Notre Dame Australia

So ND Australia has officially opened its office… about 50m around the corner from my house. Seriously, it’s like the Fates have decreed that I should always live within easy distance of a Notre Dame campus. It still blows my mind that they’re here. The office even has pictures of students frollicking in front of the Golden Dome. It’s weird.

Anyway, after a fatty-boom-batty (but oh so delicious) breakfast at Una’s this morning, we stopped in at the ND office to have a peek. We were greeted by a nice Australian lady named Susannah. I explained that I was an actual US Notre Dame graduate and that I lived in the neighbourhood. She gave us some details on their progress – everything’s in place for a February 2006 semester start; Father Beauchamp is in town helping out; etc. I asked nonchalantly if there were any employment opportunities available. “Oh, are you interested in lecturing?” she asked. EEK! She actually gave me the contact information for the Dean of the Arts College so I could talk to him about it. While I was chatting to her, the Snook was looking over some of the brochures and information sheets they had available. “Holy crap,” he said. “You have to see the tuition costs.” Expecting something comparable to the US tuition (which is astronomical), I picked up the sheet only to see a full-time yearly cost of $5000. That’s Australian dollars. Plus degrees here only last three years, so for a full Notre Dame degree you’re looking at approximately $11,400 US. HOW INSANE IS THAT? It’s only slightly more than you’d pay at a public university in Australia. Since it’s private, students are not eligible for HECS, but there is a government loan scheme that all students can get. (Me: “You mean they don’t care how much money your parents make? They don’t make you jump through hoops and sign your life away? You don’t have to pay any of it back until you’re making $36,000 a year?”) So now I’m actually thinking about… maybe going back to school. Currently the only postgrad course they have is a Masters of Education, but they’re planning to add more. Plus they have a BA in Communication, specializing in computers and the internet. How sweet would that be? I just don’t know if they’d let me do it though, given that I already have a BA. (Can you do more than one?) My head is whirling right now.

(Oh, and note to Amy: They’re currently accepting Expressions of Interest for employment opportunities in the new Library…)