May 14th, 2022, 08:00 AM

Students Frustrated with AUP Academic Disorganization

By Luken McGuire
Image credit: Unsplash/Green Chameleon
With the many platforms AUP uses, students say it's hard to track work and grades.

Students at AUP have some dissatisfaction with the plethora of academic or communication platforms the institution uses as it causes a lot of confusion. 

One of the biggest complaints from students is that AUP uses five platforms (AUP Website, Blackboard, Google Teams, Student Portal, and Outlook), and most of them are not coherent. 

Image credit: Luken McGuire
 

In previous years, AUP used Blackboard exclusively, however it has implemented Teams into usage in recent years. 

Some professors even divide assignments amongst Outlook, Blackboard, and Teams, making it extremely difficult for students to locate assignments and grades. It has become extremely challenging for some students to maintain organization. 

"I find it extremely difficult to keep track between platforms. On one hand, half my teachers post assignments and grades on Blackboard, whereas the others post on Teams. Some professors add grades onto the official AUP portal while others use the Blackboard grading system," said Eena Ohannessian, a freshman at AUP. "Sometimes, my documents are simply sent over outlook. It would be much easier if the school decided on a unanimous platform in order to stop this confusion."

Image credit: Sukhi Borse 
 

Another dissatisfaction that students have about AUP's academic disorganization is the attendance policy. Despite the size of the school, it is still important to allow students wiggle room for particular circumstances such as visa appointments, school trips, and simply sick days. 

As for the French department, if students miss more than three classes per semester, their grades will ultimately drop an entire point on the letter scale, so an A could become an A-. Tardies affect one’s grade as well in the French department, leaving students anxious about even being a couple of minutes late.

“It sucks because I don’t want to fall behind in work or have my attendance affect my grade but when you’re that sick there’s not much you can do,” said Chandler Sumpter Gillyard, a junior art history major at AUP. 

Image credit: Sukhi Borse 
 

 COVID-19 is still prevalent and other illnesses like fevers and colds and even the common flu still affect people's daily lives. No one wants to attend class when they're sick, but some feel it is necessary in order to keep their grades up.

Professors can sometimes be unresponsive to requests from students about joining online and rarely post what they did in class on one of their platforms. This leaves students unable to recover material if they miss class.

"I unfortunately had a rough few weeks after spring break, from a cold, to a stomach flu, to food poisoning. I have had to miss a lot of classes, and for my 9 a.m. French class there is a strict attendance policy," Sumpter Gillyard said. "In past French classes and currently I normally don’t get a response about joining on teams until after the fact."

With students expressing their dissatisfaction about the uneven application of policies, it's now up to AUP to standardize its systems.