After the somewhat still on-going confusion of WebAccess to Gmail and ICAN to Banner conversions, the University has appeared to finally take into account the students’ feelings about such changes happening all at once.

It’s true that students feel overwhelmed. First we joined Nicholls and had to memorize our Social Security numbers and student IDs (for the students who have been here longer), and then we were told we had to memorize new N numbers and usernames (also for the older students).

Another switch seems like a little too much at once, but is it really? The University will soon switch from Blackboard to Moodle, and postponing it will not make students feel any better about it. A few months won’t stop students from complaining that it’s all too much at once. We’re not sure how students feel about it, honestly. We’ve heard both arguments. Some think it’s too much new information to memorize, and others feel that it doesn’t matter when it happens, because it’s going to happen anyway.

So did the University really take into account how students feel?

In the past, such decisions were never based on the student “grape-vine.” It never mattered how many students appeared to complain. Unless there was an official poll—especially if it was University-issued, as student-issued campaigns generally don’t make much of a difference (the smoking in vehicles campaign last semester had numerous signatures)—University officials did not hold much stock in students’ “feelings.”

We’re not blaming the University for this. There is an official way of doing things, and we understand that. Listening to students’ opinions without an official form of intake would make the University appear biased to certain opinions.

But why do unofficial students’ opinions suddenly matter when it comes to postponing the Blackboard to Moodle conversion? Why is the University suddenly citing “student opinion” as the reason for postponing a significant change?

Why can’t the University admit that they just need more time?

A few faculty members will be using Moodle ahead of time or in conjunction with Blackboard. If the postpone is because of student opinion, wouldn’t these faculty members not be allowed to use it, as the conversion for the select few students taught in those classes would be unfair?

We are in no way agreeing that this conversion will be too much on students or complaining that the University has appeared to take student opinions into account. In fact, we believe that the conversion won’t be as much as a “big deal” as the University believes it will be. At least not any more of one now than it will be in a few months. We also appreciate that the University seems to finally be listening to its students.

We’re just concerned that there is suddenly a lack of official methods to attain those student opinions. Does the University now pick which opinions to listen to? Is the University turning over a new leaf and planning to continue to listen to popular, voiced student opinions? It worries us. We never answered any questions or polls about the Blackboard to Moodle conversion, so we don’t know how officials decided that the majority student opinion was one of dissatisfaction.

How does one arbitrarily decide the majority?