Timetable for mature students
I am a mature student due to start a full time course on the 23rd. I also have a job and will have to reduce my hours in order to accommodate my study.
However I’m baffled by the fact that timetables aren’t issued until right at the last minute. I’ve been trying to get information on when I’ll be required to attend classes for months. I’ve now been informed I will get it a few days after face to face enrolment which will be about 3 days before I start.
I understand the majority of students might be school leavers with fewer responsibilities but what about people with jobs, bills to pay, children they have to arrange childcare for etc?
I’ve reached out to so manage people trying to find out anything and just hit a wall.
My managers at work are understandably getting frustrated as asking to change my contract with 3 days notice is ridiculous. I also work in for the nhs and am unable to book in patients as I can’t say when I’ll be available.
It just seems mad. I know I will have the capacity to work the 15hr I plan to. They uni themselves have said I’ll be in 4 days a week for 2-3 hours. But they don’t seem to take into account that student have lives and responsibilities and need to be able to plan.
I do appreciate organising timetables is a big job, a lot goes into it and things change like people dropping out etc. but 3 days notice? It just seems really rough and not well thought through.
However I’m baffled by the fact that timetables aren’t issued until right at the last minute. I’ve been trying to get information on when I’ll be required to attend classes for months. I’ve now been informed I will get it a few days after face to face enrolment which will be about 3 days before I start.
I understand the majority of students might be school leavers with fewer responsibilities but what about people with jobs, bills to pay, children they have to arrange childcare for etc?
I’ve reached out to so manage people trying to find out anything and just hit a wall.
My managers at work are understandably getting frustrated as asking to change my contract with 3 days notice is ridiculous. I also work in for the nhs and am unable to book in patients as I can’t say when I’ll be available.
It just seems mad. I know I will have the capacity to work the 15hr I plan to. They uni themselves have said I’ll be in 4 days a week for 2-3 hours. But they don’t seem to take into account that student have lives and responsibilities and need to be able to plan.
I do appreciate organising timetables is a big job, a lot goes into it and things change like people dropping out etc. but 3 days notice? It just seems really rough and not well thought through.
Reply 1
Original post
by WaveyCI am a mature student due to start a full time course on the 23rd. I also have a job and will have to reduce my hours in order to accommodate my study.
However I’m baffled by the fact that timetables aren’t issued until right at the last minute. I’ve been trying to get information on when I’ll be required to attend classes for months. I’ve now been informed I will get it a few days after face to face enrolment which will be about 3 days before I start.
I understand the majority of students might be school leavers with fewer responsibilities but what about people with jobs, bills to pay, children they have to arrange childcare for etc?
I’ve reached out to so manage people trying to find out anything and just hit a wall.
My managers at work are understandably getting frustrated as asking to change my contract with 3 days notice is ridiculous. I also work in for the nhs and am unable to book in patients as I can’t say when I’ll be available.
It just seems mad. I know I will have the capacity to work the 15hr I plan to. They uni themselves have said I’ll be in 4 days a week for 2-3 hours. But they don’t seem to take into account that student have lives and responsibilities and need to be able to plan.
I do appreciate organising timetables is a big job, a lot goes into it and things change like people dropping out etc. but 3 days notice? It just seems really rough and not well thought through.
However I’m baffled by the fact that timetables aren’t issued until right at the last minute. I’ve been trying to get information on when I’ll be required to attend classes for months. I’ve now been informed I will get it a few days after face to face enrolment which will be about 3 days before I start.
I understand the majority of students might be school leavers with fewer responsibilities but what about people with jobs, bills to pay, children they have to arrange childcare for etc?
I’ve reached out to so manage people trying to find out anything and just hit a wall.
My managers at work are understandably getting frustrated as asking to change my contract with 3 days notice is ridiculous. I also work in for the nhs and am unable to book in patients as I can’t say when I’ll be available.
It just seems mad. I know I will have the capacity to work the 15hr I plan to. They uni themselves have said I’ll be in 4 days a week for 2-3 hours. But they don’t seem to take into account that student have lives and responsibilities and need to be able to plan.
I do appreciate organising timetables is a big job, a lot goes into it and things change like people dropping out etc. but 3 days notice? It just seems really rough and not well thought through.
I am in exactly the same position and understand completely your feelings and predicament.
Reply 2
Original post
by WaveyCI am a mature student due to start a full time course on the 23rd. I also have a job and will have to reduce my hours in order to accommodate my study.
However I’m baffled by the fact that timetables aren’t issued until right at the last minute. I’ve been trying to get information on when I’ll be required to attend classes for months. I’ve now been informed I will get it a few days after face to face enrolment which will be about 3 days before I start.
I understand the majority of students might be school leavers with fewer responsibilities but what about people with jobs, bills to pay, children they have to arrange childcare for etc?
I’ve reached out to so manage people trying to find out anything and just hit a wall.
My managers at work are understandably getting frustrated as asking to change my contract with 3 days notice is ridiculous. I also work in for the nhs and am unable to book in patients as I can’t say when I’ll be available.
It just seems mad. I know I will have the capacity to work the 15hr I plan to. They uni themselves have said I’ll be in 4 days a week for 2-3 hours. But they don’t seem to take into account that student have lives and responsibilities and need to be able to plan.
I do appreciate organising timetables is a big job, a lot goes into it and things change like people dropping out etc. but 3 days notice? It just seems really rough and not well thought through.
However I’m baffled by the fact that timetables aren’t issued until right at the last minute. I’ve been trying to get information on when I’ll be required to attend classes for months. I’ve now been informed I will get it a few days after face to face enrolment which will be about 3 days before I start.
I understand the majority of students might be school leavers with fewer responsibilities but what about people with jobs, bills to pay, children they have to arrange childcare for etc?
I’ve reached out to so manage people trying to find out anything and just hit a wall.
My managers at work are understandably getting frustrated as asking to change my contract with 3 days notice is ridiculous. I also work in for the nhs and am unable to book in patients as I can’t say when I’ll be available.
It just seems mad. I know I will have the capacity to work the 15hr I plan to. They uni themselves have said I’ll be in 4 days a week for 2-3 hours. But they don’t seem to take into account that student have lives and responsibilities and need to be able to plan.
I do appreciate organising timetables is a big job, a lot goes into it and things change like people dropping out etc. but 3 days notice? It just seems really rough and not well thought through.
Original post
by kjmorgan1970I am in exactly the same position and understand completely your feelings and predicament.
First of all, it's a full time course, so the University can reasonably presume you have 9-5 free each weekday to complete the course.
There are a lot of other factors that affect timetabling, that vary between course and Uni, but one of ht most common is module sizes. Until they know how many people are a) attending and b)sign up for each module, they can't schedule rooms. Specific lectures may require specific IT, but they can't pre-schedule and then find a module with only 3 people signed up to it is in a lecture hall that seats 90 and 30 people are timetabled in a room that seats 20.
So until course numbers are confirmed, and module electives for those courses that have them, the timetable can't be produced. It normally comes out during Freshers week, when at least the number of students per course is known.
If you can get hold of last year's timetable, that is usually a decent indicator, because if that worked, it will be the baseline they work to. But modules and popularity and staff availability changes (and all courses have to co-ordinate for the same resources), so it's no guarantee.
Reply 3
Original post
by WaveyCI am a mature student due to start a full time course on the 23rd. I also have a job and will have to reduce my hours in order to accommodate my study.
However I’m baffled by the fact that timetables aren’t issued until right at the last minute. I’ve been trying to get information on when I’ll be required to attend classes for months. I’ve now been informed I will get it a few days after face to face enrolment which will be about 3 days before I start.
I understand the majority of students might be school leavers with fewer responsibilities but what about people with jobs, bills to pay, children they have to arrange childcare for etc?
I’ve reached out to so manage people trying to find out anything and just hit a wall.
My managers at work are understandably getting frustrated as asking to change my contract with 3 days notice is ridiculous. I also work in for the nhs and am unable to book in patients as I can’t say when I’ll be available.
It just seems mad. I know I will have the capacity to work the 15hr I plan to. They uni themselves have said I’ll be in 4 days a week for 2-3 hours. But they don’t seem to take into account that student have lives and responsibilities and need to be able to plan.
I do appreciate organising timetables is a big job, a lot goes into it and things change like people dropping out etc. but 3 days notice? It just seems really rough and not well thought through.
However I’m baffled by the fact that timetables aren’t issued until right at the last minute. I’ve been trying to get information on when I’ll be required to attend classes for months. I’ve now been informed I will get it a few days after face to face enrolment which will be about 3 days before I start.
I understand the majority of students might be school leavers with fewer responsibilities but what about people with jobs, bills to pay, children they have to arrange childcare for etc?
I’ve reached out to so manage people trying to find out anything and just hit a wall.
My managers at work are understandably getting frustrated as asking to change my contract with 3 days notice is ridiculous. I also work in for the nhs and am unable to book in patients as I can’t say when I’ll be available.
It just seems mad. I know I will have the capacity to work the 15hr I plan to. They uni themselves have said I’ll be in 4 days a week for 2-3 hours. But they don’t seem to take into account that student have lives and responsibilities and need to be able to plan.
I do appreciate organising timetables is a big job, a lot goes into it and things change like people dropping out etc. but 3 days notice? It just seems really rough and not well thought through.
This is very reminiscent of when I applied for my part-time MSc, and I was working full-time in practice. I had already accepted I would need to reduce my hours, but the lack of timetable made it difficult to plan. My employer was becoming impatient as they were looking at it from a resource management perspective. I had wanted to attend a particular institution, but when I finally got the timetable through a couple of weeks before the start date, they had me scheduled to be in three days per week… that was just not feasible for me with my work commitments, taking account of travel time and the fact that was excessive for a part-time student. I ended up going elsewhere.
Now I teach in HE, I have a newfound respect for the efforts that go in to timetabling. It is important to try and remember that it is not just your course which is being mapped out, but each and every course that is offered. There is a lot to consider in terms of avoiding clashes with both staff and student availability, and not to mention being mindful as to not double book rooms. I am an Associate teaching on a few modules and I don’t even have access to my finalised timetable yet. As it has already been said above, this is a very crucial period as student numbers fluctuate which ultimately affects allocations.
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