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Due to start university on Wednesday and still no timetable!?

I am going into first year of my course and I have rang up several times to ask about timetables but the course co-ordinator says they still haven't been written, is this normal for universities or is this just really bad organisation?

I need to know because my boss is holding shifts for me in work, I can't accept them until I know my timetable and he says he can't hold them after today so if I don't accept them others will be offered them.

Also this isn't a one off for the university, a friend of mine said last year she missed out on a job because they were so late with timetables. Is this normal for a university or is there anything I can do? I can't afford to not work but every time I phone up I get the same answer "Sorry they aren't written yet, there's nothing I can do"

Reply 1

Noodlzzz

I didn't get mine until first day of induction after freshers.

Be patient :smile:

Reply 2

EllainKahlo

Most people I know of got there's on the first day of induction.

Reply 3

student2312

Original post by Noodlzzz

I didn't get mine until first day of induction after freshers.

Be patient :smile:

I wouldn't mind being patient except I can't afford to miss out on work because I waasn't able to tell them what days and hours I can do

Reply 4

tinkerbell_xxx

I get a provisional version of mine at least a week before I start

Reply 5

student2312

Original post by tinkerbell_xxx

I get a provisional version of mine at least a week before I start

That would suit me fine if I had a rough idea of what days I might not be in or around what time I should finish by but they literally have nothing.
Would asking last years first years for their timetable be any help or is mine likely to be really different?

Reply 6

tinkerbell_xxx

Original post by student2312

You could try but they may have changed the timetable completely or changed certain modules. It may give you a rough idea to get least secure some shifts :smile:

I definitely don't think its normal to not have the timetable sorted yet.

Reply 7

domonict

Timetables cannot be sorted until modules are signed up for, staff availability checked,and room bookings co-ordinated with the entire university.
It isn't rare.

You signed up to university full time, and can work on your free time. They don't expect to have to work around student other jobs.

Reply 8

cherryred90s

Original post by student2312

I have my lecture timetable but not yet received a timetable for seminars

Reply 9

student2312

Original post by domonict

I'm not expecting them to work around my job, id like them to be organised so I can work my job around university.

I genuinely cannot afford to attend university unless I work, they told me a while ago the timetable would be ready before we started and last week they told me they should be ready at the end of that day.

Reply 10

lyrical_lie

I didn't receive mine, back many moons, until I went to induction lectures. As the first week wasn't real classes it was just getting to know what law was like. Then with seminars we signed up to the ones we could attend each term.

Reply 11

Comeback

Email your head of department for a provisional timetable now?

There will be parts of some days where no one doing your subject have lectures/seminars.

Reply 12

Klix88

Beware that timetables aren't fixed, either. You might have a lecture, for example, on a Tuesday morning for the first three weeks, then it could switch to a Friday afternoon later in the term. Your boss might have to be more flexible about your shifts. It's always difficult trying to fit uni round a job, rather than a job round uni.

In my first term, we didn't get access to the timetable until the day before the first day of teaching, after Induction Week. Even then, it was altered several times through the term. Checking the online version two or three times a week was the only way to know where you were supposed to be and when.

Reply 13

GoingToBurst

I had 5 different provisional timetables this semester, in the space of two weeks. A provisional timetable will be absolutely useless for arranging work round. Like a previous poster said, you signed up for uni full time and are expected to be available usually 8am-6pm Monday-Friday. Only AFTER you get your timetable should you be trying to arrange work shifts. I know it isn't fair and it's difficult etc, but unless your job is strictly evenings or strictly weekends, you may have to reconsider it.