Arts and Humanities students were left not knowing what they are studying, after facing module rejections and non-responses to emails following an admin merger within the faculty
This summer, UCL changed how faculties are administered; from each department having its own administration, to a new faculty-wide administration team.
Module rejections have been widespread across the Arts and Humanities Faculty, and are often caused by modules being oversubscribed. Students are finding that attempts to resolve queries over module reselections and general admin over email are unsuccessful.
One student told The Cheese Grater that they were removed from a module that was compulsory for the language they are studying. When they called the faculty phone number, they were cycled through four extensions, none of which picked up.
Another student told The Cheese Grater of the frustration caused by several module rejections, compounding the generally stressful experience of starting university in a new country.
Those who tried to process module and seminar changes in person faced hour-long queues outside G141-4 Malet Place.
This proved a particular problem for EISPS and Information Studies students, whose cards do not provide access to the door of the building. One administration team directed students to a QR code in order to process module and seminar change.
The merger has created a lot of stress for students and staff. A message was issued by the Arts and Sciences department reminding students that “there is a zero tolerance policy on aggression towards instances of aggressive behaviour towards staff members in the department.
SELCS have asked that any students who have an unresolved query from before 21 September should resend their email.”
A UCL spokesperson said:
“We are very sorry for the difficulties a small number of political studies students experienced at the start of term selecting their modules.
"Demand for these courses has been particularly high this year. All students will be able to take their preferred module by the end of next year at the latest.”