Lincoln students left ‘disappointed’ as the university faces continued admin issues

The university has faced multiple problems on the first week back for students as the new systems in charge of attendance, enrolment and timetables have all been displaying inaccurate or no information. The issue has affected every year from first years to those doing a Master’s.

Attendance has been at the forefront of the problem with many students being unable to log their attendance at sessions despite turning up and being given the relevant code. The new system put in place this summer means students need to be on the university’s WiFi to register. This was done to prevent students sharing the codes to their course mates who were not in the session as you now have to be on campus to connect.

This change of systems however has had some teething issues with many students finding they have no sessions available to enter the attendance code into when logging in, meaning they are noted as being absent. The university has sent out numerous emails about attendance and is urging students to keep trying to put in the codes given as the new system continues to update itself. Students are expected to tell their lecturers if they can’t log their attendance so they can pass on the message to the School Office.

An email sent to students outlining what to do if they have attendance issues

Some are also experiencing difficulties with their modules on the Blackboard system used at Lincoln. There have been certain modules missing on Blackboard or none available at all. This is due to the new system that students were using to enrol called One Uni not completing the process and leaving students without vital information for their course. Students need to access the important material on Blackboard that lecturers put there including assessment briefs, power points and exercises that are used in workshops.

The University of Lincoln are aware of the issues and concerns and have set up an enrolment suite on the first floor of Minerva Building with staff on hand to help get students fully enrolled.

Timetables are also proving to be a problem for students as they are seeing classes that clash, lectures changing rooms or their sessions changing times when they log on to the timetable system on Blackboard. Some have even had their timetables update just before or during a session leaving them in the wrong room or showing up at the wrong time.

The releasing of timetables was also delayed for returning undergraduate students this year with them being released on the 30th of September, a week later than the original date. This gave students just three days before the semester started. The university sent out an email on the 23rd of September outlining the reasons for the delay. It said the delay was: “to enable the University to resolve some technical issues with the student management system which are currently affecting the accuracy of timetables for returning students prior to release.”

The email sent to students on September 23rd

Many of these issues were unwelcome by students on their first week back as they ended up missing important lectures or having to enter rooms late, something that for some can be seen as an embarrassing experience. Hannah Styring, a 20-year-old Clinical Psychology student at the University of Lincoln said: “I’m a bit disappointed that the year has started off so turbulently already as I’m a third year and I wanted things to start smoothly.”

Hannah Styring was left disappointed with her first week back

A spokesperson for the University of Lincoln responded to the issues and said: “We know all students want to start the new academic year with confidence and we apologise for any difficulties they may have encountered.

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