Unfairness in Commerce 3BC1

dmcg90

Hey Guys!
After hearing concerns from some of you about the B. Comm International degree being changed to 100% final year exams and B. Comm degree being calculated 50% second year and 50% final year we organised a meeting with Dr. Geraldine Robbins, the Director of the B. Comm and Professor Willie Golden, the Dean of Business, Public Policy and Law. They informed us that due to an error in communication when the Internationals were in second year, one student was misinformed that their degree would be calculated on 100% final year basis, the School of Business had to stand by it. This error was only realised just before Christmas of this year.

As a result, the Dean Prof Golden has written to the coordinators and directors of the business postgraduate courses in NUIG to inform them of the concerns and to suggest that grades in specialised subjects be considered. For example, if you are applying to a marketing masters, that your grades in marketing subjects could possibly be looked at, as well as the overall degree average.

If any of you have any other issues, feel free to contact any of us!

Your reps!

Thats nice, but what about students who don't want to go into a masters or postgrad? I assume this doesn't apply to students who don't want to go on to study further. If it doesn't then its a bloody joke and totally unfair on Commerce students who do the exact same subjects as International Business students.

If I miss out on a 2:1 because of this and apply to a job requiring a 2:1, and for an International Business student to get that out of hypocrisy on the university's part then its a disgrace.

brianthebard

par for the course with this university.

Croppy Bhoy

As a result, the Dean Prof Golden has written to the coordinators and directors of the business postgraduate courses in NUIG to inform them of the concerns and to suggest that grades in specialised subjects be considered. For example, if you are applying to a marketing masters, that your grades in marketing subjects could possibly be looked at, as well as the overall degree average.

.... are you telling me that this isn't the standard practise anyway? Absurd..

Fisher Calhoun

I'm really surprised by the answer to be honest. They say it to one student and now the rest have to suffer the consequences?

You should ask the reps to re-approach the Dean/Director again. There's a very easy solution which can accommodate everyone. In Engineering, for example, your overall degree mark is based on either 100% of your final year mark or 75% of your final year mark and 25% of your third year whichever one helps the student more.

Engineering Faculty Marks & Standards Document wrote:

Page 44 - Within Section 11: Honours Standard
In a given year, Honours will be awarded on the aggregate of marks achieved in that year. However, for the purpose of determining the award of Honours in the Fourth Year (Degree Year) examination, the Board may take into account a student's performance in the Third Year examination. A student's gross percentage mark for this purpose will be computed by adding together 30% of the percentage marks he/she obtained in the Third Year Examination and 70% of the percentage marks he/she obtained in the Fourth Year (Degree Year) examination.

The same thing could very easily be applied here. Simply give the student 100% of their final year mark or 50% final year and 50% second year - whichever one is greater. That way everyone wins. Definitely get the rep to put it to them and have them cite the Engineering Marks & Standards document (http://www.nuigalway.ie/engineering/documentation.html) as a precedent. Good luck!

Columc

The schools of business in NUIG is a complete and utter mess, the amount of complaints I have about the treatment of lectures to students, and even the teaching and course structures are massive. There needs to be a massive review board of the entire school imo, not just the indvidual courses, and with that a revamp of the review board!

When I did the B. Comm. International there was an option of taking either 100% final year or a combination of second and final year I think. that was several years ago though. Memory is fuzzy.

I do think the course could be a year longer with a six month placement.

Edit: I think grading people over two years is better as long as it is well flagged.

LAVADUDE

I talked to one of the 5 third commerce reps who was at this meeting and they said most of the reps there didn't even know about the change before the meeting, they blamed it on the class rep who organised the meeting and did not bother informing them of the purpose. The rep who organised the meeting did not show at this meeting.

At the meeting Geraldine Robbins informed them thier degree was to be calculated on a 50/50 basis and this had been made explicitly clear and they had received no miscommunication, the class reps also agreed with this, and to change it now would be unfair to the students who had put the effort into second year and who got good results, also unfair to the students who had already got jobs on the basis that their results would make up part of their final degree.

Also a few of them couldn't understand how the internationals would benefit at all.

and I talked to a few other students myself, they felt pissed of that they have not been consulted at all and that one class rep who is representing themselves, has attempted to get their degree structure changed.