Missed exams due to road conditions?

wonderfulname

Ok I know this is already mentioned in another thread but I figured it deserved its own.

From the aforementioned thread;

James wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I know this is the middle of exams, but with a bit of luck you will check this email in time.

The James Joyce Library will close tonight at 10pm. Other libraries will close a little earlier. If the weather continues, the same will take place tomorrow.

In terms of exams, they will still go ahead. Keep an eye on www.ucd.ie. UCD are keeping an eye on Dublin Bus/DART updates and will start doing this tomorrow at 6am and will base any decisions on that and the weather updates. Updates on exams will be posted online. All of the main roads and areas around the hall will be cleared and the SU shuttle bus will operate as usual. If you really can't make an exam you must fill out an extenuating circumstances form and attach a garda report outlining the fact that roads are impassable at your address. Aside from that exams are going ahead.

Hope the exams are going well.

James
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

I'm not a UCD student, but I'm posting this for one. We went on a nice little trip today to Pearse st. Garda Station and quoted the above advise to the Garda on duty. His response; UCD are shifting the responsibility to someone else, and he refused to help us on the grounds that it could not be proved that this was why the exam was missed, and it was not his duty to provide us with the required report. His supervisor repeated the same. Could someone not have had a quick check with the guards to see if the advise given was the correct advice?
So what's next? Is anyone else in the same circumstances, if so have you had any luck with a report?

TheVoodoo

It's also in the emergency services forum.


Apparently there is no such form/report. All they will do is stamp the extenuating circumstances form, and sign it.

I cant see the college not accept it to be honest, it's not like your friend will be the only one in that situation. Did they get in contact with the lecturer/ school?

Sierra Oscar

I raised the issue here. To be honest, I smelt a rat immediately when UCD started asking for such reports . . . it sounded like to me that UCD admin were making up stuff as they went along and were hoping for the best. Questions need to be asked about this.

nbrady20009

You can get a professional to write a note for you either:

wonderfulname

TheVoodoo wrote: »

It's also in the emergency services forum.


Apparently there is no such form/report. All they will do is stamp the extenuating circumstances form, and sign it.

I cant see the college not accept it to be honest, it's not like your friend will be the only one in that situation. Did they get in contact with the lecturer/ school?

He was refusing not only on the basis that such a report did not exist but also as he did not want to be accountable - "Who's to say you were on the bus, you could have slept in/gone out on the town/not wanted to go - I can't write something like that because I can't prove you were there."
She's been in contact with the SU welfare officer and was trying to get through to someone in assessments, don't know if she pulled it off.

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I raised the issue here. To be honest, I smelt a rat immediately when UCD started asking for such reports . . . it sounded like to me that UCD admin were making up stuff as they went along and were hoping for the best. Questions need to be asked about this.

That was my initial impression as well, also I think its pretty ridiculous you wind up with an IX because UCD left it too late to do anything about the exams. I would imagine if enough people are in the same boat they will change their tune.

wonderfulname

nbrady20009 wrote: »

You can get a professional to write a note for you either:
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So given that the only professional specified on that list with authority over the issue is a Garda, I guess I'd be looking for a Garda report then? :rolleyes:

nbrady20009

wonderfulname wrote: »

So given that the only professional specified on that list with authority over the issue is a Garda, I guess I'd be looking for a Garda report then? :rolleyes:

No that is what the "other" box if for, so any professional in your area would be accepted.

wonderfulname

nbrady20009 wrote: »

No that is what the "other" box if for, so any professional in your area would be accepted.

That's not how it works, the "other" box is for professions like your dentist if you had a tooth related emergency, or the lady at the ryanair help-desk if you wound up stuck abroad because they cancelled a flight - its not so you can waltz down to your local solicitor and ask them to put their name to something nobody else will.

Sad Professor

Yeah, they aren't going to accept a note from anyone as long as they are a "professional". That section is for student's attaching sick certs and stuff like that. It is supporting evidence that backs up their claim that they were ill or whatever. What professional can backup your claim that it was snowing and the traffic was mental?

When they decided to go ahead with exams this morning they knew some people wouldn't be able to make it. The Garda report thing sounds like bs that they made up to encourage as many students as possible to come in. So, unless the college wants a letter from AA Roadwatch, they are going to have to give most people the benefit of the doubt. Because I don't see how anyone can really prove that they couldn't make it in because of the snow.

parker kent

Does anybody know how many people didn't make it to an exam this morning? They could end up with an egg on their face moment and holding a second session for the exams. I guess they could offer the second chance to people who attended the exam this morning too if they were upset at people getting longer to study for it. Whatever happens, people who genuinely could not get to the RDS should not be penalised.

A bit of a nightmare situation really for UCD. Calling them off last night would have been wiser, but I can see why they wanted to soldier on and finish them before Christmas. But it should have been clear that people would end up missing the exam last night.

TheVoodoo

Easily half of my class was not there for a 12pm exam. Saw lots of empty seats around too, a lot more than normal!

parker kent

TheVoodoo wrote: »

Easily half of my class was not there for a 12pm exam. Saw lots of empty seats around too, a lot more than normal!

Well the empty seats would not be that unusual for the second last day of exams. But half your class missing is unusual.

The annoying thing is that many will have claimed they could not make it when they could have made some arrangements to get there or stay with somebody/stay at a hotel etc. But there will definitely have been people who genuinely could not get there and did not have enough time to make alternative plans due to how late the snow fell yesterday.

wonderfulname

parker kent wrote: »

The annoying thing is that many will have claimed they could not make it when they could have made some arrangements to get there or stay with somebody/stay at a hotel etc. But there will definitely have been people who genuinely could not get there and did not have enough time to make alternative plans due to how late the snow fell yesterday.

Shh... don't say that, every case is genuine - if they decide most, or even a sizeable majority are not people will have to jump through hoops to sort it out.

ironclaw

parker kent wrote: »

Well the empty seats would not be that unusual for the second last day of exams. But half your class missing is unusual.

The annoying thing is that many will have claimed they could not make it when they could have made some arrangements to get there or stay with somebody/stay at a hotel etc. But there will definitely have been people who genuinely could not get there and did not have enough time to make alternative plans due to how late the snow fell yesterday.

I agree. There is the chance that you genuinely couldn't make it. But call my old fashioned, if you wanted to be there you could have been. I live a fair distance from UCD / RDS and if I had to walk, I would have. My degree and the money I pay to do it means that much to me.

Its ironic that FaceBook was alive to the sound of getting into town for a booze up (And many subsequently did). The irony however was lost on many.

Sad Professor

I just saw this on the UCD site:

What do I do if I could not make examinations at 09:00, 12:00, 13:00 or 15:00 on the 21st December due to the weather?

The University understands the difficulties encountered due to the adverse weather conditions. The University will communicate with students early in the new year with regards to this.

http://www.ucd.ie/registry/assessment/postponed_exams_faq.html

So it sounds like they do have plans to facilitate those students who missed exams yesterday.

parker kent

ironclaw wrote: »

I agree. There is the chance that you genuinely couldn't make it. But call my old fashioned, if you wanted to be there you could have been. I live a fair distance from UCD / RDS and if I had to walk, I would have. My degree and the money I pay to do it means that much to me.

Its ironic that FaceBook was alive to the sound of getting into town for a booze up (And many subsequently did). The irony however was lost on many.

Yeah the Booze-up brigade that particularly annoyed me. There will have been many hoping for the exams to be cancelled too. So there will be a definite amount of people that used the snow as an excuse.

Not sure if people living in Wicklow or Kildare could have walked to the RDS though! The problem is that it remained manageable to get to exams up until Tuesday morning and it was only late on Monday that the situation drastically worsened. So there was not much time for students or UCD to work out what to do. The hotel, friend option would have been impossible for many given what short notice they had.

snooleen

I live in Kildare, and luckily, got the train yesterday so that, in ordinary circumstances, I would've arrived at the RDS at 11 for my 12 pm exam. My train to town was delayed by about 15 minutes and then stopped a few times for 5-10 minutes at a time, as it experienced technical difficulties but they couldn't just turf us all out :P I made it to the RDS for 20 to 12 and was lucky-had I gotten the train 30 mins later I might not have been allowed in.

I was more worried yesterday about today-I would've been getting one of the earliest trains to be in for 9 and couldn't really leave earlier than usual in case of delays. A lot of people I spoke to yesterday had exams late yesterday evening and were worried about getting home, torn between failing exams or being stranded in the RDS

There is no way UCD can prove that students genuinely missed because of the snow, but at the same time, there is no way they can prove that they didn't.

Chet T16

My main concern was getting home after the exam, which would have been leaving the RDS for wicklow at 8pm so travelling well after 9.30 in normal conditions. Whatever about making it there. I emailed my student advisor and she was in agreement with me and suggested extenuating circumstances. My point being she was willing to accept i wasn't going because of my fears for getting home, not because i couldn't make it. To be fair, it was highly unlikely i was going to make it in anyway but this was shortly after the 7.30am announcement so almost 10 hours before my exam but we all knew what was going to happen.

She also said "That's news to me about a garda report. I don't think that's true." And you'd certainly like to think the studnt advisors are up to date on college policy.

parker kent

Chet T16 wrote: »

She also said "That's news to me about a garda report. I don't think that's true." And you'd certainly like to think the studnt advisors are up to date on college policy.

I had not really looked into the garda report thing until now, UCD have not mentioned that anywhere at all. So I'm not particularly sure where James Williamson got that. So there is a possibility that is pure SU hyperbole. It is all conjecture at this stage. Which explains why the Gardaí would not know anything about this.

I can see there just being an all out repeat session of the exams from the final 2 days and anybody that has already sat the exam will have the choice whether they sit it again. Well that is what seems sensible to me anyway! Yesterdays exams should have been cancelled late on Monday night, it should have been obvious it could not go ahead.

nbrady20009

wonderfulname wrote: »

That's not how it works, the "other" box is for professions like your dentist if you had a tooth related emergency, or the lady at the ryanair help-desk if you wound up stuck abroad because they cancelled a flight - its not so you can waltz down to your local solicitor and ask them to put their name to something nobody else will.

No lad got my local judge to write a note for me confirming what I said was true. He said it was no problem and had done it before for other students. Ran it by the student advisor and she said it was ok.

jano1

My brother missed an exam Sat eve 18th Dec, waited for UCD bus to RDS instead of walking - it never turned up. Does he have to pay to sit the exam next semester/is it recorded as a faileven though he did not sit it?

ironclaw

jano1 wrote: »

My brother missed an exam Sat eve 18th Dec, waited for UCD bus to RDS instead of walking - it never turned up. Does he have to pay to sit the exam next semester/is it recorded as a faileven though he did not sit it?

With respect, why didn't he walk? Had I seen a bus wasn't coming with 20 mins to go before the exam, I'd begin walking at least. Its actually not that far, 15 mins at a push. You'd probably be late at that stage, but at least you could sit it. However if medically he was unable to get there bar a UCD bus / taxi / Dublin Bus, then I suppose you'd have some grounds.

Sad Professor

jano1 wrote: »

My brother missed an exam Sat eve 18th Dec, waited for UCD bus to RDS instead of walking - it never turned up. Does he have to pay to sit the exam next semester/is it recorded as a faileven though he did not sit it?

It's recorded as NG. And yes, like ironclaw said, unless he can show he was ill or whatever then he will have to pay to resit/repeat/substitute it. I think the deadline for extenuating circumstances has passed though.

parker kent

jano1 wrote: »

My brother missed an exam Sat eve 18th Dec, waited for UCD bus to RDS instead of walking - it never turned up. Does he have to pay to sit the exam next semester/is it recorded as a faileven though he did not sit it?

It is an NG. He didn't show up even though he could have walked. He should have to pay to repeat or resit. The exam went ahead, he was relatively close to the RDS, he hasn't really got a valid excuse.

Has he contacted anybody at all about this before now? Because he really should have immediately.

jano1

Yes, his result shows NG, he did go to the prog office when he returned to Dublin but they said it was too late for extenuating circumstances. He was told to email the Dean which he has done but has no reply yet. He had returned to UCD the eve of the exam and waited for the UCD bus from 5.10pm for the 6pm exam. He is a recovering addict and doesn't always see things as you or I do due to his personality problems. Anyway he hasn't brought that to the attention of anyone in UCD and got into UCD on his points so is as 'anonymous' as the next person. He passed 4 modules and got an E in one module and NG in the exam he missed. Can he compensate for the E now? Will he have to attend lectures etc for the history module he didn't sit the exam in? He did submit all essays successfully for it already and the irony of it all is that he would have easily passed that as he was well prepared for it.