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How do you feel aout uni staff?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
I am wondering what students think of staff at uni. I don't mean tutors but the staff you see thats in your departments. The ones you hand your essays to and sign your forms and that?

Do you think they do alot? Do you seem them as inpersonal entities just labelled as "staff"?


I ask as I now work at a uni, having only left uni in 2005. Its interesting. As a support staff member I can tell you we have a lot of work to do and your charsmatic tutors aren't the easiest of people to deal with!! lol.

I do sometimes see students, and maybe coz I am only in my 20's and not long left feel I am more in their mindest then my older colleagues but then you see the students and they see you as just staff with no attempt to find a common ground or have a friendly chat, even tho your round the same age and do the same things.

I am just thinking aloud here.
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I cant say i have much interaction with "staff". Aside from the women i hand my essays into in the submissions office, i cant think of any others i've had any contact with.

    I dont see them as any different to tutors or anyone else ill find on campus, if they talk to me ill talk back or if im feeling particularly chatty ill pass the time of day. hehe
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ditto. I think the most conversation I've had with staff is "Do you have a pen/stapler/essay cover sheet". Plus I usually have about three minutes until deadline whilst trying desperately to remember my module number, so I think a friendly conversation would be out of the question! :lol:

    I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to have a few minutes friendly banter, I suppose it would be just like dealing with customers except all your customers are young, party mad students :D

    To answer your question, I suppose I see them just as I see the checkout lady at Asda. If she chats to me, great, I'll give a few friendly words back. Makes the day go better. But ultimately I just want her to scan and pack my porn and bog roll.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nah the general staff around the place I have nothing to do with. they're usually too stressed and being rude to us because of it anyways. It tends to be "Are you ready to hand it in?" "yeah" "Cheers you can go now". The secretaries are just as bad and you see their faces drop as soon as you appear at the office window. Lecturers on the other hand I do have a good relationship with and often stop and chat to in the corridors for 10 - 15 mins when I pass them and end up down at the pub with them regularly.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    until this year we used to hand our essays in at an office and someone signed the cover sheet - they were normally friendly, saying hello etc.

    but now we put our essay in a little machine and then it stamps it and then we have to post it in a box! i do like using the little machine though. :yippe: :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the staff at my uni are very friendly, i spend a lot of time in the SU office type things and all the guys that work there e.g. in events, marketing, finance etc are lovely, always have a chat to students, have a drink with us in the bar sometimes too. other than that i just see someone when im handing my essays in or getting them back and theyre ok too although i dont really have much to say to them.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the ones you hand your assignments to, you see for all of the 5 seconds when you hand your assignments in - too little interaction to judge tbh.
    tutors are the main people who students, like me, interact with, they are pretty approachable. as for general staff... erm... the union staff are pretty good at what they do imo. the support staff, who deal with students where i am, speaking from past experience are crap beyond belief! tho' the isn't really much staff-student interaction i don't find.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The staff I hand essays to, book labs out with etc are generally really friendly. They definitely know me better than my tutor who doesn't have a clue who I am, every time I go get my exam results from him he just says whats your name and hands them over.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The people who I hand my assignments in to I don't see in any different light to my tutor. I am in the computing department and with computing student office, the staff in their are always helpful. We also have teaching assistants etc.

    The only difference is that those members of staff just take your essays, so you just make small talk. My tutor and lecturers are overseeing my learning so I am obviously going to know them on a much better level and understand what they're doing to help me as part of their work.

    So no I dont think you dont do anything, our dept would collapse without office staff.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    When I had to arrange dispensation during my final year (I had a nervous breakdown and couldn't submit a dissertation), the admin staff were fantastic, plying me with tea and telling me exactly what to write on the form to make sure that it was dealt with properly.

    It's amazing what a letter from a psychologist on NHS Mental Health Trust notepaper will get you :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We have a wonderful volunteer co-ordinator. Not too keen on disability and dyslexia support people, apart from my one to one helper. Generally our staff are cool.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The admin on my course aren't fantastic. Semester 2 starts tomorrow, I got my timetable on Thursday, and still only know one of my tutorial groups. Considering I live at home and comute, and have out of Uni commitments, it's not fun trying to arrange everything. :grump:

    Overall though, they're good, but I've only done one semester so far so I've not met that many.
  • BunnieBunnie Posts: 6,099 Master Poster
    The main staff at John Moores were pretty miserable e.g. library, campus office, careers etc. But the staff in the Law building were fantastic. They got to know you over the years, and were really helpful. From the Staff on reception to the ladies in the canteen, all lovely :D

    However, there is not one smile to be found on any member of staff (or student) at UWE!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    haha

    well speaking as a staff member, we do have our stressful days, namely because tutors and lecturers and that are giving us work at the last minute to be done straight away and being very rude about it!!

    I have had cover recpetion many a time and always try to be as friendly and as helpful as I can.

    I think with staff members around me bing older I kinda look for people my own age to converse with but aint having too much luck ont hat front so far.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I applied for an admit job at a university and was told I was a good candidate but they hired someone older because, from experience, they've found the students don't show any respect to the younger members of admin staff. I couldn't be bothered to point out they'd discriminated against me on age, and admitted it, because I was offered a better hob about the same time anyway.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yeah that is ageist. Terrible really.

    I have to say some students can be very dissmissive and rude if you can't help them stright waya and do what they want like. And some are rude or just really thick anyway.

    Some are nice tho. I wish I could talk to them more.


    Well my job isn't suiting me, I will be moving on from it at some point tho its hard as you do get benefits from working at a uni.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I never really had any interaction with the staff at my college, but the admissions staff where always helpful when I had to speak to them, espically during my first year there.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    split into two groups- good guys and wankers
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ours are absolutely lovely, especially the wee camp man I hand my essays into, he's such a wee chatty person :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I guess I see it from a different view as I'm a member of student staff, but I always chat to folk, I guess its because I see them about loads and they know me from work as well as for being a student. Same goes for the SU staff, because I see them a lot with work and with my volunteering job I know a lot of them already.
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