Enrolment glitch causes angst
Some students’ hopes for 2018 could be dashed before lectures even start, due to enrolment chaos blamed on a new computer system at Massey University.
Many students have experienced long delays in enrolment processing because of glitches in the new online system introduced in August, student leaders say.
The problems are so chronic some have looked elsewhere for study, and some have missed out on limited-entry papers or student loans.
‘‘There have been some very stressed students finding they are not enrolled in their papers. They can’t enrol because the system is not correctly handling the enrolment, or it’s not handling fees and invoicing properly,’’ says Extramural Students’ Society president David Mcnab.
‘‘The contact centre are under terrible pressure... It’s beyond the university’s capacity to handle in a timely fashion. It’s getting more and more compared to Novopay among students and staff.’’
Mcnab said some students had withdrawn or transferred to other universities because of the problems.
‘‘The portal discourages you from enrolling with Massey.’’
Second-year business student Jamie Knight is among those who have felt ‘‘panic’’ and looked at other study options.
When enrolling online for summer school she selected papers, then realised she needed to change them, but could not make the change. A contact centre staff member told her to continue enrolment, add the right papers, then formally withdraw from the wrong papers later.
‘‘Then they still charged me for those. It’s $1600 overdue. You’re a bit worried about how it’s going to affect enrolment this semester, and am I going to get a ‘did not complete’ for those papers?’’
After 10 phone calls the problem has not been solved. Other students had been a better source of information than the university, she said.
‘‘You’re on hold sometimes for 50 minutes just waiting to get someone.’’
The Extramural Students’ Association Facebook site shows strings of complaints from incorrectly billed students, and many experiencing long delays to enrolment. At least one said their chosen qualification filled up while they waited.
Sarah Tastard has two more papers to complete a degree in agriscience. She applied last year, but two weeks out from semester one, enrolment is still ‘‘pending’’ for one. This caused her application for a student loan to be turned down.
‘‘Some people might not be able to do their degrees. Massey are really risking a lot of people’s [futures] at the moment.’’
Massey University Student Association president Ben Schmidt said there had been problems with ‘‘just about every stage in enrolment’’.
‘‘We have students that haven’t been able to enrol in courses, can’t get the support they need, and can’t apply for student loans and allowances. It’s very stressful for them. Classes are coming up. The university has failed to communicate openly.’’
Massey spokesman James Gardiner said the contact centre is ‘‘busy, but not overwhelmed’’. The new enrolment system offered better ‘‘ease of access to services, better communication and more automated routine activities’’.
‘‘Some issues were anticipated and we knew we would have to work through them – others were not. We have been in communication with current and prospective students throughout. No students are being refused places as a result of changes to the system.’’
Staff are confident students will be able to meet loans and allowances deadlines for the year, he said. Only three of 71 students who took part in a poll by the extramural society said they were not affected. Seven per cent said the problems caused them ‘‘significant risk of failing’’ to complete planned papers, 43 per cent were ‘‘seriously looking elsewhere’’ for study, and 54 per cent said it caused them considerable stress.