The University accommodation system has once again come under fire, as stressed freshers were left hopelessly waiting and refreshing their web browsers for hours on Tuesday morning.
The system opened at 8am on Tuesday, and was designed to run on a first come, first served basis, but immediately the University’s servers were unable to cope with the number of freshers attempting to log in, as they inevitably all vied for the best accommodation.
Some lucky freshers were at least able to log in to secure themselves a place in the queue, whilst others could not even get that far, despite being on the website since 8am and refreshing the page for over two hours.
Those who did find themselves in the queue were left stuck hundreds of places back with no movement towards actually booking their accommodation, as Twitter became flooded with worried messages from freshers trying to find out what was going on and venting their anger at the University over a month before they are even due to arrive.
This is ridiculous, the accommodation page has been down since the application process opened. Still haven’t even managed to get a place…
— Polly (@pollyasales) August 20, 2013
@UoYAccomm I logged in at 8 & said I was in a queue but got no number. Then got white screen so refreshed. Now nothing..? What do I do?!
— Aimee Wilson (@aimeewils) August 20, 2013
how can york operate first come first serve for accommodation when the server can’t even stay online for two minutes
— Colonel James Irwin (@TPnickson) August 20, 2013
Looking forward to attending @UniOfYork this year – maybe in a tent by the lake :) #possiblyhomeless
— Georgia Moppett (@GeorgiaHaydon) August 20, 2013
One new fresher, future linguistics student Helena Schofield told Vision: “I was online 10 minutes before the opening time of 8am, and there was a large scary countdown on the log-in page. When the page loaded, I managed to log in, and it said there were 311 people in front of me. However, shortly after that the site crashed, and has been in various stages of functioning since. On the plus side, all the freshers on Facebook groups have been posting updates and supporting each other with both humour and reassurance!”
Not everyone was so optimistic however. Students got increasingly angry as they were forced to spend their days glued to their laptops, whilst one student was left helpless as she was still unable to book her room before having to catch a flight.
2 hours of trying to apply for accommodation, this takes the absolute piss.
— Katie Rose (@KatieeMeehan) August 20, 2013
@UoYAccomm unfortunately I’m abroad on holiday and need to catch a flight now so cannot wait anymore!! :(
— Beccccaaaaaaaaa (@RebeccaLMorais) August 20, 2013
The University accommodation Twitter account (@UoYAccomm) attempted to assuage the fears of complaining freshers, but were unable to offer any further advice than “keep trying”, telling them over two hours after the system opened that they hoped to get it sorted “soon.”
IT are still working on the problems. We’ll provide more updates when we can. Sorry again for the delays.
— UoY Accommodation (@UoYAccomm) August 20, 2013
This issue is just the latest in an ongoing saga of problems for the University accommodation office. The system has been heavily criticised in the past, with last year’s freshers complaining that the old system was unfair and forced them to accept accommodation they didn’t want.
A statement later released by Pro-Vice Chancellor for Students, Jane Grenville, apologising for the problems on behalf of the University read: “We are sorry that so many of you have experienced problems booking your accommodation today. If you have managed to book your room then thank you for bearing with us. If you have not booked yet then please do keep trying as the system is up and running again now.
“We apologise unreservedly for the performance of the system. This was not as anticipated as extensive testing had taken place. It is unfortunate that, on the day, the system simply could not cope with the volume of traffic. It went wrong and we are sorry.
“Please be assured we will be undertaking a detailed analysis to improve the application system for 2014/5. We have collated all your feedback on social media and we will be inviting you to share your experiences and recommendations as part of our review. Once again please accept our apologies for what we are sure must have been a stressful day.”
Despite this students were continuing to endure problems throughout the day, with numerous complaints about the absence of confirmation emails, and uncertainty as to whether they had been ensured a place.
To read the full statement issued by the University concerning the reasons for the problems, and the actions they have taken to resolve the issues, then follow this link.
Promising that all the twitter quotes are from females.. #bringonfreshers #bettereatios #shecanstayinmyroom
This happens every year. Unfortunately every year people miss out on Derwent or Langwith and are left in limbo, as members of lesser colleges while they wait desperately to be allowed to transfer to their preferred college. If you find yourself in this position please be patient and message the college admin of your preferred college asap. If you don’t have any luck in first year you can always look at moving in your second.
People will always find a way to complain. The reason it has been done on a first-come-first-serve basis this year is because so many people complained about the system in which batch emails were sent randomly over a couple of days. (Should mention that said people complaining would not have done if they had been randomly selected first…) Clearly a first-come-first-served basis will never work on the internet because a sever can’t take that many hits; UCAS have proved this year on year. People need to pipe down and accept what they’re given on the original system.
I’d like to see a literal first come first served system in place next year, with a little desk on Vanbrugh paradise…
Yeah, first come first served only works if there’s a proper, physical queue. Online, when everyone’s equally there at 8.00 am sharp, the servers are bound to go FUBAR. Did they really expect anything else?
No other Unis seem to have this problem (my mate got his accommodation at Bristol within 45 minutes, what he wanted, where he wanted, and most other ug’s there had the same experience.)I spent 5 1/2 hours hitting refresh every two minutes and then got what I didn’t want where I didn’t want it. At least I’m on campus I suppose..
Why should people ‘pipe down’? There paying thousands of pounds for accommodation! Moreover, some of that accommodation is way out of the price ranges for students on a lower income! Those from the upper-middle class would undoubtedly be able to afford the more expensive accommodation. This should be sorted on the basis that those from a poorer background get first choice!
I can’t wait for these new freshers to live in Full Sutton for a few months with me. #studentaccomodationgonewrong #dontdropthesoap #thisactuallyhappened
No, those from poorer backgrounds shouldn’t get first choice – don’t automatically assume parents having more money means their kids do. I received the bare minimum from student finance due to parental income, but my parents are big believers in self-sufficiency and told me from the age of 16 getting the money for clothes etc was now my problem and haven’t lent me any money at University unless I really need them to (luckily I’ve managed to get a job/am good at saving so I haven’t had to).
What they should do is let people apply for accommodation with a preference list before the results come out or something along those lines, and then assign people their preferences as best they can. Several subjects do similar things when assigning 3rd year projects (e.g. Biology) so I’m sure an algorithm could be figured out.
Yeah, that’s what a lot of the others do, ask for preferences giving a month or two window in which to apply, and they then allocate accommodation based on that once they know for sure who’s coming. No mad and stressful rush, and probably easier on the accommodation staff too. Win win.
I don’t understand why freshers complain about accommodation when they end up spending most of their nights stumbling around the Willow floor anyway.
If the system of applying before results consistently works for other universities, then there’s no reason not to do it at York.
That way, it’d probably lead to the colleges actually gaining some kind of identity/defining characteristics again as both the applicant and accommodation team can consider where best ‘suits’ them (i.e. artists in Langwith, brutes in Derwent), as opposed to the mad rush that takes place.