Letter to the Editor: Waterloo Works

To the Editor,

Jobmine is broken. In addition to general frustration for students resulting from formatting, usability, bugs and file types detracting from our ability to dedicate our time to academics, the system is equally unusable for employers, who frequently rely on overburdening CECS staff to post their jobs. Though less noticeable, Jobmine’s inability to collate and export data severely hampers the ability of CECS to improve their service to students and employers.

The official cancellation reasons are concerns about scalability, usability and sustainability. These are all legitimate concerns. I’ve had the opportunity to discuss Waterloo Works with the lead architect, Ken McKay and learn about the system. While there have been concerns about usability, I have seen the system and can attest that it is far more usable than Jobmine, and more importantly, is designed in such a way that improvements can continue to be made. Unlike the decision to cancel, there was intense consultation with employers, students and CECS in designing and improving the user experience of the system.

The scalability argument is even more ludicrous as it has been painfully obvious for years that Jobmine is not scalable to our current size. Furthermore, the inability to correct bugs and deficiencies in Jobmine indicate that Waterloo Works could be no worse. While Waterloo Works of course has bugs, it has been designed with modularity to allow fixing of sub-components without drastically impacting the overall system and has made drastic improvements over the past 8 months, with a fierce emphasis on incorporating student and employer feedback.

This decision was clearly made without advanced thought or consultation with key players. This apparently irreversible decision was announced to those of us on the co-op education council with no warning on February 22nd and the university at large on February 25th. An update sent from Dianne Bader (Director of CECS operations) on February 7 outlined the very real challenges facing Waterloo Works, and more importantly, how they would be addressed, which was apparently ignored by the decision-makers. Peggy Jarvie, executive director of CECS, was not informed until the 22nd and was not a part of the decision to cancel.

The excuse as to why it was cancelled so hastily, with little warning and in the middle of term, is that it was done to protect architecture students. This argument is ludicrous as architecture and CECS must scramble to accommodate the sudden change and architecture students are much better off under Waterloo Works. Notably, the portfolio which they had previously been able to upload to Waterloo Works is now lost.

This decision was made by Bruce Mitchell, Associate Provost Academic Affairs (mitchell@uwaterloo.ca), Geoff McBoyle, Associate Vice-Provost Academic (gmcboyle@uwaterloo.ca) and Alan George, Associate Provost of IST (alan.george@uwaterloo.ca). When asked to indicate who else had been involved with the decision or what specific groups had expressed concern, the question has been repeatedly avoided. It is clear that the needs of employers, students and CECS staff were not considered in this decision. Similar evasion was used when asked what alternatives were considered and if the problems facing Waterloo Works had been compared to those of Jobmine.

The $2.7 million invested in this project is a shame, but more important is that students will continue to suffer the vagaries of Jobmine with no clear replacement or improvements planned. This move shows a fundamental lack of recognition of the importance of co-op to Waterloo students and employers, and is especially irresponsible given the lack of a plan for moving forward and lack of consultation with key stakeholders. I have verified that my frustration is shared by many at the university and students are not alone in their anger. As my voice, like those of the faculties, CECS and other student representatives were not listened to, or even asked for, I hope it finds sympathetic ears here.

Sincerely,

Alexander Hogeveen Rutter