首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Universities must deal better with complaints With student complaints at a record high, universities will have to raise their ga
Universities must deal better with complaints With student complaints at a record high, universities will have to raise their ga
admin
2012-02-29
37
问题
Universities must deal better with complaints
With student complaints at a record high, universities will have to raise their game once tuition fees rise
Two universities that have broken official rules for dealing with student complaints are named today in the independent adjudicators (仲裁人) annual report. The two, Southampton and Westminster, are the first to be exposed in this way — yet another sign of the new era in which universities are expected to be more accountable (负责) to students who expect to be treated as customers.
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA), which reviews complaints when students have exhausted their university’s procedures, also reports a record rise in the number of cases. Last year the office received 1,341 complaints against universities in England and Wales, the highest number ever and an unprecedented (空前的) rise of one-third on the year before.
As the adjudicator himself, Rob Behrens, points out, 1,341 complaints represents just 0.05% of higher education students, and 53% of those were not justified. But, he also observes, the proportion of justified and partly justified complaints has grown for the first time in several years. He predicts the increase in complaints will continue. "It’s to be expected where you have rising tuition fees, where students are being invited to behave like consumers and where the labour market is difficult so students will do what they can to ensure they qualify."
He says his decision to expose the universities of Southampton and Westminster is not "naming and shaming, with all the associations of moral censure that term implies". He was, he explains, simply following OIA rules — something those two institutions failed to do.
Westminster fell short in its handling of two complaints. One was from a student who argued a disability hadn’t been properly taken into account. The adjudicator agreed. The other student claimed that an exam question and its marking scheme had been unreasonable. In both cases the university broke the rules by failing to resolve the cases, as recommended, promptly and in full.
At Southampton University, four months after the OIA concluded that an undergraduate had a justified complaint about their experience on a placement, the university continued to oppose the decision and was refusing compensation.
In a second case, the university also failed to comply with the adjudicator’s decision. And in a third one, although the complaint turned out to be unjustified, for 10 months the university delayed the investigation by failing to provide evidence despite the adjudicator’s repeated reminders.
At both universities, it was only after the adjudicator involved the vice-chancellors (校长) that the complaints began to be resolved.
Behrens is pleased the relationships between his office and both universities are now much more positive. "As the government places more emphasis on the student experience, complaints have an important role in safeguarding (保护) that," he says. "Universities must see complaints as feedback to become more professional."
Both Southampton and Westminster universities want to charge undergraduates annual fees of £9,000. There is an expectation, not only from ministers, but importantly from students and their families, too, that all universities wishing to increase charges will move to increase student satisfaction as well.
Before making an investment of £27,000, for example, each student will ask, "Is this good value? Is the teaching good? Is this the best route to a successful career?"
Universities are being encouraged, some may say pressurised, to become more transparent and accountable in a number of ways.
The government is urging all universities to publish a student charter, a sort of statement of terms and conditions to remind students of their responsibilities and their rights. Universities are also expected to publish "key information sets" by September 2012. These will enable students to shop around by providing the same 17 pieces of information about each institution, including, for example, the proportion of "contact" time and group work, and the careers and starting salaries of previous graduates.
The OIA is already looking at creative ways to cope with both limited resources and likely further rises in student complaints. Settling more disputes by phone is one option; helping universities to install an independent ombudsman (巡视员) on each campus — an idea borrowed from the Netherlands and the US — is another.
The question is, are UK universities well prepared for the new consumer culture where the deal is if you pay more, you expect more, and if you feel you’re not getting it, you’ll complain?
The question is particularly pertinent for the universities of Southampton and Westminster on the day they are exposed for dragging their feet with a legally established adjudicator. Both vice-chancellors were unavailable for interview.
In a statement, Professor Debra Humphris, Southampton’s pro-vice-chancellor, education, said the vast majority of the small number of student complaints are dealt with swiftly, described the dialogue with the OIA as "constructive and supportive" and said that an improved complaints procedure will be in place this autumn.
In a more defiant statement, Professor Geoffrey Petts, vice-chancellor at Westminster, points out that the university is working with the OIA towards compliance with its recommendations: "The University of Westminster was disappointed to have been cited in the OIA report. The university has robust procedures for handling the very small number of formal complaints which it receives from students."
Aaron Porter, the president of the National Union of Students, has welcomed the new step of naming universities that don’t fully co-operate with the adjudicator. "In an environment where students are paying higher fees and will therefore raise expectations, they need to know which institutions stick to the rules."
He also makes this warning: "Faced with increasing competition to recruit students, many universities are being tempted to make grander and grander claims. They need to improve their offer, but they need to be honest in what they promise."
The advice is echoed by Steve Smith, president of Universities UK and vice-chancellor of the University of Exeter. He sees, in the adjudicator’s annual report, a sector getting to grips with a new world where students are more demanding and will make sure universities correctly follow procedures. "It is vital that institutions are honest and transparent about what students can expect from their courses. In an age of marketing, don’t oversell. Any institution will have to make sure they do what they say."
According to Rob Behrens, the increase in complaints is likely to continue as long as______.
选项
A、we are living in a customer culture
B、universities increase tuition fees
C、students have to pay their tuition fees
D、the level of unemployment keeps rising
答案
B
解析
这两句提到,他(Rob Behrens)预计,投诉数量的增长仍将继续。“只要学费上涨、学生变成顾客、人才市场越来越严峻而学生不得不尽全力确保自己合格,投诉量就会增加。”由此可见,直接引语处是对,Rob Behrens预计的投诉增长的解释,也就是投诉增长的原因。不难看出,学费上涨是源头,故答案为[B]。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/xEf7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
A、It’satimewhenpeopleexchangegiftswithfriends,family,andteachers.B、It’saholidaywhenfriendsgivegiftsduringan
Today’slectureisonthesubjectofPronunciationAchievementFactors.Asanintroductionweshouldaskourselvesthreeque
ClimateChangeClimatechangeiswithus.Adecadeago,itwasconjecture.Nowthefutureisunfoldingbeforeoureyes.Cana
Cultureshockissonamedbecauseoftheeffectithasonpeoplewhentheyenteranewculture.Expertshavebeeninterestedin
She___________(取消了纽约之行)becauseshewasill.
A、Theconditionsofthegirlsaschildlabor.B、TheconditionsinAsianfactories.C、Workinghoursandpayment.D、Womanlaborfo
The【B1】______profession,or"showbusiness",attractsmanyyoungpeople.【B2】______,onlyveryfewcanhopetobecomefamousand【
Mostshoplifters(商店扒手)agreethattheJanuarysalesofferwonderfulopportunitiesforthehard-workingthief.Withtheshopsso
Thebenefitstocitizensofmodernindustrialsocietymayhave【C1】______sometimeinrecentdecades,andincreasingly,wearepa
Withthedebateonlydaysaway,bothpresidentialcampaignssoughttoreinforcenegativeimagesoftheir______.
随机试题
下列哪项不属行为疗法
丁某将其所有的房屋出租给方某,方某将该房屋转租给唐某。下列哪些表述是正确的?
施工单位B分别在某省会城市远郊和城区承接了两个标段的堤防工程施工项目,其中防渗墙采用钢板桩技术进行施工。施工安排均为夜间插打钢板桩,白天进行钢板桩防渗墙顶部的混凝土圈梁浇筑、铺土工膜、植草皮等施工。施工期间由多台重型运输车辆将施工材料及钢板桩运抵作业现场,
依法有走私违法行为以及2年内逃税50万元人民币以上,或者拖欠海关税款100万元人民币以上的企业是指( )。
针对某一方面的心理发展,通过在同一时段内对不同年龄的儿童进行比较,又迅速找到差异所在的方法,称为()。
广大人民在城乡基层群众自治组织,依法直接行使()的权利,对所在基层组织的公共事务和公益事业实行民主自治,已经成为当代中国最直接、最广泛的民主实践。
若二元函数f(x,y)在(x0,y0)处可微,则在(x0,y0)点下列结论中不一定成立的是
通常企业在信息化建设时需要投入大量的资金,成本支出项目多且数额大。在企业信息化建设的成本支出项目中,系统切换费用属于_________。
PASSAGEFOURWhydidthenewbornboybecomethesonofahighschooldropoutandhiswife?
A、Shedoesn’twanttohelptheman.B、Shecan’tfixthecomputer.C、Shecan’tsendthee-mailsnow.D、Shedoesn’tknowhowtose
最新回复
(
0
)