5 November 2004 Regional Education Started Frances on Road to Degree While Still at School

Some places call it "continuing education", at others it's known as "extra-mural study", Lincoln University's name for its part-time, off-campus study programme is "Regional Education" and since its start in 1997 it has been the road to success and fulfilment for many people from a wide range of backgrounds.

Frances Mountier who earlier this year was a 16-year-old Year 13 student at Christchurch's Hillmorton High School, is one example. It gave her the opportunity to expand her passions for the environment and social issues by starting university study while still at school.

Frances discovered that the Regional Education programme at New Zealand's "environmental university", Lincoln, allows capable secondary students to enrol in university papers and complete them in parallel with their school studies.

Through Regional Education Frances enrolled in the paper Perspectives on the Environment for Semester One this year and she took to it so well that she achieved an A+ pass in the final exam.

Then in April she attended Lincoln University's inspirational and award-winning EnviroSchool and that settled it, she decided to quit school and start work straight away on a Bachelor of Environmental Management (BEM) degree.

It was a bold move but Frances had always been a confident student. She had contributed greatly to Hillmorton High School during her years there. She was the student representative on the board of trustees, wrote for the school newspaper and was a keen soccer player.

The decision was also helped by a family familiarity with Lincoln University. Frances' father is a Lincoln alumnus with an engineering degree and her grandfather, Neil Mountier, was a staff member at Lincoln for over 20 years, retiring as Director of its Centre for Computing and Biometrics.

After EnviroSchool and the outstanding First Semester exam result Frances enrolled in two papers for Lincoln University's Second Semester, which has just finished, and she is now awaiting exam results.

Although her life has taken a rapid and dramatic turn in 2004 – from high school classroom to university lecture theatre – from NCEA to BEM – she knows she is now on the pathway to a career qualification in the area she's passionate about.

As with Frances, Lincoln University's Regional Education Programme has been the starting point to fulfilment for many, including other secondary school students, those in business and the professions wanting to upgrade their qualifications, those wanting qualifications for a career change and others simply interested in university study for its own sake.

The programme is designed to help you earn a selection of papers towards a university qualification without having to leave where you live or work.

With its self-study modules, and regular contact with learning coordinators either through weekly study groups or teleconferencing, the approach offers an ideal combination of flexibility and guidance.

The papers studied under Regional Education – part-time and off-campus – are the same as those studied by fulltime students on campus and they build towards degrees.

For further details about Regional Education through Lincoln University contact the Regional Education Degree Programme Manager Dr Lynette Hardie Wills on (03) 3252811 ext. 8177, or visit www.lincoln.ac.nz/regional

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand