Portal for module enrollment delayed significantly for students who sat reassessments

Students who sat assessments during the reassessment period have yet to choose their modules, despite classes starting today

Module enrollment has yet to open for some students who repeated or deferred modules last term, despite students being told it would open at 3pm today. 

Some students have been able to get access to the module enrollment page, however, the module choices are unevenly distributed. This means some students in single honors have only been able to choose one of their two elective modules.

Other students were unable to complete any form of registration until after 5pm, a whole two hours after the scheduled time they were told.

Students who deferred modules, or had to sit repeat assessments, were unable to register for College at the same time as the rest of the student body, as repeats took place from August 30. 

Some students have received an invitation to register on mytcd.ie, however, the My Programme tab and registration section remains blank. 

Gale Aitken expressed their frustration to Trinity News saying “as an autistic student, the current system of module enrolment has been [their] worst nightmare”.

“Not only did we have little to no communication about when the module enrolment would be open, but when it was supposed to open at 3pm, my.tcd was blank for many of us until almost a full hour later,” they explained. “The lack of schedule or clear timing has taken a toll on all students’ mental health, but especially those of us who are neurodivergent.”

Modules have been offered to students on a “first-come-first served” basis, meaning some students have already missed out on desired modules, as enrollment took place in August for the rest of the student body. The same process applied to enrollment today. 

Aitken continued: “The first-come-first-served system displays a complete disregard for our degrees, as many people have been forced to choose modules that have nothing to do with their planned dissertation projects or interests.”

Another junior sophister English student, Grace Maddock O’Driscoll, spoke to Trinity News about her frustration with the delayed registration process.

“My main concern is that the communication from College was dismal,” Maddock O’Driscoll commented. “There was no way of accessing any kind of information about when we could enroll, when we could register, what modules we could even enrol in, until days before we could do it.” 

“In the case of receiving a list of modules that were full, they weren’t even provided until the day of.”

Junior sophister English students last week sent a formal letter of complaint over registration issues affecting those who deferred assessments last year, causing many to lose out completely on choosing modules for the coming year. The letter said they were experiencing “frustration bordering on desperation”.

“Pretty much everyone who deferred that I have spoken to agreed that they would not have made that choice if it had been laid out to us that we would be put essentially on the back burner by College,” Maddock O’Driscoll added. 

She continued: “We were never told that our enrollment would be a bit delayed, I still cannot currently register meaning I can’t pay my fees or have you any kind of information for the year despite classes having started today. It was made incredibly easy to defer, if not encouraged.”

“Especially considering this is a year that will count towards my final degree, it’s just extremely disappointing, not to mention the sheer ignorance displayed by the Academic Registry (AR),” Maddock O’Driscoll explained. “I don’t think anybody feels comforted by how the administration has treated us and what that means for student life this year.”

“In a lot of cases, because of the staggered nature of the enrollment opening, some people have absolutely no first choice modules for the entire academic year, which is unacceptable,” she concluded.

Students who deferred assessments or had to repeat exams in all schools were due to be allowed to begin registration this afternoon, the same day that classes begin.

Speaking to Trinity News, College stated: “There has not been a delay in the opening of the Online Module Enrollment for students who sat reassessments or had completed their deferred assessments in recent weeks. It opened at 3pm as scheduled and is available to students where results had been published up to the end of last week.”

The statement continued: “If there are individual students that had their reassessment / deferred assessment results published before Online Module Enrolment opened and are experiencing difficulties, these students should open a ticket by emailing on [email protected] and their individual case will be investigated and responded. Where a result is not yet available / has not yet been published or visible to an individual, we recommend they contact their school or programme office.”

This article was updated at 5:27pm, to reflect some students were able to register after 5pm. 

This article was updated again at 7:37pm, to add an additional comment from another effected student.

This article was updated again on Tuesday September 14 at 11:14am, to include a comment from College.

Shannon Connolly

Shannon Connolly is the Editor-in-Chief of the 69th volume Trinity News, and a Senior Sophister student of English Literature and Philosophy. She previously served as Deputy Editor, News Editor and Assistant News Editor.