IS PORTICO A GOOD idea? Probably, but you would never have guessed with the sheer volume of problems that it has created in the last three weeks. Returning students have yet to enrol, unsure of how to do so, and both staff and students alike have been baffled by the complex module selection process.
Portico is nothing new. In summer 2005 the “E:Vision” system was provisionally used in order to display module results for that academic year. However even at this pilot stage, senior staff expressed concern that at least 40% of students were not checking their UCL email and so were unaware that the system was being used. Over a year later and this is still a concern. Of course that didn’t stop College from notifying the students about Portico by… UCL email.
For some of the students The Cheese Grater has spoken to, Portico is a welcoming as a kick in the shin. One student had difficulty working out how to inform the system that a bursary would pay her tuition fees. “It wasn’t very clear at all. In the end, the finance department had to enrol me themselves, which seemed totally pointless.” Paying fees through Portico is certainly easier and more convenient, but plagued with miscalculations of bills and unclear options, the system has been a source of confusion.
Even worse have been the problems with module registration. Other than a few cursory remarks from staff at the end of last year, few students were aware of the change until an email was sent out on 18 September. So far, for some the system has caused nothing but woes. One exasperated student informed The Cheese Grater that he was unable to register for one of his courses because even after searching extensively for it, it was not listed on the system. When he complained to his tutor, the student was told Portico couldn’t be overridden and so it was best to just put up with it. More alarmingly, at least one student has been able to access parts of Portico normally reserved for staff use only. A programming blunder has meant that with an ordinary student login all course and staff codes can be accessed.
It’s not just students that Portico hates, staff too are encountering problems. Having been given only one training session, departmental staff have had to “work it out as we go along”. Portico is currently unable to fulfil some of its most basic functions, such as creating registers and let us not forget the fact that it won’t let some students sign up for modules. A departmental administrator told us, “The system has meant endless hours of extra work for us, amending wrong decisions and manually entering students whose modules have not appeared on the system”. Admin staff recognise that the system will save them work eventually – but for now Portico has only been problematic.
Robert Churm, Project Manager for the Student Information System told The Cheese Grater: “We admit there are issues but we are working to resolve these issues for the future through liaising with administrative staff. UCL has invested a great deal in Portico and we feel the system will allow students opportunities and services which have been available in other universities for some time. ” Certainly the Portico Implementation group appear to be doing all they can to rectify the current problems. The Portico User Group, a board set up to allow UCL staff to express concerns and report problems, met earlier last week and feedback is being examined.
Attempting to rectify
Despite these efforts, the bedlam caused in departmental offices across the College speaks for itself. It would be unreasonable to expect no difficulties at all, but it is not unreasonable to expect the scale and magnitude of the problems to have been foreseen. Perhaps if the Portico Project Group had spent more time and money on publicity for the system amongst students instead of on a drinks reception with “lots and lots of wine” some of this confusion could have been avoided. MR