Around 150 students at the newly merged NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences have been unable to access Blackboard, a digital academic resource, since the beginning the school year.
Translation by Traci White
Since the beginning of the academic year, dozens of students have not been able to submit assignments, view online reading materials or register for exams on Blackboard.
The exact number of students impacted is not entirely clear: Omrop Fryslân says that around 100 students are having issues accessing Blackboard, but the Leeuwarder Courant cites a higher figure of 150.
Merger
In comments to Omrop Fryslân, a spokesperson for NHL Stenden attributed the problems to the recent merger of the two universities of applied sciences and said that they are working hard to have the issues resolved by next week. “We’re transitioning from two separate digital systems into one, which has unfortunately resulted in problems for a number of students.”
The Leeuwarder Courant reports that the university, which has branches in Leeuwarden, Meppel, Emmen and Groningen (and four branch facilities in Qatar, Indonesia, Thailand and South Africa), has 24,000 students altogether. At least one student who is following an accelerated course told the paper that he is filing a formal complaint and requesting damage compensation.