General and Specific Report Exchange with Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand S2302586 February 2015
A General report 1. Host institution and exact dates of semester abroad The Host Institution was Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. I studied abroad during my first semester of the 2014-2015 academic year. The introduction days in Wellington started on the 10 th of July. Victoria University divides the year in trimesters. I was there for trimester 2, which ended on the 16 th of November. 2. Contact with home faculty, preparation and journey The contact with the University of Groningen progressed smoothly. Mrs. Venhuizen and Mrs. Hoving from our exchange office are both really helpful and friendly. Before I applied I was told that I had to make a TOEFL test to prove my proficiency in English. Later however, I discovered that Victoria University does not require this when you can prove that your current degree is in English. This was a bit frustrating since the TOEFL test was quite costly. It is a recommendation for others to sort this out before taking an unnecessary test. I had to hand in my final application at the International Service Desk in the Academy Building because Victoria University is a RUG wide partner. All the other forms (e.g. Marco Polo application, Learning Agreement) had to be handed in at the Student Support desk at my faculty (Economics and Business), which was very convenient. Victoria University can be a bit strict sometimes in whether or not they allow foreign students to follow certain courses. My initial suggestions for courses at Victoria were not accepted by my program director here at RUG, because in his opinion the level of the courses would not be high enough. We agreed on a new learning agreement, but then Victoria University did not want to allow me for one of those courses because they thought that the level would be too high for me. As one can imagine, this can be a bit of a hassle, but eventually everything was okay. The people at Victoria University replied quickly to my emails and were helpful. After I sorted out everything regarding my education abroad, the real preparation began. This was a lot of work, but off course absolutely worth it in the end! I can recommend that future exchange students to Victoria do not purchase an insurance for their time abroad beforehand, because Victoria University is very strict about which insurances they accept (which in practice means that they hardly accept anything, except the one they offer). I would like to add that the insurance they offer is perfectly fine, I needed their services once and the issue was solved quicker and better than any Dutch insurance company could do in my opinion. The whole journey to Wellington took me 48 hours. I could have made my journey shorter, but this was definitely the cheapest option. I flew with China Airlines, which I can surely recommend. I can imagine that people are a bit shocked by the travel time,
but it is really not that bad and again, very worth it! Victoria University offers a pick-up service from the airport, which is very convenient. 3. Residence abroad Arrangements visa, kind of vaccinations and how to prepare the health check I had to send my visa application to London. Actually I was only required to send a proof that I was truly going to study at Victoria University, but I already knew my departure date back then and just to be sure, I included my return flight information in the application. I can recommend you not to do this if they do not require you to. Just try to get the Student Visa for as long as possible, which I believe is half a year. The consequence of sending my flight details with my application was that I got a visa that ended already three days after my return flight date. When you travel your plans change all the time, even when you thought that you were sure about things back home. I ended up postponing my return flight to have some more time in New Zealand. Unfortunately this meant that I had to apply for a new visa while travelling around in New Zealand, because my student visa expired. This is costly and annoying. While I received a visa for until the end of December, fellow exchange students who were there for the same period received one for until the end of January, just because they did not include their flight information (or did not book any flight yet) and applied for a visa for the maximum duration, which was half a year. This is something to keep in mind. No health check or vaccinations are required when you go to New Zealand. You do have to pay attention that you do not take any meat/dairy/farm products in your check-in luggage, and that you clean any hiking/walking boots extensively before you pack them. This sounds funny, but because New Zealand has a very vulnerable eco system, the customs at the airport are death serious about these issues. When your shoes are not clean you have to clean them at the airport, and when I re-entered New Zealand after a holiday to Samoa with four other girls, one of them received a 500 dollar fine because of an undeclared apple in her suitcase (we thought this was a joke at first). Arrival and departure dates I left Amsterdam on the 29 th of June, and arrived in Wellington the 1 st of July. I left New Zealand on the 12 th of January, and arrived in Amsterdam the 14 th. Accommodation I arranged to stay at Uni Hall. I lived in a two storey house with six Americans, a Canadian, a Spaniard and one girl from New Zealand. Uni Hall makes an effort to find out what kind of person you are, and places you together with people they think match with your personality. When you stay in Uni Hall accommodation, you do not have to worry about purchasing furniture, linen, etc. The nicest thing about living in Uni Hall is the
social contacts you get from it. Uni Hall organizes a lot of nice events, and when I look back I can say that I met almost all my friends in Wellington through these events. Almost all Uni Hall students were international students. When you prefer to live with Kiwi s you could also look for a room in the city centre, which is possibly cheaper. Personally, I can really recommend living in Uni Hall. The house I lived in belonged to the Te Kotahinga group. I can also recommend living in Wai-te-ata. Although the houses are a bit less beautiful, Wai-te-ata it is like a small village full of international students who all get along with each other and walk into each other s apartments for a chat and a cup of coffee. I was a bit surprised that none of the other reports mentioned anything about Stafford house. I would not recommend living there. I almost choose it because of its city centre location, close to the economics and business campus. In Wellington I became friends with a girl who lived there and she did not like it at all. It is really strict (e.g. no visitors after 11 p.m.), more expensive and definitely less social. Unless that is the kind of place you re after I would not recommend choosing Stafford. Reception and introduction It was very nice to be picked up from the airport by another Victoria University student. I stayed in a hostel in the city the first six days because I could not move in my Uni Hall house yet. If I could do this over again, I would have travelled around during these days or spend some time in one of the transfer cities during my flight. The introduction days were well organized. The first day consisted of organizing many practical issues, the second and third were more about getting to know fellow students and some of the leisure facilities and clubs Victoria offers. Everything was easy to find and Kiwi s (how New Zealanders call themselves) are usually very helpful and friendly. Student life, culture and leisure Wellington is a great student city. It is not enormously big, which makes it easy to feel at home right away. It has a lot of cute café s and fun bars, almost too many to try them all within half a year! New Zealand and Wellington are both very safe. Of course you have to use your common sense, but I felt much safer than in the Netherlands. Neither I nor my fellow exchange students encountered any issues related to safety while studying in Wellington or travelling around New Zealand. I even hitchhiked around the country together with two friends, something I would never do back home. The University has a Recreational Centre which is a lot similar to the ACLO, where you can work out cheaply. Wellington also offers many free work outs, especially when you live up the hill in Kelburn where the main campus and the international student houses are. Biking is no option with the hills so you will have to walk a lot, through wind and rain sometimes (Wellington s nickname is Windy Welly for a reason). I think my calve muscles doubled in size while I was abroad. Victoria University has a club for almost every kind of sport or activity, these are also accessible for exchange students.
Wellington is really centrally located. The ferry to the South Island departs multiple times a day from the harbor, and Wellington also is an ideal base to discover the North Island. I went on multiple weekend trips with other exchange students, we just hired at car and drove somewhere. These trips always were a lot of fun! New Zealand really gets the sporty, active, outdoors person out of everyone. Before I left the Netherlands I would never have expected that I would go on a 125km mountain bike tour, jump out of a plane or go on a five day hike, these adventures resulted in the best memories. In the spring break I even went to the pacific island of Samoa, which was a reasonably priced, four hour flight from New Zealand. Language English is the main language being spoken in New Zealand. You will also see some Mãori translations here and there. 4. Grant Amount I received 400 euro to cover my travel expenses, and 100 euro s per month I was in New Zealand. Information on the adequacy of the grant Of course I am really thankful that I received this amount of money from the Marco Polo fund, although it obviously is not enough to cover all the expenses. The whole amount together will not even get you a flight ticket. Overall information about expenses abroad (living, food, travelling, vaccinations etc.) New Zealand is certainly not the cheapest destination one can choose to study abroad. The flight ticket ( 1250), the rent (about 550 a month) and the visa ( 145) are all large expenses. Also the living expenses in New Zealand are higher, like grocery shopping and going out. It is a recommendation to buy fruit and vegetables at the weekly Sunday farmers market, this will save you quite some money. When you are thinking about going to New Zealand but are really doubting this because of financial worries, you should remember that you are together with 150 other international students who do not have unlimited money to spend either. Together you will surely find ways to lively more cheaply. We were always pre-partying in the student houses before going to town to save some money on drinks, and potlucks (dinner parties where every guest brings a dish) also were a cheap and fun alternative to dining out. Wednesday was student night in town when drinks often were half priced, and on other weekdays it was possible to find dinner deals where you only had to pay about 5 for a meal.
A plus is that travelling around New Zealand is reasonably priced. During the weekends we often split up in small groups to fit in a car, so that everyone ended up paying only a few euro s for the car and the fuel. Especially outside the high season, it is very doable to travel around New Zealand on a lower budget. Also domestic flights, or even flights to Australia/the pacific islands can be quite cheap. 5. Study (general) Introduction, general advice, etc. Victoria University is a very well organized university where everything is easy to find. A lot of things are quite similar to RUG. Victoria also uses Blackboard as an online portal for its students, which is very convenient. At Victoria students enjoy the freedom to select their own courses. Therefore it is really important to check whether there is no overlap in your lecture hours. Luckily it is very easy to find the timetables for every course on Victoria s website. In my opinion the level of the courses at Victoria is a bit lower than RUG, but the workload in terms of assignments is definitely higher. For my four courses together I had to give one presentation, hand in eleven assignments and make three final exams. For a RUG student this might sound like a lot, as we do not get to do as many assignments back home. From fellow RUG students that visited other destinations that I will not mention here, I heard that they basically enjoyed a semester long holiday during their exchange because the level was very, very low. If this is what you are looking for Victoria is not the place to go, but you should not worry too much either. When you do not encounter problems in passing your courses at RUG, you will definitely manage to pass your courses at Victoria (with good grades). Dates of beginning and end of lecture series and examination period The lecture period started the 14 th of July and consisted out of 12 weeks. The end date of the lecture period was the 19 th of October, which also marked the start of the examination period. The examination period finished on the 16 th of November. With the next RUG semester starting again the first week of February, this is perfect because this gives you plenty of time to discover all that New Zealand has to offer. November is also the period that the weather in New Zealand starts to become very pleasant, so even more perfect. We also had two weeks of from the 25 th of August until the 7 th of September. Remarks on the organization of the study program I found the study program was well organized. I did not experience any problems related to the organization of courses. The structure of the academic year is a bit different at Victoria. Instead of the semesters and blocks RUG students are familiar with, they work with trimesters (two main trimesters of 12 weeks each, and one summer
trimester). In practice this means that instead of two exam periods during every half year, there is only one main exam period. After the lectures had started and the enrollment deadline had expired, I decided that I still wanted to change one of my courses. The lecturers at Victoria are all very approachable, many have open office hours but do not mind if you step into their office outside these times. The lecturer of the course I wanted to enter after the enrollment deadline was very understanding and without further problems she enrolled me in the course afterwards. The teachers are also reasonably fast with correcting assignments/exams. While some of my fellow students at RUG were still waiting for their grades two months after their exchange ended, I received my grades way before I left New Zealand. Study facilities/ International Office abroad The student facilities at Victoria University are excellent. The people at the International Office were very friendly and helpful. I forgot to get my Statement of Host Institution signed. When I was back in the Netherlands already, I emailed them with the question to please sign it, scan it and mail it back to me. I did not expect that they would reply to my email the next day with the form signed and all. Furthermore, the main campus (Kelburn campus) is a nice place to study (they have a great library and silence rooms) or to grab a coffee with friends and enjoy the sunshine on one of the many terraces. The economics and business campus (Pipitea campus) is less attractive, but is conveniently located in the city centre. Both locations have an oncampus bookshop (Vicbooks), where you can buy all you course books. Vicbooks has buy-back arrangements for many books, so you do not have to worry about selling your books when you are leaving the country. Summary of subjects taken I took four courses at Victoria. Two accounting courses: Advanced Financial Accounting (ACCY 308) and Advanced Management Accounting (ACCY 302). Furthermore, I took Retail Marketing (MARK 320) and Negotiation Across Borders (IBUS 309). All these courses were third year bachelor courses. 6. Other relevant info you want to share with our future exchange students University Hall (the accommodation organization) and Victoria University both organize many activities for international students to get to know the University, New Zealand, Wellington and most importantly: each other. I would recommend future exchange students at Victoria to attend as many of these events as possible, as they are a fun and easy way to meet other (international) students. Furthermore, Victoria has a buddy program which matches you to a kiwi student or another international. This person is there for you when you have any questions, but will also join you for a drink in town.
7. Summary impression of the study period abroad My semester in New Zealand has been a life changing experience for sure. I made so many memories together with the other internationals. You develop very deep friendships in such a period. I think I could travel around the world and have a place to stay in many countries at one of my new friends, which is of course amazing. Telegraph UK named New Zealand the best country in the world, I could not agree more. The friendly people, the incredible nature and the country in general have stolen my heart. This trip was absolutely unforgettable and definitely worth every euro and bit of planning effort. I can recommend everyone to choose New Zealand as a place to study abroad, and even more to go abroad in the first place. I have experienced and learned things that I would never have had if I had stayed in the Netherlands for my minor. B. Specific report 1. host institution and study period The host institution was Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. The study period started on the 14 th of July and ended on the 16 th of November. The courses I took were advanced management accounting, advanced financial accounting, retail marketing and negotiation across borders. 2. Lectures and literature Advanced Management Accounting (ACCY 302) For this course there were two lectures a week of 50 minutes each, so 24 in total. Furthermore, there were eight tutorials of 50 minutes each. The compulsory reading was: Hunt, C., Fowler, C. and Drennan, L. Strategic Decision-Making, Performance Management and Risk in Management Accounting, 2nd edition, Pearson Education New Zealand. The number of pages was around 350. Advanced Financial Accounting(ACCY 308) For this course there were two lectures a week of 50 minutes each, so 24 in total. Furthermore, there were eight tutorials of 50 minutes each. The compulsory reading was: Picker, R et al (2013) Applying International Financial Reporting Standards, 3rd Edition, Wiley. The number of pages was around 550. Negotiation across borders (IBUS 309) This course consisted out of one compulsory lecture session a week, that was variably two or three hours long. There were also guest lectures by the head of the US embassy in New Zealand, an employee of a Chinese trade company and an international business professor. The compulsory reading consisted out of several academic articles on the different course topics.
Retail marketing (MARK 320) For this course there was a two hour lecture every week. In addition, we had a tutorial every other week, so six in total. The compulsory reading for this course was: Berman, Barry and Joel R. Evans (2013), Retail Management: A Strategic Approach: An International Edition (12 ed.), Pearson Australia. The number of pages was around 400. 3. Overview of lecture program Advanced Management Accounting (ACCY 302) We had to read the assigned chapters in advance before every lecture, and prepare the tutorial questions before every tutorial. In this course we also had to hand in three compulsory assignments in the form of an advisory report. Furthermore, there were two mid-term tests. Advanced Financial Accounting (ACCY 308) Every week a different accounting topic was covered, and we were expected to read the assigned pages and prepare the selected exercises before every lecture and tutorial respectively. Negotiation across borders (IBUS 309) The structure of this course was a bit different then what I am used to. It is a lot about active participation and experiential learning, which made this course very interesting and refreshing. All the reading of academic articles developed my skills in filtering out useful information. Retail marketing (MARK 320) We had to prepare for the lectures and tutorials by reading the assigned chapters. The lectures and tutorials included in-class discussions, exercises and group activities. 4. Contents Summary of each subject Advanced Management Accounting (ACCY 302) This course provides an in-depth analysis of selected topics in cost and management accounting. The course objectives of this course were: 1) Evaluate an organization s strategy and associated risks using a strategy-based value chain and examine the linkages to and between strategy, processes and activities 2) Explain the importance of strategic decision-making and the resulting implications for an organization at the strategic, process and activity level. 3) Evaluate divisionalization options, alternative transfer pricing systems, and performance management systems. 4) Discuss supplier and customer value and the management accounting implications of supplier and customer linkages.
5) Examine the management accounting contribution to the management of quality and sustainability Advanced Financial Accounting(ACCY 308) The topics this course covered were: Current issues in financial accounting and reporting; alternative measurement bases from accounting and economics; the traditional framework of financial statements and other means of reporting. The course objectives were: 1) Explain how the nature of different reporting entities affects the financial reporting by those entities 2) Assess the implications of recent developments in external reporting in respect of both business and the wider context of society (including harmonization and corporate social responsibility) 3) Describe the applications and implications of various financial reporting standards in complex environments 4) Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the current financial reporting requirements for particular entities, transactions and events against underlying concepts of accounting 5) Develop new approaches to at least one circumstance where a weakness has been identified in the current reporting requirements. Negotiation across borders (IBUS 309) Negotiation theory and cultural value theories provide the theoretical framework in this course. Experiential learning of negotiation practices and cross-cultural adaptation are used to develop skills for international business negotiations. The course requirements were: 1) Analyze negotiations by applying an understanding of the negotiation process and negotiation theory. 2) Apply the main theories of culture to analyze how culture influences the negotiation process and perceptions of issues. 3) Practice more effective negotiation by creating negotiation plans; selecting the appropriate strategy; analyzing the needs/ interests of the negotiating parties, maximizing leverage through use of appropriate tactics; and analyzing the macro and micro negotiation environment. 4) Demonstrate and explain how negotiation reputation is established. Retail marketing (MARK 320) The course examines the nature and scope of marketing in the retail environment, explores the physical and online retail space, and focuses on the planning and implementation of retail marketing programs. The course objectives were: 1) Discuss the unique nature and scope of marketing in the retail environment
2) Identify and understand the key success factors that should be considered when developing retail marketing programs. 3) Critically evaluate challenges facing retail marketing professionals 4) Develop a retail marketing strategy and prepare a strategic marketing plan. 5. Lecture-related activities Advanced Management Accounting (ACCY 302) Every tutorial consisted of case study that related to the lecture subject of that week. Three of these cases we had to hand in as an assignment, in the form of a report. The two midterm tests were about the material that we had covered so far. In the end there was a final exam about the entire scope of material. Advanced Financial Accounting(ACCY 308) For this course we had to make an assignment about lease accounting, a mid trimester test about the first half of the material, and an essay about the relevance and faithful representation of accounting information. In the end there was a final examination on all the material presented in the course. Negotiation across borders (IBUS 309) For this course we had to write four assignments. One of 1000 words on negotiation planning, analysis and feedback, one of 2500 words on a real world negotiation, an essay about the influence of culture on negotiation tactics and behavior (3500 words), and we had to keep a reflective log book of 3000 words. Retail marketing (MARK 320) For this course we had to give an individual presentation about an academic article that related to the topic of that week. Furthermore, we had to hand in one assignment about the retail servicescape. The second assignment consisted of setting up a retail marketing plan for a New Zealand based store. In the end there was a final exam about all the presented material. 6. Relevance to Groningen study program Advanced Management Accounting (ACCY 302) I followed the course Management Accounting in Groningen and choose this course as an extension to what I had previously learned. The topics covered in this course were new to me and therefore I think this course was very relevant to my study program in Groningen. Advanced Financial Accounting(ACCY 308) I followed the course Financial Accounting in Groningen. This course was an extension to this course is the sense that it covered topics we did not cover in my financial accounting course in Groningen, or we covered concepts that I only had an introduction to in Groningen more deeply.
Negotiation across borders (IBUS 309) I think this international business course contains several elements that are taught in some of the International Business courses. I learned a lot from this course, we were in a mixed class of about 40 students, with approximately 20 internationals and 20 kiwi s. With the provided theoretical framework as a basis, we were stimulated to discover the effect that culture has on negotiation behavior. Retail marketing (MARK 320) Retail marketing is also a course offered at RUG, I think it could be comparable to that course. I think this course was relevant for my program in Groningen because I am a business economics student and I currently follow courses in the fields of economics, marketing, finance and international business. 7. Study load Advanced Management Accounting (ACCY 302) The expected workload of this course is as follows: on average, 10 hours a week making a total of 150 hours. These 150 hours is comprised of 32 hours of lectures and tutorials; background reading for lectures - 36 hrs; tutorial and case study preparation - 47 hrs; and review of material for the two tests and examination - 35 hrs. Advanced Financial Accounting(ACCY 308) A total of 150 hours work is expected of students in this course. That consists of 32 hours of lectures and tutorials, approximately 7 hours per week during the teaching weeks spent reading, studying and preparing assessment items and a further 34 hours spent on revising during the mid-trimester break and study period. Negotiation across borders (IBUS 309) The workload for this course was about 10 hours a week. 2-3 on lectures, 4-5 on the reading of relevant articles and reviewing what we had been doing in class, 2-3 hours on preparatory meetings with classmates before class and another 2-3 hours for working on individual assignments. Retail marketing (MARK 320) Similar to the other courses, the expected workload of this course was 10 hours per week. This time includes preparing for and attending lectures and tutorials, working on the assignments, and studying for the final examination 8. Assessment in Groningen All the assessments were done by Peter Smid. ECTS obtained: Advanced management accounting: 7.5 Advanced financial accounting: 7.5 Negotiation across borders 7.5 Retail marketing 7.5