The University of York is going to change the way students apply for their accommodation following complaints in previous years.
The current application process has been accused of undermining the collegiate system, with applicants having a limited choice of colleges, particularly those who received emails later.
A University spokesman has confirmed that in 2012/13 a new system will stagger the release of rooms so that ideally, future students will be able to choose from all colleges and all rent bands.
The University will be improving the accommodation services website, which has been accused in the past of not being user-friendly. In the 2010 Times Higher Education survey assessing 152 university websites, York ranked last and little has been changed since.
The revamped website will have a summary of different room types and the annual cost within each college, as well as a pie chart showing the proportion of different room types within the University.
The process itself will also face an overhaul. Students will be able to enrol with the University prior to making their application. In order for students to avoid obsessively refreshing their emails, Accommodation Services will be sending a text alert to inform applicants that their email has been sent.
Students with York as their first choice will receive emails allowing them to apply on Wednesday 22nd of August (the week after A level results day) whilst students with York ranked as their insurance will receive theirs the following day.
In previous years, students have had to wait for an email sent out in random batches over the 48 hour period immediately following their enrollment. This was criticised by many undergraduates who lost out in the lottery.
One student commented: “I must have received one of the last emails to be sent out, literally in the 47th hour, which meant I was faced with very limited options.”
Goodricke fresher Joely Hartley added that she found the whole system quite unfair. “When I was able to apply the only options left in a lot of colleges were the most expensive”.
These changes have been met with praise by some students including Rosie Royal, who remarked: “The university has done something right; waiting around to get my email ruined my results day last year. I was supposed to go out with my friends but waited by a computer instead.”
“In the 2010 Times Higher Education survey assessing 152 university websites, York ranked last and little has been changed since.”
Actually quite a lot has changed with the University’s website, and that survey had nothing to do with the accommodation application system.
Good news overall though!
The University website is mediocre at best. There are so many pages that most students do not know exist, let alone that any students have read. Why place vital information on obscure parts of the website.
York senior management just has to learn to do better – no point pussyfooting around and beating around the bush about the problems at the University.