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Student Welfare

This year for the first time, the university is offering a full range of welfare services, each of which is staffed by specialist officers.

Early attempts to initiate some services were first made in 1944 when a health Service was briefly introduced. This was unable to be maintained in the immediate post-war years. In 1951 Mr. W. H. Landreth was appointed as Physical Welfare Officer, and it was only during the last three years that the other services described here were introduced permanently. However, the Students' Association had previously been offering some assistance in finding accommodation and casual vacation employment.

All the welfare services are free of charge, and students are strongly advised to use them fully. There is an inevitable overlap between some of the services, but any of the officers can easily refer a student to another person should this he necessary.

The Accommodation Service is housed in the Student Union. Up-to-date lists of landlords, addresses and details of student accommodation are available from Mrs Brown, the Accommodation Officer. Many of the addresses have been visited by Mrs Brown or previous Accommodation Officers to ensure that the facilities are adequate for healthy living and study.

Although many students write to the Accommodation Service before coming to Wellington for lists of addresses, the service continues throughout the year for persons wishing to change their accommodation. There are still some vacancies on record now.

Appointments Board.

The main function of the Appointments Board is to provide advice and information on careers. Although final year students are more vitally concerned with their career, freshers should feel free to call on the Secretary, Mr Mitchell, to discuss suitable courses for a particular career.

An important aspect of the service is to help students to obtain vacation positions which provide useful experience. Those interested should register with the Secretary early in the year.

Some general information on careers and vacation jobs is displayed on the noticeboard on the first floor of the Student Union and on noticeboards in other university buildings. At present the Board office is at 43 Salamanca Road (first house on the right past the Gladstone Terrace entrance to Weir House), but the Board will soon be moving to premises closer to the centre of the university. Details of this change will be posted on appropriate noticeboards.

In the second term Salient publishes a Careers Supplement which contains information provided by a number of employers. This issue presents a good cross-section of positions available to graduates. A further, more detailed, article on the Board will appear in an issue of Salient later in the term.