JCU NEW ARRIVALS SETTLE IN TO PARADISE
LAST RESORT: Beth Maudsley, Kerry Liney and Sandra Rom should be living on campus at James Cook University, but yesterday they were hitting the beach. The international students have been transferred to Trinity Beach for the first few days of university life while their on-campus accommodation at Smithfield is finished.
HUNDREDS of new James Cook University students are being placed in temporary accommodation as builders rush to finish the campus’ $40 million 300-bed UniLodge facility.
The new on-campus building was expected to be opened last week, in time for new students to move in before Oweek which starts today.
An email obtained by the Cairns Post was sent to students on Friday telling them “that there has been a delay in completion of the student accommodation building due to the inclement weather impacting construction progress.”
“When you arrive, instead of checking into JCU’s student accommodation you will be checking into a hotel... in Trinity Beach, a suburb next to JCU,” the email read.
Cairns Student Lodge general manager Hamish Allardice said parents of students moving from interstate were distraught having to leave their teenagers at an unfamiliar location.
“I had parents with a son from out of state come to see me because they didn’t know where to go,” he said.
“They had came all this way to settle their student in and weren’t able to.”
He said the obvious choice would have been to put the students into the lodge, a fiveminute walk from campus.
“We all know these things happen with new buildings, but it’s about how we treat the students. They have to come first in these situations,” he said.
A James Cook University spokesman said the university was “putting the fishing touches to the building”.
“With some work still to be done, a decision’s been made to provide alternative accommodation for students until the work is completed,” he said.
“We are taking every effort to minimise the students’ inconvenience. We have organised alternative accommodation that is close to the campus, and buses will be provided so they can travel to and from the campus.”
A couple of students who transferred from Dundee University in Scotland to JCU spent yesterday making the most of the accommodation mix-up on Trinity Beach.
Forensic anthropology student Kerry Liney said the university had given displaced boarders a gift pack to apologise for the delay.
She and anatomical science student Beth Maudsley were staying at On The Beach Holiday Apartments in Trinity Beach until work was finished.
“It’s been really cool, actually,” she said. “It’s kind of like a holiday before uni starts.
“They’ve organised shuttle buses and transport for us all from our accommodation directly to the uni.”
Ms Maudsley was eager to get into her new home.
“Being an international student, you want to be as settled in and comfortable making your own little space instead of living out of a suitcase,” she said. “It will be really nice to get into the dorms.”