UNISA has not improved its student services

It's been over a month since I paid my fees and I continue to get poor service from UNISA. It is far from professional and timely. For example, I have no idea if...

1) any study materials have been sent.

2) whether I am even registered for the two courses I paid for. Thei SOL (Students Online) net forum claims at sign-in that I am not)

3) how I am supposed to arrange matriculation exemption (mature age) since UNISA won't accept my Canadian Consul notarized copy of my passport scanned and sent. That was a headache in itself...

First I was notified that my email was being refused because I didn't follow their strict rules about including student number in the subject line plus birthdate etc in the text. OK, I can understand that need. But when emails are returned typicallly no comment is made so one has no idea which particular email is being returned. The message one has sent is not included. It's just a form letter.

Then after several rejections of email they started putting brief comments in the subject such as advising me that I had to use a specific format - TIFF instead of JPEG (hmm, the Finance Department had no trouble accepting a copy of my credit card that way). And not just any TIFF but 200 X 200 DPI. Ok, technological requirements out of the way. Still, no name is given, it is a faceless machine without individuals in departments taking personal responsability. I can't call up and say Mrs. Imbadamba sent me an email saying 'XYZ'.

I am seriously disappointed in the bureaucratic nature of this public university. Perhaps this is what happens when a university is tax funded instead of run as a business. But I can't afford the U.S. alternatives. I am not sure that education as business is the best choice anyway. Here in Vietnam when the English language instruction schools are run as business the quality/value suffers.

The only assistance I have been given is by individual professors who have suggested some pre-reading I could do. But that was done in the most general terms ('find a textbook on the subect') instead of recommending websites. I was able to do that myself. What would it take to assemble a list of recommended websites? I am sure I am not the only isolated student who does not have access to uncensored timely postal delivery from Amazon etc (which incidently quoted me US$123 for a textbook which I was able to order from a bookstore in South Africa for US$23. plus postage)

UNISA is delivering materials like in the dark ages, by post.

P.S. I can't even contact them since the netphone connection from Vietnam (where I am) is failing for the Republic of South Africa.

I would be curious to hear from any other UNISA students who have had better experiences dealing with them. Their claim that they take the 'distance out of distance education' is marketing hype. I am beginning to wonder if despite their low cost it isn't worth the hassle.

 

The administrative boondoggle at UNISA is legendary. I had thought that they made significant improvements in the last few years, but the above post is not encouraging at all.

 

hermes,

As I mentioned before, patience is a must when dealing with UNISA admin.

Other than feeling slightly overwhelmed by one of my current courses, Greek Myth, Society and Literature, I am completely satisfied with UNISA.

Can you log on to SOL? One can track and trace study material in the "my admin" section.

 

delay or cancel?

Thanks. I am actually encouraged to know that I am not some incompetent but that UNISA has a reputation as being a difficult administration. Perhaps it is a combination of both of us!

I can tell you that the telephone problem was purely my own (my netphone card had run out of funds and the system wasn't clear to adise me of that fact).

Anyway, I just got off the telephone. In fact I am not regestered for any courses. The Finance Department has indeed accepted my money but nowhere in the system has my registration been accepted. In technical terms I suppose that means that I was *admitted* but not *registered*, as I recall academic jargon.

My guess is that one of those emails that was rejected was my registration form. So all this time that professsors and administration staff were replying to my emails no one was aware (I certainly wasn't) that I am not even yet a student!

Now I must wait until next semester since the deadline has passed. It might be just as well since a) I am three weeks behind and texts haven't arrived from the bookseller anyway; b) after doing some preliminary reading I see that one of the courses I signed up for (hah!) is a a lot more wacky than I expected. Apparently Theory of Literature is not 'Literary Studies' in the common sense meaning of that phrase but instead an academic disection of texts according to some very bizarre theories such as Marxism, politically correct feminism, etc. I don't have problem accepting various perspectives but the English Department and a few of the other departments seem rather statist-leftist. Perhaps this is charcteristic of academia (since it is typically tax funded).

On a postive note the call center clerk was helpful and polite. I was too, no point getting angry. I had to insist on a last name so I would know who I spoke with.

Now the question is whether to cancel all involvement with UNISA or try a semester. I am going to dig a little deeper on this forum and others about other Asian or African DL universities.

 

Some UNISA stats

Students online usage statistics


Updated Regularly Last update: 2004-02-20
2004 Monthly Statistics

Online Registrations (Jan) 13263 (Feb) 4854
Matric Exemption Applications (Jan) 336 (Feb) 146

 

I had little difficulty when I initially registered with UNISA last year.

 

I have had no problems with UNISA. I've received emails, correspondence and newsletters within a couple of weeks after their release. I only experience one communication delay with my thesis promoter. He was away for two weeks at a conference. Otherwise, the service has been fairly good. I guess this depends which faculty you've submitted your application. The Business school and their law school is known for their slow response time.

 

I will continue to look for other universities in the Third and Second world

Instead of professional universites in the first world - at a very high price, and second-rate universities in countries that are not in the third world, how about a first rate university in the non-first world?

I see tremendous academic and financial gain to be had in this formula both for students and business operators. For example, India has call centers and a tradition of academic excellence. Yet they are not catering to the first world in distance education. That is just one example country. The obstacles I suppose are...

1) Viability: Is there a large enough market of westerners who could care less about degree origin as long as it has high or even medium standards? This forum would suggest that there is not. All of those second world universities seem to be catering to domestic or at least continental markets.

2) Government intervention: There is rarely a free market in education. Usually the government regulates who can operate and in doing so restricts educational providers. It no doubt maintains some academic standards but at what cost?

BTW, as much as I am not interested in a fake degree I am opposed in principle to criminalization of degree mills. Let the buyer beware I say. Know your source, whether its marijuana, university, clothes or food.

For example I work for a school in Veitnam operated by a Lebanese entrepreneur who calls his school a university. In my opinion it is b.s. But if Vietnamese parents care less I say let him call it whatever he wants. Those who are discriminating will ask around first and choose a better school (if they can aford it, which not everyone can - so therefore there is a full range of schools from low to high standard).