Witsies complain as stress mourns over delayed results in the beginning of the second semester
Wits students have raised concerns about the long wait to receive their full marks on the student portal, saying delays in the system caused them stress at the beginning of the second semester.
The new student portal has caused delays in reflecting Wits students’ marks from the previous semester.
The university’s new academic mar
Education and law students were forced to wait for first semester results. Photo: Masechaba Kganyapa
ks system went live in March. The uploading of marks for large classes and particular schools of study did, however, become a problem.
University registrar Carol Crosley told Wits Vuvuzela that while the majority of students’ marks had been published on the student portal according to faculties’ publication dates, in cases where there were delays marks were published on Sakai and students in affected faculties were notified by email.
“We are aware that the results were delayed in two schools in particular – Wits Law School and Wits School of Education – but this has been addressed and all marks should now be available,” said Crosley.
She advised those students who had not seen reflected marks to approach their respective schools and administrators to resolve the matter.
Fourth-year education student Snethemba Hleza, who received most of her marks last week, expressed how badly she had been affected by the wait.
“I did not like how the education campus was not taking the results of students seriously, especially because other faculties at Wits got their results on time,” said Hleza.
“It was really inconsiderate, and waiting for so long for the results made me anxious about how I performed.”
Mcebo Zwane, 20, said “it was quite an inconvenience because I am in my final year and applying for honours programs at other universities. Providing my mid-year results before applications closed was honestly a near miss.”
For postgraduates, Crosley said, this system did not necessarily apply because “the uploading of the postgraduate marks works on a different cycle and is often faculty-specific”.
The delays in the system are said to have been managed directly through the service provider, Oracle, to ensure that the problem does not happen again.
“On behalf of the university, I apologise for any stress or inconvenience caused to students,” said Crosley. “We understand how important it is for students to obtain their marks timeously and we are working with all faculties to ensure these delays are not experienced again.”
FEATURED IMAGE: Education and law students were forced to wait for first semester results. Photo: Masechaba Kganyapa