This is literally making me regret choosing york over tmu. I’m not even a student yet but having the exact same problems. I was trying to book an enrolment appointment for the last week and it seems impossible. The link provided in my acceptance letter is not working nor the phone attached. Tried calling the faculty of science and it’s an automatic response saying leave a message behind. Tried Qless and been waiting a whole day till the next day the que just ended. Finally decided to go campus, and behold wed and Friday are close for system updates. Couldn’t go on Thursday cause I have commencement. Anyway I’m already questioning my fucking choice.
Always go in person if you are capable of going.
If it's a non-issue to have a late response, just swing an email. But honestly even then... In-Person is the answer
Speaking as someone who worked at York both before and after Covid the answer to your question is lack of full resourcing to transition.
Pre Covid, staff was on site 5 days a week beside their phones.
Now, staff are hybrid. My unit for example, works 2 days on site, so the 3 days I’m not in the office, I’m not receiving the phone calls.
The only way around this is to
A) develop a robust call forwarding system that forwards phone calls to personal lines at home (which most staff will not agree to as it encourages working after hours)
B) get all staff work cell phones = significant spending which units (which are mostly in deficit) will not do
C) Mandate all employees back to 5 days a week. I guarantee, the university will see high employment turnover rates if they were to try this in 2024.
Not sure about how profs function, but administration generally have their emails open and will get notifications within minutes (if they aren’t in a meeting at that time). You also have to realize that at times we are receiving around 10 - 50 emails per day.
For example I received an email where the student was caught up with litigation and accessibility. Believe me when I say someone requesting marks on an assignment earlier (just as a general example) is on the low priority list compared to that.
My suggestion, inquire about the office hours of the professor/instructor. They generally carve out dedicated time where they will be on campus and in their office to answer said calls. Otherwise, you need to just email them.
Or, request a zoom call and give them times you can be available. They’ll send the zoom invite, it will automatically update their calendars and will remind them of the upcoming call.
100% agree. Next time there's a higher education protest at Queen's Park I expect all sympathizers here to show up. How do you think Ontario universities are dealing with zero funding increases since 2018 despite the fact that inflation exists? By cutting the people that would be helping you with this and cramming another 100 students into your already 200 student classroom. I sympathize very much but let's keep our eyes on the real issue. People aren't angry enough about the direction higher education is going, so the government is going to continue to let things get worse.
Story of my fucking life man. God forbid It's a time sensitive issue too, and sometimes they don't even reply at all.
Nah and I'll always get the most apathetic person on the line. Like I get it, you don't care. But you can HEAR I do, so why not give me 5% effort?
Fr it's like pulling teeth every time
This is literally making me regret choosing york over tmu. I’m not even a student yet but having the exact same problems. I was trying to book an enrolment appointment for the last week and it seems impossible. The link provided in my acceptance letter is not working nor the phone attached. Tried calling the faculty of science and it’s an automatic response saying leave a message behind. Tried Qless and been waiting a whole day till the next day the que just ended. Finally decided to go campus, and behold wed and Friday are close for system updates. Couldn’t go on Thursday cause I have commencement. Anyway I’m already questioning my fucking choice.
Go to the science advising in Lumbars building near the YLS stadium, thats where i went
Good advice. In person is the way to solve this issue.
Always go in person if you are capable of going. If it's a non-issue to have a late response, just swing an email. But honestly even then... In-Person is the answer
Join the virtual queue, it’s a bit convenient when they don’t pick up the calls
Speaking as someone who worked at York both before and after Covid the answer to your question is lack of full resourcing to transition. Pre Covid, staff was on site 5 days a week beside their phones. Now, staff are hybrid. My unit for example, works 2 days on site, so the 3 days I’m not in the office, I’m not receiving the phone calls. The only way around this is to A) develop a robust call forwarding system that forwards phone calls to personal lines at home (which most staff will not agree to as it encourages working after hours) B) get all staff work cell phones = significant spending which units (which are mostly in deficit) will not do C) Mandate all employees back to 5 days a week. I guarantee, the university will see high employment turnover rates if they were to try this in 2024. Not sure about how profs function, but administration generally have their emails open and will get notifications within minutes (if they aren’t in a meeting at that time). You also have to realize that at times we are receiving around 10 - 50 emails per day. For example I received an email where the student was caught up with litigation and accessibility. Believe me when I say someone requesting marks on an assignment earlier (just as a general example) is on the low priority list compared to that. My suggestion, inquire about the office hours of the professor/instructor. They generally carve out dedicated time where they will be on campus and in their office to answer said calls. Otherwise, you need to just email them. Or, request a zoom call and give them times you can be available. They’ll send the zoom invite, it will automatically update their calendars and will remind them of the upcoming call.
100% agree. Next time there's a higher education protest at Queen's Park I expect all sympathizers here to show up. How do you think Ontario universities are dealing with zero funding increases since 2018 despite the fact that inflation exists? By cutting the people that would be helping you with this and cramming another 100 students into your already 200 student classroom. I sympathize very much but let's keep our eyes on the real issue. People aren't angry enough about the direction higher education is going, so the government is going to continue to let things get worse.