Online module enrollment for Senior Fresh students opened later than the announced time this morning following a series of delays to the system over the last week.
Enrollment for Senior Fresh modules through the my.tcd.ie portal opened half an hour after the preannounced time of 11am following delays earlier in the week that saw the opening of enrollment pushed from Monday, September 21 to Friday, September 25.
Speaking to Trinity News, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) Education Officer Megan O’Connor explained that College had communicated to students and to the union that the system would open at 11am, but it had actually been set to open at 11.30am.
“It was an issue of human error, which is understandable, but disappointing,” O’Connor said.
“We are expecting an apology to be issued to all students later today. For some students, it appeared that the online enrollment was not going to open until September 28 – however, this is only applicable to Junior Fresh students, and this was not made clear.”
Classes are set to commence for Senior Fresh students from Monday, September 28 alongside Junior Sophister and Senior Sophister students.
At 11.20 this morning, Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) wrote on Twitter that it was “extremely disappointed to hear that online module enrollment did not open as planned at 11am today despite guarantees that the system was finally ready to launch”.
“The college has left hundreds of students in the dark about a decision that will affect their academic career,” the union said.
“We understand that there have been teething problems, but what is currently happening to SF [Senior Fresh] students is unacceptable.”
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused and we hope there will be answers from the college soon.”
On Thursday night, Senior Fresh students received an email from College which said that the online enrollment would go live at 11am on Friday morning.
“You will receive an intray message in your student portal at mytcd.ie confirming that online module enrolment is open,” the email said.
Initially, online module enrollment for Senior Fresh students was due to open on September 21 and run until October 4, with enrollment for Junior Fresh students to open from September 28 and October 4.
However, the opening of the system was pushed back to September 23, and then pushed again to September 25.
Continuing students are returning to classes on Monday, September 28 alongside orientation week for new students, who are to start classes the following week on October 5.
Most teaching is due to take place online following the government’s decision to place Dublin under Level 3 restrictions of the Covid-19 response measures.
Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris asked third level institutions in Dublin to reduce student numbers on campus in an attempt to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
Several classes that College had planned to hold in person have been changed to an online format for the start of the semester, particularly in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences courses.
In-person teaching is to continue in Health Sciences and Engineering, Mathematics and Science departments where laboratory or practical learning settings are “required for professional accreditation”.
