Stream for Distance Students announced

Move over Facebook, there’s a new sheriff in town

The Distance Executive, M@D, has unveiled plans for a Distance Stream page, expected to launch in two weeks.  

M@D Co-Presidents, Jacalyn Clare and Jax Watt, say that the site is “invaluable” for the Executive, as it allows them to connect with students who don’t use social media. “This will have the ability to access 15,000 students,” Jacalyn says. “It’s huge, it’s expanding our reach more than in any way before.”  

The idea has been in the pipeline since the start of this year, although some of the process had already been initiated by the previous president. With guidance from the Stream team at Massey, the Executive started work on the community Stream site last month.  

The co-presidents say they’ve “set up a list of forums that offer not only a student chat room but spaces for some of the many subcultures that exist within the Massey Distance student community,” such as different spaces for distance Rainbow, Pasifika and Māori students within the site. The site will also hold information about M@D, with an archive of meeting minutes and a copy of their current constitution. Just in case you’re ever really bored, I suppose?  

There will be several databases, including ones where students can add links to online upskilling courses, or tools to help them with postgraduate writing and data collection. Alongside this, there will be an undergrad space and student wellbeing space, as well as a “fun corner of the Stream site” where students can share Spotify or YouTube playlists.  

Jacalyn and Jax say, “We often feel like distance students are the invisible majority of Massey University, we very much hope this space will help distance students that we have not been able to reach before. We want them to have the opportunity to learn about our scholarships and apply for them, run in our elections, and give wider input on our student consultation. The wide reach of Stream will hopefully do that.” 

The site still needs some work before it can be fully unveiled to the public, hence the wait of two weeks. “We’re hauling ass to get this out by the end of April,” Jax says. Comparing the current site to a state of undress, she says, “If we show people what it looks like now, it will be an embarrassment.”