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University ups and downs

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  • Thats great to hear Phil, best of luck x
  • melancholly
    melancholly Posts: 7,457 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I already explained my experiences with post grad tutors. I also mentioned that i had good experiences and that i wasn't saying every post grad was bad. But as far as i'm concerned, the majority of my experiences have been not very good at all. For a post grad to teach a very specialist subject and be unable to answer any of the students questions and fill the lecture with 40mins of repetitious video clips, to me, is unacceptable.

    Melancholly - in repsponse to your answer to what i said previously, and i know you said it wasn't to be taken personally, my opinion is from the perspective of someone who does well on her course. I don't find it easy but i read books, i ask questions and i utilize the university services and staff as best as possible. However, judging from last semester, the results of my uni's teaching is starting to show. I am in my 3rd yr, so very important as everything counts towards my 4th yr. It has now become apparent that very little people are turning up to some lectures as there are some lecturers who read verbatim off there slides, not expanding on any of it. Furthermore, his notes have been paraphrased from books. We are now resorting to printing off the notes and using our time more wisely by not going to these lectures. Considering there are only 40 people in my year, i think it is very worrying when only a handful turn up. Infact, they now try to registers to ensure we turn up. And believe me, we all speak up about this and make our concerns known to the staff so it isn't from lack of trying on our part. Our education system is highly under-funded and under resourced. It is unfair on both students and staff.

    I would also like to make it clear that i'm not complaining or expecting it all to change for me because as i said before i am pleased with my progress. However, i still don't feel it is satisfactory and for those that are struggling more than me it must be hellish.
    if i had to pay the full fees now, i would expect more too - it's just that the expectations of students and lecturers are so different..... people are paying more, and there are more students, but lecturers aren't seeing any of the money, but have more work to do....... it doesn't help students having a tough time, but you can see how easy it is to get jaded with the whole situation.

    'bad' lecturers may be drawing in lots of grant money to a department, so their value is enormous, even though students won't see it.
    i guess i don't see that the system will change easily, so it's about doing all the individual things you can to make it better for you. if anyone's watched the tv show with gerry robinson trying to fix the nhs, that's how it often feels working in academia.... now bring me a brick wall to bang my head against!! ;)
    :happyhear
  • studentphil
    studentphil Posts: 37,640 Forumite
    Melancholly, they can afford to get Sandwiches in for everyone on the first day of term. So you work it out how much food for 100 ish people is, I guess a good few 100 quid.

    So they clearly are not so broke to be able to do stuff like that.
    :beer:
  • melancholly
    melancholly Posts: 7,457 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Melancholly, they can afford to get Sandwiches in for everyone on the first day of term. So you work it out how much food for 100 ish people is, I guess a good few 100 quid.

    So they clearly are not so broke to be able to do stuff like that.
    ah, but that will come out of a different budget - welcome to accounting in any major organisation!
    :happyhear
  • studentphil
    studentphil Posts: 37,640 Forumite
    ah, but that will come out of a different budget - welcome to accounting in any major organisation!

    I know that but if they were so broke for research funds then they would not waste money on some food that no one really liked.

    I know that assumes it is not ring fenced for dinner buying.
    :beer:
  • melancholly
    melancholly Posts: 7,457 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    I know that but if they were so broke for research funds then they would not waste money on some food that no one really liked.

    I know that assumes it is not ring fenced for dinner buying.
    every penny in uni money is usually ring fenced. and 'social' budgets are often approved on a yearly basis - i.e. they know they have £1000 for undergrad events for the next year. research money has to pay for staff, space, equipment (at the most basic a computer), participants or access to information, travel to conferences to present the work and lots more - and that needs to be a committment over a number of years. even if you added up all the sandwiches in the university over a year, that would do maybe one researcher (and only an RA salary at that!) - and which department would get it?
    :happyhear
  • Melancholly, they can afford to get Sandwiches in for everyone on the first day of term. So you work it out how much food for 100 ish people is, I guess a good few 100 quid.

    So they clearly are not so broke to be able to do stuff like that.

    Good grief ... a student criticising free food .... what is the world coming to.
    Touch my food ... Feel my fork!
  • studentphil
    studentphil Posts: 37,640 Forumite
    every penny in uni money is usually ring fenced. and 'social' budgets are often approved on a yearly basis - i.e. they know they have £1000 for undergrad events for the next year. research money has to pay for staff, space, equipment (at the most basic a computer), participants or access to information, travel to conferences to present the work and lots more - and that needs to be a committment over a number of years. even if you added up all the sandwiches in the university over a year, that would do maybe one researcher (and only an RA salary at that!) - and which department would get it?

    Every penny makes a pound though. It is the uni's own committees that decide to waste money on stuff like dinners. So they are a bit to blame, admittedly in a small way, for being short of money.
    :beer:
  • studentphil
    studentphil Posts: 37,640 Forumite
    In Arts there are no RAs, there are no computers, no technology at all, so sciences must get a good share of funding on the research front as Arts don't seem to getting special as it were.
    :beer:
  • melancholly
    melancholly Posts: 7,457 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    let's cut everything that 'wastes' money then.... providing handouts (photocopying), maintaining websites with information on (pay IT staff), computers for use of students (a lot have their own), prospectuses, looking after the grounds (gardeners), security, cleaners, acconutants, secretaries, subsidised food in canteens, student union buildings (rent out to private sector), subsided student housing, parking attendants, receptionists, archives and people to look after them, libraries, science labs, engineering equipment, bodies for medical students to practice anatomy, careers advisors, maintenance engineers for day to day problems, help desk staff, estates managers, student services buildings and advisors, counselling services, the chapalincy, sports facilities, sports instructors, invidgilators for exams, external examiners, etc etc etc.


    a university is not about a few lecturers and some rooms. it runs all year round without 3 month summer holidays. you have a very naive view about what it costs to run a university and the amount of staff required for you do to your degree....... open your eyes a little - all the opportunities you get at university are amazing...... and most of the money the uni spends is not on research so people need external funding sources - if the university had to pay for all research it would not be finanically viable.
    :happyhear
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