Dear All
I spent 20 years at the human rights abusing Glasgow University pottering about the place.
So, I am well versed in the university myth of their supposed superiority which sometimes is quite lacking.
The latest problem to hit the troubled campus managed by the corrupt foreigner Anton Muscatelli is the bright shiny new £14 million “self-enrolment” service has allegedly fallen on its arse.
Launched this year at ‘the bay’ probably to much self congratulation, it is said to have left this year’s admissions system in chaos.
This is according to some staff and students.
What would Glasgow University be without poor management?
Better!
The numbers of students calling the University of Glasgow’s helpline to complain about glitches in the IT system is said to run into thousands.
Students are unable to register for degree courses.
The new campus software, titled ‘MyCampus’, (how wonderfully original) was introduced this year to allow students to enrol and select course options.
This new idea was to save money, £500,000 annually from the budget and phase out the dedicated adviser of studies team.
The university has been under fire for some time for implementing controversial cuts seen as detrimental to students.
Patently Muscatelli and his senior management crew didn’t realise that some things are better being done by hand!
University Staff speaking out say the MyCampus system is beset with technical problems.
I remember my friend who was a lecturer telling me he built a lazer around £250,000 that didn’t work.
At the time, it didn’t have much effect on me as I was well used to nothing working right, if you wanted something done best to do it yourself and save the hassle.
Especially down at the Stevenson Building, the University sports facility.
Now, students will see the registration process not being completed until the end of the first term in December.
Common complaints from students include students being told that compulsory classes are full or being enrolled for the wrong degree.
You know, if the staff who spy on me had taken my advice and download Hi-Tech Creations, Aces High; they could have been flying around in virtual reality staying out of trouble.
And it would be cheaper.
In classic, ‘it doesn’t work, forget the system’, students are being advised by some university tutors to ignore the system and simply turn up at the correct classes for their degree course.
The upgrade to MyCampus was installed to replace the existing in-house system, called WebSURF.
However, the UCU lecturers’ union believes WebSURF was more effective and has described the new system as “cumbersome, frustrating and unreliable”.
How embarrassing for corrupt foreigner Anton Muscatelli, another part of the university mirroring their ‘justice’ system.
Course advisers at the University of Glasgow say the introduction of MyCampus has increased their workload; worried students have inundated them with queries.
The university defence is that the system has already been adopted by Cambridge, Queen’s University Belfast and Derby University.
As I have previous opined, at Glasgow University, there is a habit of copying other people’s ideas from elsewhere.
The software is part of the Student Lifecycle Project, which I previously blogged on before as the new white elephant on campus.
George Laird was right again.
20 years at Glasgow University watching how these people operate.
One student tweeted:
“I can’t enrol in anything so I missed my first philosophy lecture which I signed up for on paper.”
Another said:
“Most of the links were dead, so I just gave up.”
A spokesman for the Glasgow branch of the UCU and adviser of studies, said:
“It’s not really fit for purpose at the present time. The people getting it in the neck are the teaching staff. It has created a tremendous amount of extra work, particularly for course advisers. We have been fire-fighting for the last week or so … I don’t think we will have everyone enrolled until the end of the first term. It has worked better for new students, but there are problems with continuing students where there is a lot of data to be transferred. It is a lot of cash but it’s not just the capital costs. The university has put a tremendous amount of staff resources into this.”
Reminds me of the Critchon College the University of Glasgow decided to take education to the masses in Dumfries.
That ran into trouble too.
Yours sincerely
George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University
“I can’t enrol in anything so I missed my first philosophy lecture which I signed up for on paper.”
ReplyDeleteShe should have been philosophical about it and watched some paint drying instead.