ACPET: Ridiculously useless
Dear Student,
ACPET must advise that after a long investigation of Meridian records provided to us we have been unable to locate all student transcripts.
This means that if you have not:
a. Received an academic transcript by post by end of March 2010
b. Received an academic transcript by email by end of March 2010
c. Been advised by your new college that they have an academic transcript in your name then your transcript is not obtainable through ACPET.
As we are not a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and do not have academic records to verify your studies at Meridian we cannot issue new transcripts.
If you require further assistance with transcripts you will need to contact the state accreditation and regulatory body.
For Victoria:
VRQA: Tel: (03) 9637 2806 or http://www.vrqa.vic.gov.au/contact.htm
Kind regards,
ACPET Team
www.acpet.edu.au PO Box 551, East Melbourne. VIC 8002
E: meridian.mel@acpet.edu.au Fax. 61 3 9416 1895
Creating futures
For other information regarding this closure please visit the ACPET website. The ACPET website will be updated regularly.
Hi. I really hope you (and everyone else stumbling upon) read this: Following the arrival of this e-mail, I sent them a lenthly reply wondering about my chances of ever being relocated, or if, eventually, I’d get an e-mail like this one telling me they were sorry, but they could not do anything for me. They replied (5 days later) with an “Oh, it seems you didn’t receive our latest e-mail (dated March 19) which they “re-sent” and I now paste here:
“Firstly, we would like to apologise for the delay in arranging relocation to a new college for you. The large number of Meridian students has meant that it has taken a lot of time to find places for all students affected by the closure.
Unfortunately we have found that we are unable to place you with another ACPET member college in this State to complete your studies. This means that TAFE may be the best option for students to continue their studies. For options and more detail please see the TAFE Courses Directory.
http://www.tafe.vic.gov.au/tafecourses/default.htm
It is important that you feel confident with your choice of study so please ensure you check with providers before enrolling and speak with them about Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for units already completed at Meridian.
Therefore, if you were owed fees for tuition not received at Meridian we believe your best option would be to contact the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) fund. The Fund Manager makes all the decisions about refunds independent of ACPET. They will investigate if a refund is possible for the part of the course you paid for and did not receive training. This will give you the freedom to make better decisions about your continuing study.
The ESOS fund can be contacted on:
esosmailbox@deewr.gov.au
Please note: Refunds are not guaranteed and the Fund Manager will determine the refund amount according to the individual situation. The first priority of the Fund Manager, if applying for a refund, is to place the student in a suitable alternative course.
If you are not owed fees by the Meridian group for tuition not received you are free to pursue options regarding your study as noted above.
Once again, thank you for your patience and we wish you the best of luck with your continuing studies.”
In other words, “we’re sorry but you are in your own now.” In other, more infuriating words, “Now, 5 months after IDS’s closure awaiting with crossed arms, you are free to do by yourself what we repeteadly disencouraged from doing all this time.” And that’s it! They give me no other information or documentation on how to even prove I spent 18 months of my life in that institution, as, unsurprisingly, I don’t even have academic records!
I notice you didn’t post this e-mail so I assume you never got it either, and I have to wonder if any other ex-students got it, or they are still awaiting patiently for them to fullfill a single one of the promises they made to us 5 months ago.
Hi Edgar, I was beginning to think I was the only one who felt the need to say something. I’ve been really busy with finding another school and adjusting to a new environment yet again so this blog has taken a backseat.
And no, I didn’t get that email because I already told them I didn’t need their assistance. I had $5,000 of tuition fees, I actually paid that a few weeks before the college collapsed. If only I wasn’t a big stickler for rules and policies.
Anyway I’m curious to know how you’re doing. I’ll update this blog with an entry about how I’ve gotten on so far sometime this week.
Hey! They finally answered me. They assure me that rather than being “on my own”, I’m now in hands of a superior authority, the DEEWR. Apparently (their prior communication didn’t make this clear) they will help me even if I have no monies to be returned to me. I have just sent an e-mail to them, I’ll update here once I get reason from them. Also, feel free to contact me directly to my e-mail address if you need to know anything else.
Thanks.