Who's Going To Uni?

[olliethedug]

1 hour ago, Richey Edwards said:

I am actually terrible apparently. 

I’ll take a guess that you’re not if you’ve made it this far! If your mentor is telling you that then get you PT involved cos they will back you up. I’m sure you’re not this bad, but a lassie in my year fucked up a med round and gave 3 patients the wrong meds on each of the 3 med rounds. The ward wanted to fail her, even though your mentor has to countersign , and the uni told them to get a grip and that wasn’t happening.  So UWS will back you up. 

[RH33]

14 hours ago, Richey Edwards said:

I am actually terrible apparently. 

You're infinitely better than the fully qualified RMN who, while I was having a complete BPD meltdown that she had no idea how to handle, sent my friend in who was just there to drop off PJ's and pants!

You're nearly there, you've a wealth of experience and often those who are long in tooth just resent students. I had it in my first teaching placement where I thought I was shite and only one three of us to pass!

[scottsdad]

One of our recently-joined colleagues suggested that we apply for accreditation from an organisation based in Asia, suggesting that this might boost our student recruitment from there. Maybe bring in 10 students a year. So I enquired. 

They replied, stating that we'd have to apply and all the paperwork (lots and lots of it) required. Fair enough. At the end they just added in that they'd need a visit to us early next year, a fee of £10k for the visit, and we pay their flights, accommodation and meals for the duration of the visit. 

Not quite sure how best to tell them to get tae..

[BFTD]

4 hours ago, scottsdad said:

One of our recently-joined colleagues suggested that we apply for accreditation from an organisation based in Asia, suggesting that this might boost our student recruitment from there. Maybe bring in 10 students a year. So I enquired. 

They replied, stating that we'd have to apply and all the paperwork (lots and lots of it) required. Fair enough. At the end they just added in that they'd need a visit to us early next year, a fee of £10k for the visit, and we pay their flights, accommodation and meals for the duration of the visit. 

Not quite sure how best to tell them to get tae..

TBF, it's not like you work at one of Scotland's most respected educational establishments or anything.

Maybe you're operating out of a cupboard under the stairs. Can't blame them for wanting to check.

[scottsdad]

6 minutes ago, BFTD said:

TBF, it's not like you work at one of Scotland's most respected educational establishments or anything.

Maybe you're operating out of a cupboard under the stairs. Can't blame them for wanting to check.

I'm in the wrong game. 

Pay me 10 grand, fly me half way around the world and pay for all my meals etc. And at the end of it, if I like you, I'll give you a nice big certificate with a gold stamp on it. 

[Suspect Device]

That's my grades in. Pretty quick turnaround from the markers for a change. 82% for Film and Visual Culture and a 'disappointing' 68% for politics.

At least I know where I went wrong in the F&VC. The feedback of politics was pretty vague. Just gave the same schtick to all the papers who got a B. Lazy b*****d markers.

Quote

Those that received a B (17-15) were very good, but lacked a little of the analysis that would have given them an A. There was clear understanding of the concepts and arguments of the articles, but this tended to be presented a little more simply ('Article A says this, article B says this, here's how they are similar, here is how they are different'). There were attempts to draw comparisons between the articles, but this didn't quite extend to using one to critique the other. These assignments tended to stick very closely with the suggested structure but did not quite demonstrate the same levels of analysis as the A graded papers.

 

[scottsdad]

11 hours ago, Suspect Device said:

Lazy b*****d markers.

 

I once took over a course...300 students all submitting 3000 word essays. That's almost a million words to read. And about 4 weeks to do it (as well as the rest of the job).

The feedback was utterly generic. Some students grumbled, some wanted an essay back on their submissions. 

[Central Belt Caley]

50 minutes ago, scottsdad said:

I once took over a course...300 students all submitting 3000 word essays. That's almost a million words to read. And about 4 weeks to do it (as well as the rest of the job).

The feedback was utterly generic. Some students grumbled, some wanted an essay back on their submissions. 

For courses of that size do you not typically get TA’s or folk doing PhD’s helping out with marking? 

[DA Baracus]

Exam season, meaning in my role I've been busy (thankfully I'm not in assessment, although have helped out a bit like everyone else in the office).

Anyway, some stuff coming out from students that is often heartbreaking and infuriating, because if we knew of them when they happened we could have helped.

There's still a stigma from students about getting help, especially in the school (in a university) I work in, as many think it will 'go against' them.

It absolutely won't and it's actually very common for students, of all courses, to need help. It's never anything to be ashamed of and it's never anything that will be held against students, for two main reasons. The first reason is that any support is absolutely confidential and doesn't get shared with folk. The second is that it never would be held against anyone anyway.

Anyway, our work seems to be doing OK cos this year we've helped more students than before and are doing more things in terms of raising awareness. We're steadily eroding the barriers and stigmas and are finding that more and more younger people are becoming more comfortable with acknowledging problems/issues and seeking help.

Also, with exams comes certain things and an excellent presentation that a smashing young man* put together last year appears to be of increasing use this year, even if some students may not have heeded all of it (although probably through desperation).

 

*It was

me

 

Edited May 18 by DA Baracus

[EvilScotsman]

13 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

Exam season, meaning in my role I've been busy (thankfully I'm not in assessment, although have helped out a bit like everyone else in the office).

Anyway, some stuff coming out from students that is often heartbreaking and infuriating, because if we knew of them when they happened we could have helped.

There's still a stigma from students about getting help, especially in the school (in a university) I work in, as many think it will 'go against' them.

It absolutely won't and it's actually very common for students, of all courses, to need help. It's never anything to be ashamed of and it's never anything that will be held against students, for two main reasons. The first reason is that any support is absolutely confidential and doesn't get shared with folk. The second is that it never would be held against anyone anyway.

Anyway, our work seems to be doing OK cos this year we've helped more students than before and are doing more things in terms of raising awareness. We're steadily eroding the barriers and stigmas and are finding that more and more younger people are becoming more comfortable with acknowledging problems/issues and seeking help.

Also, with exams comes certain things and an excellent presentation that a smashing young man* put together last year appears to be of increasing use this year, even if some students may not have heeded all of it (although probably through desperation).

 

*It was

  Reveal hidden contents

me

 

 

If you don't mind my asking, is your service a central University one or is it devolved to Faculty / School / Department level?

Ours is centralised, and has just been eviscerated by a restructure which has led to the departure of several staff with decades of combined experience of supporting student.

[DA Baracus]

22 minutes ago, EvilScotsman said:

If you don't mind my asking, is your service a central University one or is it devolved to Faculty / School / Department level?

Ours is centralised, and has just been eviscerated by a restructure which has led to the departure of several staff with decades of combined experience of supporting student.

School level.

[Suspect Device]

1 hour ago, EvilScotsman said:

If you don't mind my asking, is your service a central University one or is it devolved to Faculty / School / Department level?

Ours is centralised, and has just been eviscerated by a restructure which has led to the departure of several staff with decades of combined experience of supporting student.

That story is going to be repeated a lot. 

Both RGU and Aberdeen up here are struggling with the loss of international students and are cutting costs. Same story for most I think. Poor planning coupled with the UK government's hostile environment on immigration.

Edited May 19 by Suspect Device

[BFTD]

Where I'm studying, there's been a lot of mutterings about cutbacks due to the loss of international students. Twelve staff down to four, more to follow over the summer, and they're all worried that the whole department will just be shut down.

This isn't a flower arranging course that I'm on; it's a core subject area that the UK is massively short of staff in. I'm shit at it, but I've no worries about getting a job even if I'm still a total clusterfuck. Yet educational resources are slowly being shut down. Normal Island thread for this, I suppose.

[scottsdad]

22 hours ago, Central Belt Caley said:

For courses of that size do you not typically get TA’s or folk doing PhD’s helping out with marking? 

Often makes work, you end up remarking what they give.

One guy I had gave out grades ranging from 5 to 25% only. Another never gave anyone less than 75%.

[scottsdad]

22 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

Exam season, meaning in my role I've been busy (thankfully I'm not in assessment, although have helped out a bit like everyone else in the office).

Anyway, some stuff coming out from students that is often heartbreaking and infuriating, because if we knew of them when they happened we could have helped.

There's still a stigma from students about getting help, especially in the school (in a university) I work in, as many think it will 'go against' them.

It absolutely won't and it's actually very common for students, of all courses, to need help. It's never anything to be ashamed of and it's never anything that will be held against students, for two main reasons. The first reason is that any support is absolutely confidential and doesn't get shared with folk. The second is that it never would be held against anyone anyway.

Anyway, our work seems to be doing OK cos this year we've helped more students than before and are doing more things in terms of raising awareness. We're steadily eroding the barriers and stigmas and are finding that more and more younger people are becoming more comfortable with acknowledging problems/issues and seeking help.

Also, with exams comes certain things and an excellent presentation that a smashing young man* put together last year appears to be of increasing use this year, even if some students may not have heeded all of it (although probably through desperation).

 

*It was

  Reveal hidden contents

me

 

 

There is a whole part of my job I don't talk about much on here, on student wellbeing. I am happy to talk about petty annoyances elsewhere, but this is an increasing part of the job.

I utterly echo what you say. In my 11 years in the job I have known 3 students in my School who took their own lives. I went to the funeral of one. Student wellbeing is utterly central to what we do. 

[scottsdad]

Re-elected to the Senate for a second 3-year term. 

We have term limits  so I can't stand again after this. 

Spoiler

 

[Richey Edwards]

11 minutes ago, scottsdad said:

Re-elected to the Senate for a second 3-year term. 

We have term limits  so I can't stand again after this. 

  Hide contents

 

[Florentine_Pogen]

43 minutes ago, scottsdad said:

Re-elected to the Senate for a second 3-year term. 

We have term limits  so I can't stand again after this. 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

As Steve Earle said, "There'll be no more FDR's......"

[mathematics]

With the Scottish Government clawing back funding for universities who didn’t fulfil their (pluck a number) quota, we’re likely to see degree courses close across the country with the concomitant targeted redundancies. Perfect, if you’re getting close to that 55-65 age bracket. Shite if you’re early to mid career.

Of course, those degree courses are more likely to be science and engineering, as opposed to basket weaving, flower arranging, and navel gazing.

[vikingTON]

2 hours ago, mathematics said:

With the Scottish Government clawing back funding for universities who didn’t fulfil their (pluck a number) quota, we’re likely to see degree courses close across the country with the concomitant targeted redundancies. Perfect, if you’re getting close to that 55-65 age bracket. Shite if you’re early to mid career.

Of course, those degree courses are more likely to be science and engineering, as opposed to basket weaving, flower arranging, and navel gazing.

Aye because funding and investment hasn't been chucked at anything even plausibly 'STEM' adjacent at all over the past few decades. A bizarre rant tbh. 

Meanwhile, the unis appear to be 'resolving' this issue by  handing out unconditional offers like polo mints for next year's courses.

Edited May 26 by vikingTON