Students are resorting to bribing their peers to swap modules when they don’t get their first choice. The module enrolment system has come under fire and will be debated at the Union’s forum next week.
In a Better University idea, student Rosie Horton describes the current system as “outdated”, explaining her frustration with the process: “Too many students try to access the portal at the same time and the system crashes, leaving students stressed and often missing out on modules as they spend up to an hour trying to log in.”
A Facebook group for History students includes several offers of “financial reimbursement” in return for a module swap.
Miss Horton is offering a solution to the problem: “I would like our university to revise the system, and split module enrolment into faculties. For example, Modern Languages would enrol on Monday, Politics and Music on Tuesday etc. This would limit the amount of students trying to log on and would hopefully stop the portal crashing.”
A third-year History student told this paper that “History enrolment is nothing short of hell on earth”.
Adding that it was “no surprise” that some of their peers had resorted to paying to get the module they wanted, as they know the importance of enrolling on a subject they have an interest in.
The student explained how History students have a ‘special subject’ module that counts for 1/3 of their degree and normally acts as the basis for their dissertation question, “so getting on the one you want is really important”.
Another told Leeds Student that they had changed their module five times “not to stuff I wanted to do more, but each time with the hope that if I got a better module someone would swap with me.”
Rosie Horton’s Better University Proposal includes a further suggestion of moving the enrolment start time from 9am to 12pm. “As a student in South America I was up at 4am trying to log in. 12pm is a lot more sociable for the students in America/Central and South America and wouldn’t disadvantage students the other side of the timeline, such as Hong Kong or Australia for example.”
Union Affairs Officer, Antony Haddley, also expressed his concern over the issue: “It’s not good enough that nothing has changed about module enrolment after years of complaints. As a result of this, the Exec and I met with senior University staff, including the Vice Chancellor, last week and stressed that changing the system will be one of our top priorities for the year. If this idea passes at Better Uni it will go a long way to helping make that happen.”
The Better University Forum will be held on Thursday October 25.