University of Not-Bielefeld – Page 3

Belabelling a point

Every time that I start to worry that I’m running out of material for this blog, admin comes through for me. I suppose that means that I should be grateful somehow … … but definitely not in this case. We all know the drill. Once we set up an e-mail account, the very first andContinue reading “Belabelling a point”

A question of form

Forms are synonymous with admin. And forms are simply awful. Period. (Although most people would agree with each of these sentiments, I strongly suspect that they have never contemplated the logical consequence of linking them together.) There is, of course, the pain inherent to any form in and of itself. However, there’s whole bunches ofContinue reading “A question of form”

Working the chain gang

Remember the good ol’ days of the internet? The days before endless numbers of spam e-mails about penis enlargements or from Nigerian princes? (Or about penis enlargements for Nigerian princes? I mean, they have to invest those millions somewhere, right?) When life was simpler and people were so unsavvy that you actually had to explainContinue reading “Working the chain gang”

We are Anonymous

To combat cheating, my University here in Not-Bielefeld recently implemented an online tool (PlagScan) to help to assess the degree of possible plagiarism in student reports and theses. (As an extreme bit of irony, the program came online exactly one day after I submitted a report on a thesis where there were some instances ofContinue reading “We are Anonymous”

Hours are not to reason why

If you’ve ever wanted a good example of the old saying that time is relative, you need look no further than the admin behind teaching in Germany. It all seems so simple going in. When I arrived at the University here in Not-Bielefeld, I was told that my teaching load was nine hours a weekContinue reading “Hours are not to reason why”

An open-and-shut case

For our “protection”, the IT Department here at the University of Not-Bielefeld recently restricted the types of attachments that could be received via e-mail. Most affected by this were the older Microsoft Office documents (e.g., .doc or .xls files), which could be compromised with vicious macros and other similarly evil stuff. Instead, for the pastContinue reading “An open-and-shut case”

Paperback griper

In a stunning bid to catch up with the 20th century, my University here in Not-Bielefeld mandated that from last Autumn onwards all examination administration was to be done online only. Paper-free exam administration as the name proudly proclaims. As an amateur technoweenie, I found the idea great. Nothing like a bit of superfluous technologyContinue reading “Paperback griper”

Printing in the pandemic

My university here in Not-Bielefeld, on the whole, has taken a careful, considered, and thoughtful approach to the whole coronavirus pandemic. (And to those people who are already screaming that I should be writing “COVID-19”, don’t ever let me hear you refer to “the flu” or “influenza”, ok?) One could only wish that most governmentsContinue reading “Printing in the pandemic”