Another results day, another IT horror show

Firstly, I speak on behalf on everyone at the Tab in hoping all students have been left feeling contented by the results they received last week. It is not an easy time for anyone involved. None more so than those responsible for the distribution of the results, apparently.

As the dust settles, many Liverpool students do not only have a fresh batch of results to reflect on, but a fresh experience of déjà vu as a faulty Liverpool Life and the distribution of incorrect results made for yet another chaotic results day.

As stated this is not the first time the current system of distribution has proven severely flawed.

The university managed to attract national attention when it took cocking-up to an unprecedented new level in allocating results to the wrong students in the summer of 2013.

The chaos of last summer

Of course mistakes do happen, even in leading academic institutions, but with the embarrassment of last summer in mind surely even the thought of future errors would have been unacceptable for those at the top of the university ladder?

A second year student vented their anger on Twitter;

“Uni made an error on my results & I’ve had 4 emails today apologising because of it. Great service, definitely worth the £9000 I’m spending”.

The obvious chaos and confusion aside, such incompetence can also have very serious effects that cannot go ignored.

If in the delicate position of needing a particular mark for a required grade or future opportunity, an avoidable error on behalf of university staff can become emotional torture and understandably so.

Results day angst

These errors and their repercussions are absolutely needless and now inexcusable.

If the sheer volume of results is too demanding for the current technology, invest in an update.

If we have the funds to build entire halls, refurbish the Guild and allow pay rises for university leaders then I see no reason why we shouldn’t devote funding to improving the system of results publication. It is a pretty crucial system, after all.

If human error is to blame, train the humans.

Mistakes are natural, but with the significance of results day and the fragility of student emotions in mind I don’t think it would be unreasonable to expect flawless performance from those tasked with running the process.

The university needs to take further action

Results day isn’t just a test of technological systems in place; it is a measure of the university’s capacity to care for its students. Rarely will a student require the understanding and empathy of their university more than in the days leading up to and on results day itself.

Just opening the dreaded email is a nerve-wracking event without an inaccessible website or a completely irrelevant set of results to deal with.

With this in mind, I ask the university to treat this re-occurring matter with the time and focus required to ensure disaster doesn’t strike again.

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