A Wessex Scene enquiry into the allocation of modules for final year business and languages students has resulted in the granting of an additional module.
Students were initially allocated just one 15 credit business module for their first semester, leaving them with an unbalanced split of modules between both disciplines across the two semesters.
This meant they had marginal flexibility when choosing optional modules in both the Languages and Business sides of their degree programme.
The reason given by the Business School for the limited offering was due to “staffing constraints and pressures around capacity”, after programme coordinators in both schools had attempted to rectify the situation since mid-July.
The students were informed in early September that there would be no change in the situation, and therefore their extremely limited module choices.
Following an enquiry led by Wessex Scene, the Business School changed their initial offering to these students by adding an additional first semester 15 credit module in Week 2.
This, in theory, opened up several extra pathways and module combinations that were previously unavailable to them.
Despite the backtracking on the initial offering, Laura Costanzo, dean of the business school, has reassured Wessex Scene that “this is not a case of mismanagement regarding module allocation”.
However, students were told in early September, despite efforts by programme leads, that the Business School would not change their stance.
It was only following the Wessex Scene enquiry and, as stated by Costanzo, “given the small number of students affected, and following internal consultation”, that their stance changed.
Furthermore, not all students were able to swap their modules because of the belated nature of the proposed solution, with some being strongly advised against doing a Languages Dissertation.
Joseph Kilpatrick, an impacted Business and Spanish student, stated that “whilst the offer provided a useful solution for some, it was unfortunately too late to have any impact on my preferred options as it was too late for me to do the language’s dissertation.
“Had it come during the original module selection period there would have been no issue.”
Even though some impacted students have now been able to successfully switch onto more preferred modules, dissatisfaction at the management of their degree has not changed.
This case also raises key questions as to who is prioritised to study modules when staffing and capacity constraints inevitably arise.
Why was it that these joint honours students were not considered in the initial allocation for the module they were belatedly offered? Why was the solution only provided on the condition that the group of students affected was small?
Looking towards the future, staff from both faculties have stated their desire to improve the general management of joint honours programmes and increase the representation of these students.
Costanzo informed Wessex Scene that “I will encourage the programme leads to discuss these issues collaboratively within the relevant network to help ensure smoother coordination in future years.”
Bonnie Latimer, Dean for Education in the School of Humanities, stated that “Joint Honours students account for a significant fraction of our student body and we are actively working to improve their experience.
“The University is currently in the final stages of running a project on JH student experience, and we openly welcome the feedback of JH students on their time with us.
“Regarding the specific issue around LCL and Business JH degrees, we’re grateful to students for pro-actively raising this with academics, and believe that we’ve found a suitable solution in the end.”
