Alix Pooperston

Review of Melbourne Polytechnic

The teaching staff are good, but some of whoever i...

The teaching staff are good, but some of whoever is managing the back end is at times hopeless. Maybe they need more staff? I have no idea.
Recently I tried to enrol in a program, advertised on the website as starting 3 times a year. So I rang for information, the person on the phone was extremely vague about when it started and wouldn't answer the question, but told me it was going to cost a certain price (it later turned out to only be half the quoted price). They then said to find out more I had to enrol online. So I did. I was emailed and told to go to an information and enrolment session, so I did. Once I got there they had no record of me, because for one I'd been told to go to the wrong information session, secondly for the course I wanted to do there wasn't EVER an enrolment / information day, thirdly I had to go to a completely different campus to speak directly to the department about enrolling. Once I got there they were extremely helpful (turns out the course only starts once a year, and informed me of the actual price which was half of the originally quoted price) and rolled their eyes about my experience. Sounds like it wasn't uncommon.
My other experience was when I was a student there several years ago. I was supplied a timetable which clashed with my job, so I had to quit my job and move to cheaper accommodation to afford it. One week before classes started they altered the timetable, and it no longer clashed with my previous job. Come on. People have lives and families to support. I was supplied a vague and poorly worded materials list, which meant when I bought the wrong things I had to go re-purchase items. Half way through the semester they added in another class without warning (which luckily fell on my only half-day off between work & study otherwise it would have been a massive financial mess)

This isn't meant to disparage all the good and hard work that some of the great staff there do, they really do have some great helpful and knowledgeable people. It does seem like a few of the others need to sort it out or get more support though