different ones, e.g., one for language, one for history and so forth.

It may help to keep the whole thing quite informal, but you will probably find it works better if you have a group leader for each session. It is a good idea to rotate the leadership for several reasons. This means everyone gets a turn and learns something about group dynamics, leadership and the like, which is a skill that employers like to see. It might make a small entry on your curriculum vitae (resumé) or you might usefully drop it in at the interview. It also stops one person dominating too much, which bores everyone else, so that the group starts to disintegrate. In addition, it exposes each member to the possibility of a different management/leadership style that is a useful learning experience. The group leader should have a rough `agenda' which should not frighten everyone off. It is merely a list of what the group might do and perhaps an idea of how to do it. Some things are better done by groups than individuals, e.g., searching one or more libraries for information about a large topic; `brainstorming' or tossing ideas about concerning what matters, what is involved, how a topic can be approached, how important different components of the question are; or going over the days lectures and examining and explaining the contents out loud to the group.

One thing to remember is that cooperation gains you more in group work than does competition. If you share an idea with the group, having to explain it makes you much more confident about it, and you will find it easier to remember in the future. You do not lose because the group gains access. You will however gain as you hear about their ideas. You might even find you have to modify, or maybe abandon the idea, if good comments and criticisms are made. Group work is not `a zero sum game' that is to say, there is no fixed total to be shared out, so that if one person gets more, another must get less. Group work expands the game, so that each individual can get more of an enlarged total sum of knowledge.

When working with one study buddy, you could read the same section of the text book, or journal article, note it, then meet and from memory tell each other the main points of the passage. Then check your notes and tell each other again. Modify your notes if you missed something important when you read the passage. Take a coffee break and tell each other again. Then swap criticisms and comments that you felt about the passage, see if it relates to some other part of the subject or to some other subject even. Write down whatever you get from this bull session and file it away properly. You will certainly know a lot more about the topic as a result of all this and you should also remember much of it easily later on.

Note that if you come straight from school with a few others you will find you are automatically part of a social group. It might be the nucleus of a study group, but you might find that there are more compatible people at university for this. Not everyone from school will be as interested in the different parts of the subject as you are. The choice of study group members is a personal thing and it is up to you to decide with whom you can best discuss intellectual matters. The ready-made group from school is often useful to help you settle in and not feel lonely. You should not automatically accept that you must stay with that one set of friends however; there are many other interesting people to meet at university and you should take advantage of the opportunity.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT

You may never encounter sexual harassment, and if so you have no problems. You may however become a victim of it. You, like any other human being, are likely to receive sexual approaches now and then, indeed the human species continues as a result of this. If someone approaches you and you are not interested, you should say no and make it clear you mean it. This whole area is currently one of confusion and difficult interpretation, but in my view someone suggesting once that you are handsome, beautiful or sexy and making it clear that they would like to sleep with you is not harassment. It is merely an approach. Harassment is more serious and usually involves repetition, although a continuation of an unwanted approach, after you have indicated no interest, may also constitute harassment. If an approach is accompanied by threats of some kind, it definitely is harassment. Similarly, sexual innuendo, smutty jokes, or demeaning comments mostly, some believe always, constitute harassment. If you are physically patted, pinched or touched you may also be being harassed, and probably are.

Such behaviour is unacceptable and you need not put up with it. After saying `no' or making it clear that you find such jokes or behaviour offensive, if the offender does not stop his or her unwanted approaches, you can get help. In every Faculty there is a member of staff, known as a Sexual Harassment Contact Officer, whose job it is to listen and advise. There should be a list of names on a board, but is you cannot find it, then ask in the Faculty Office for the name of the person who can advise you about sexual harassment and go and see them. If you are concerned but unsure if you are being harassed, then it is wise to see the designated person and at least discuss the issue and get some advice. Remember that it is not only females that can be harassed, nor will the harasser necessarily be a member of the opposite sex.