treelovinhippie
<this space for rent>
From: University of Wollongong ranked No. 1 for student satisfaction - News & Media @ UOW
Really?
ok, I like UOW, I'm going into my 4th year of a 3 year degree (yeah, a few fails and course change)... it's a great uni to go to in the sense that the environment, the culture, the way of life is very relaxed and inviting. Basically it's a nice place to go to uni rather than having to deal with a bustling city with strict guidelines and stressful environments.
Buuuut, here's what I hate about UOW:
1) The IT infrastructure
--- We have a 500MB download limit per session (1st year I used this in 1 week)
--- We have a 14MB email limit running on an extremely old-school software script
--- The "eLearning" system which is the main software platform to get access to lecture slides and other materials for subjects, is a piece of shit. It is some pre-1999 era, java system that crashes, and is overall a pain in the arse to use
--- First year I lived on-campus (Campus East), and to get Internet access I had to pay $25 for 500MB of download (run-out, buy more) or on a per hour basis... since they were running through an ISP called Chariot which had/has a monopoly over the on-campus net access. That year I must have spent over $1000 for simple Net access
2) The staff
--- I haven't had too much contact with faculty staff, but when I have, I've always felt the full effect of the "business". They don't care about individuals within the university system. They only care about getting the numbers to run the subjects, to pay the professors, and to push the students through the system out the other end with a piece of paper ready for some company to pick them up and have them work to reach upper-middle management.
My degree is a Bach of Business Administration. I was doing Computer Engineering and Commerce before but since my goal is to become an entrepreneur I wanted to do an all-round degree in business. I went to the Dean of Commerce and was basically told my decision was stupid, that I should specialise and something about 10 years down the track I will regret my decision. Fat prick of a Dean he was. 10 years down the track he'll have heart disease
--- I have had a few professors who see through the university system and actually want to teach and excel students, not just regurgitate the facts in the textbook.
3) The business/commerce degree
--- Out-dated, not for me
--- Both the Bach of business admin and Bach of commerce are the same here: they appear to be structured to train a mindless workforce for those wanting to get jobs at most in upper-middle management in large firms... that is not education people, that is modern-day enslavement
--- The perfect example of the degree being out-dated is the mandatory 2 subjects worth of manual accounting. Yeah, the type of accounting not even accountants have used since the computer was invented. Yes it is nice to know the core basics of accounting, but not 2 subjects worth, and especially when I'm not planning to become an accountant. If I'm thinking of issuing shares or going public with a company, I'm going to employ a f$%king accountant to do that.
--- No entrepreneurship degree??! WTF is that. And they only have 1 entrepreneurship subject which I did as an elective. Um, entrepreneurship is the foundation and core of business. Oh no, that's right, they're only training people for upper-middle management.
4) The "Course Handbook"
--- Students are spending $900+ per subject and the best we can find out about a subject before studying it is the title and a one paragraph description full of ambiguities.
--- e.g. find a subject, have a read: Course Handbook @ UOW
5) Parking
--- Don't bother. If you live within an hour walk/ride you may as well ditch the car, parking spaces are a rarity
6) Clubs and societies
--- ... are all too politicised and "formal" to actually work
That's about all I can think of right now.
Anyone else at UOW have these issues?
Or is this more a symptom of the entire university structure around Australia?
cheers
Really?
ok, I like UOW, I'm going into my 4th year of a 3 year degree (yeah, a few fails and course change)... it's a great uni to go to in the sense that the environment, the culture, the way of life is very relaxed and inviting. Basically it's a nice place to go to uni rather than having to deal with a bustling city with strict guidelines and stressful environments.
Buuuut, here's what I hate about UOW:
1) The IT infrastructure
--- We have a 500MB download limit per session (1st year I used this in 1 week)
--- We have a 14MB email limit running on an extremely old-school software script
--- The "eLearning" system which is the main software platform to get access to lecture slides and other materials for subjects, is a piece of shit. It is some pre-1999 era, java system that crashes, and is overall a pain in the arse to use
--- First year I lived on-campus (Campus East), and to get Internet access I had to pay $25 for 500MB of download (run-out, buy more) or on a per hour basis... since they were running through an ISP called Chariot which had/has a monopoly over the on-campus net access. That year I must have spent over $1000 for simple Net access
2) The staff
--- I haven't had too much contact with faculty staff, but when I have, I've always felt the full effect of the "business". They don't care about individuals within the university system. They only care about getting the numbers to run the subjects, to pay the professors, and to push the students through the system out the other end with a piece of paper ready for some company to pick them up and have them work to reach upper-middle management.
My degree is a Bach of Business Administration. I was doing Computer Engineering and Commerce before but since my goal is to become an entrepreneur I wanted to do an all-round degree in business. I went to the Dean of Commerce and was basically told my decision was stupid, that I should specialise and something about 10 years down the track I will regret my decision. Fat prick of a Dean he was. 10 years down the track he'll have heart disease
--- I have had a few professors who see through the university system and actually want to teach and excel students, not just regurgitate the facts in the textbook.
3) The business/commerce degree
--- Out-dated, not for me
--- Both the Bach of business admin and Bach of commerce are the same here: they appear to be structured to train a mindless workforce for those wanting to get jobs at most in upper-middle management in large firms... that is not education people, that is modern-day enslavement
--- The perfect example of the degree being out-dated is the mandatory 2 subjects worth of manual accounting. Yeah, the type of accounting not even accountants have used since the computer was invented. Yes it is nice to know the core basics of accounting, but not 2 subjects worth, and especially when I'm not planning to become an accountant. If I'm thinking of issuing shares or going public with a company, I'm going to employ a f$%king accountant to do that.
--- No entrepreneurship degree??! WTF is that. And they only have 1 entrepreneurship subject which I did as an elective. Um, entrepreneurship is the foundation and core of business. Oh no, that's right, they're only training people for upper-middle management.
4) The "Course Handbook"
--- Students are spending $900+ per subject and the best we can find out about a subject before studying it is the title and a one paragraph description full of ambiguities.
--- e.g. find a subject, have a read: Course Handbook @ UOW
5) Parking
--- Don't bother. If you live within an hour walk/ride you may as well ditch the car, parking spaces are a rarity
6) Clubs and societies
--- ... are all too politicised and "formal" to actually work
That's about all I can think of right now.
Anyone else at UOW have these issues?
Or is this more a symptom of the entire university structure around Australia?
cheers