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
This week, The Voice Magazine is taking on a little more of a literary bent, although we’re still bringing you a decent round-up of the news that affects AU and AUSU, but two stories in particular caught my attention as they came across my desk. The first you’ll find is a bit of flash fiction… Read more »
Mother’s Day is this Sunday. If you waited until after the weekend to read this week’s Voice, I hope it went well for you. I’ll likely be sending a fruit bouquet one again. After all, who doesn’t like a nice selection of ripe fruit, with some of them dipped in chocolate? It’s an easy gift,… Read more »
AUSU has put out their latest services survey. If you haven’t already answered it and you enjoy The Voice Magazine, then you should really take a few moments to fill it out. You could not only win some gift certificates to a store of your choosing (which seems odd, why not just send cash?) but… Read more »
In case you weren’t aware, this last week has been National Organ Donation Awareness Week. Which is why our feature this week is a tale by Barb Godin of the family of an organ donor and the responses it brings. It’s worth remembering, at a time like this, that tragedy isn’t necessarily the final word,… Read more »
One of the things that people at the recent town hall talked about was finding ways for AU to engage and communicate with students. I suggest that making an effort might be a good start. For instance, there will be a second presentation from AU’s Writer in Residence, John Vaillant. If you missed the first… Read more »
Last week, Dr. Neil Fassina, President of Athabasca University held a 90 minute town hall meeting over lunch on Tuesday at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. Students were invited to attend both in person and by teleconference, so I popped by virtually to hear what was being said. The meeting seemed to be well attended,… Read more »
If you’ve been trying to avoid recent news about Mr. Trump’s activities, I don’t blame you, but it may be time to start paying attention again. The reason? Mr. Trump has done something I had previously thought unthinkable. He did something I agree with. On Tuesday, April 4th, there was a release of the nerve-agent… Read more »
This week, we have a couple of new writers who are testing the waters of The Voice Magazine. Sarah Joseph brings us a book review from a new New York writer, and Tara Howse brings us a story that I don’t often see reflected in these pages, but I know happens to many AU students?the… Read more »
There’s a lot of important stuff in this issue. The feature article is the result of attending the various teleconferences and my own interview with Dr. Kenneth Coates, the man leading the third-party review of Athabasca University to help chart a path to sustainability. Longer than I’d typically include (after all, you’ve been studying all… Read more »
As part of the process to help AU determine a route to stability, the Alberta Government required a third-party review be conducted, and hired Dr. Kenneth Coates, public policy professor and the Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation at the University of Saskatchewan, to conduct the review. Dr. Coates was also the Dean of Arts… Read more »