Born and (mostly) raised in Calgary, Karl has been taking courses on and off at AU since 1999. At one point, he changed his major from Computing Science to Computing Science because the new program requirements fit what he’d already taken better. Since then, he switched to English and graduated (w/Great Distinction he likes to add) proving along the way that it is entirely possible to complete an entire AU course within a three week period. If only he had done this at the beginning of the course instead of in the last extension.
This is not something he advises unless you are desperate, masochistic, or, ideally, both.
He is currently the managing editor of The Voice Magazine, where he tries to put his education to use helping other students as they provide content for The Voice
Labour strife is never welcome. Not by management, not by employees, and certainly not by customers. In the case of AU, those customers are you, the students. That’s why I was exceptionally happy to read that the Athabasca University Faculty Association (AUFA) and AU Board of Governors have come to an agreement in principle. It… Read more »
The Canadian University Press, of which The Voice Magazine is a member, recently shared a statement about the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. I’m presenting that statement here, in its entirety. “This report is about deliberate race, identity and gender-based genocide.” – Marion Buller, Chief Commissioner,… Read more »
Once again, the time for convocation is here. AU students graduate every month of the year, but every year in June many of them all get together to put a final stamp on the work and learning they’ve achieved. This year, students attending convocation will unfortunately not be able to tour the campus grounds, as… Read more »
Just a few minutes ago, on Friday, May 31, 2019, Athabasca University posted an announcement about having to move convocation. Because of the wildfire situation at High Level, Alberta, the Athabasca Multiplex, where AU traditionally holds convocation, could be pressed into service as an emergency station for residents in the area. While this might not… Read more »
This week, I got a sudden lesson in just how much modern technology has us locked in. And because of that, I over-estimated my own ability to overcome a computer failure based on previous failures. All of which is basically my excuse for getting this article and the full PDF up so late. Of course,… Read more »
A few weeks ago, Athabasca sponsored something called the Singularity U Summit, 2019, up in Edmonton, and invited alumni and students to attend. The event was free, but you had to sign up to get access to the video feeds of what was going on at the conference. I did so, and I attended a… Read more »
We almost completely whiffed Mother’s Day this year. As I’m looking through the magazine, it suddenly struck me that we had plenty of easy opportunities to tie this week’s issue to Mother’s Day (which is on Sunday, in case you’d forgotten. You’re welcome). We could have done a feature interview with a student who’s a… Read more »
Surprisingly, even though The Voice Magazine pays for student writing, I don’t get that many students wanting to try their hand at it. Of those who do inquire, one of the most common questions is “What should I write?” I have a stock answer saved in a file that I tweak a bit based on… Read more »
A couple of issues ago, we ran an article about the perils of medical marijuana. Not too long ago, I received a letter concerned about the one sidedness of the article, and was asked the question, “Is this a factual article or an opinion column?” It’s an interesting question and it got me thinking about… Read more »
The election is over; the results, a surprise to almost nobody. Unless you’ve been studiously avoiding major media networks and news programs you have undoubtedly already heard that the United Conservative Party of Alberta won the election, winning a majority of the votes and seats, and limiting opposition seats purely to Edmonton and a few… Read more »