covert monitoring-lack of support/union etc

the system went into duplication mode so have cut and pasted this thread which I started
covert monitoring etc
Submitted by pagbg on Wed, 31/12/2008 - 17:27
• The Rant

what are the feelings about the use of covert student monitoring (eg diaries being kept on students with out their knowledge) by academic and non academic staff
Also is it right for the University to ignore a doctors letter defending a students performance on medical grounds
I believe there is something about equality & transparency?
• Add new comment

#1
mp4401 wrote 3 weeks 4 days ago
From a practical point of
From a practical point of view, I don't think that the university staff want another administrative role in their job, for that reason it would seem undesirable.
From the perspective of our privacy, it is hurrenous!

#2
pagbg wrote 3 weeks 3 days ago
covert monitoring & more- a true rant
I hope this does not happen to any one else, I do not believe I have been treated fairly by the University system. The statement on this page says the Student's Union exists to promote, defend and extend the rights of students of the University Bristol.
Having just had the negative experience of the Complaints/grievance procedure (like other unfortunates) which produces a report balanced in favour of you know who. The report did not answer why over 20 regulations were disregarded, documents were quoted out of context, observations gathered in a very questionable manner are embraced, medical evidence ignored- conclusion the Establishment gets a pat on the back- sounds sweeter to the Council than the whingeing student and may deter others from complaining, every one knows that research students get very little !
Are my rights are being respected? This is my 11th year at Bristol- of-you name it- no induction, the result of the little support given by my supervisor(who would not be allowed to be a supervisor now) was subject to a request by the examiners (who I had to seek myself) to remove from my dissertation which was evaluated not as being worth a PhD although 3 other academics did not share that opinion & the reasons given although not true, cannot be questioned because they are considered academic judgment. Let alone a double bias being presented.There is a lot worse- the reasons (all this happened was because of a complaint over 5 years ago- until then my slate was clean) that can not be stated here for legal reasons
Students used to fight for social justice. Students that get treatment as above show up the flaws in the system so new rules can be made at the consumers expense- education has very few consumer rights

#3
rh9438 wrote 3 weeks 2 days ago
It is not entirely clear
It is not entirely clear which of your rights were not respected. If you think there was malicious intent (i.e. there was an active attempt to force you out of the university) then the only thing I can suggest is seek legal advice.
Dodgy supervision I’ve heard a lot about. Both my parents have PhDs and when I was applying for mine their one piece of advise was that it’s the supervisor(s) rather than the university that matters. I don’t know if the line between questionable supervision and breach-of-contract has been tested in court.
Supervisors aside, the support research students get seems to be very dependent on department, even within the same faculty. Bristol has something like a 90% PhD pass rate, but I suspect that is skewed by departments such as Chemistry and Electrical Engineering that have 120+ PhD students each..

#4
pagbg wrote 2 days 1 hour ago
lack of support
It is not justified that performance monitoring should take place on a whim especially by non-academic staff who have already indicated a dislike of the student, who has not been told about the exercise and personal life details are kept on file - not only is there no validation of what has been written but it feeds distrust, which is justified when no one in this University from the top to the students union wants to hear about the problems caused.
It makes it even worse when the period in question was very stressful on all fronts, and no support but only more pressure was given which has resulted in long term depression (which is probably why I am not making myself clear)- again contrary to law, the Uni have not made any positive adjustments, quite the opposite to date
Human rights have been questioned and if this University is going to respect my rights, they certainly have not told me yet, but what upsets me so much is that in normal Union situations, you would expect some support, but no one wants to know here- to busy creating fun events- it makes me want to choke when you get an email ending love from the UBU- who pays them?
its difficult to stand up to an institution on your own- no one is going to remember me when they change the rules, as they already have done and the fact it cost me 10 years of expensive grief-
My parents were working class and both are now dead, I am a mature student, who when these diaries were written, was a lone parent with 2 kids- I would not recommend any one in this situation to pay for self funded PhD research at Bristol it could well mean signing up for DIY or may be DYI (do yourself in) research

#5
ao6463 wrote 19 hours 55 min ago
I'm sure the Union would do
I'm sure the Union would do everything they can to help/represent you - you just need to contact the right people.
Try Ruth Jackson if you consider it a welfare issue, or Tobin Webb if it's more educational. This is just a discussion forum that any student can write in, so don't be disheartened if the advice isn't quite what you were after!

#7

pagbg wrote 12 min 43 sec ago
union support
Ruth Jackson sat on the Hearing Committee that rejected of my appeal/grievance- I was really surprised because on top of all the obvious shenanigans, the letter from my GP was ignored- at the time I did not know that long term depression was a disability- as I was only told by student advisers that it was common in postgrads (wonder why??)- it was only after my GP informed me of the Disability Discrimination Act that I was aware of my rights- the Uni did not want to know.
It is very difficult to defend yourself perfectly when you are depressed and outnumbered-remember -staff are apparently incapable of giving inaccurate statements-, and what they say about closing ranks is very true.
I have tried to get an appointment with Tobin but was told he was too busy & probably could not help any way.
Oh yes- the Uni response to covert monitoring via logs/diaries is that you sign up for it in the Student Declaration (not sure what it was 2003/2004- as stated I have been told that rules have changed because of my experience) so although the Declaration does not specifically say your movements/conversations/comments about private life may be logged without you knowing- it could be used as an excuse to infringe your legal rights
Its reasonable to understand, that as well as living in rural isolation in South Wales- I have now been totally isolated with in the Uni- I did want to propose an AGM motion about the way student hearings are conducted but knew no one to second me-
It certainly is an alternative image to the glossy image the Uni gives itself.