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    85 voters

    School of Arts Personal Adobe Licences

    Submitted 9 months ago by Anonymous
    Current
      23comments
      Many courses across the University are dependent on the use of Adobe applications. In particular the School of Arts. Having personal licenses has been vital for some students who live further away from the university to complete their work. Additionally, there are not adequate facilities in place within the University to support the quantity of students who would require regular use of the Adobe Suite. For example, there are only 10 computers in the Architecture Studio, which will be used by dozens of students from Built Environment courses. While there are more PCs in the Library and Clegg Building, these facilities are used by hundreds more students at the FCH Campus. We feel this will greatly inhibit many students' ability to complete their work. While we can not comment for other campuses, we feel this is an issue that a wide array of students from the School of Arts will face and we would appreciate your votes and support! The ArchiSoc Team
    Agnieszka Kowal
    6:29pm on 9 Aug 23 Adobe software is indispensable for our course, and considering the hefty £30,000 tuition fee, I would expect the essential resources to be included. The university is already lacking crucial equipment, such as computers in the architectural studio.
    Hamish Mason
    7:35pm on 9 Aug 23 Several students including myself have been encouraged to invest thousands of pounds on our own personal computer to take advantage of the licence. Now it is being withdrawn it feel we have wasted large amounts of money
    Evan Atkins
    7:57pm on 9 Aug 23 Expecting students to use other facilities is unfeasible - with so few computers in the Architecture Studio, Architecture and Urban Planning students would be forced to work elsewhere and these computers are shared with hundreds of other students. It would make working extremely difficult if you could not guarantee the ability to use essential tools and certainly add unnecessary stress!
    Sophie Thomas Wooldridge
    9:25pm on 9 Aug 23 Going into our critical third year not having this software accessible at all times is appalling and could negatively impact the outcome of the degree which I currently pay £9,250 a year for.
    Jake Courtenay
    10:08pm on 9 Aug 23 Honestly, I find this university already lacking in critical facilities needed to carry out the courses they provide. There is not nearly enough computers within the the studio / areas of uni we actually have access too for one, to which the university's standard reply is always "use the computer suite". this suite is shared with hundreds of other students and trying to use this during peak hand in times is ridiculous. Not to mention hardly any of those computer actually have access to the full range of software we use that is required for our course submission e.g. Rhino. The one upside has been that the uni provided us with personal Adobe licences. Licences that you are now taking away because apparently the almost £30k we each pay to you isn't enough for this. Plenty of students (like myself) are working along side this full time course just to make ends meet as the cost of living is rising, but the student finance seems to be decreasing. As well as the fact that many of us have to commute just makes even more of a joke out of your decision to tell us to use the university computers as the suite locks after 10pm and the 24h library computers do not have sufficient processing power for the work expected of us. Quite frankly I'm beyond dissapointed in the university's decision to revoke the licences, as myself and my classmates all feel it is a vital tool needed to excel or even just meet the course requirements. I hope you are able to take the time to consider myself and my classmates options. I believe you will see grades pulmit throughout the year if you don't reconsider this
    Katherine Hickson
    7:17am on 12 Aug 23 Both Architecture and Interior Architecture are disciplines heavily dependent upon high levels of graphic representation and therefore the use of Adobe software. The number of PCs we are able to use that have the Adobe programs, along with other key software like Rhino, CAD, Sketchup and Twinmotion is very limited and we have to compete with students on other courses. What’s the point in setting up these courses in an attempt to broaden the University’s appeal if you don’t offer students the key facilities they need to thrive? As I’m sure you’re aware, we’re paying almost 10k a year for the privilege!
    Grace Clift
    11:43am on 12 Aug 23 As a photography student, I ,and all of my course mates, use a considerable amount of the Adobe apps to do our work on a daily basis. Considering the amount we pay for our courses, not being allowed to have access to Adobe at home is ridiculous. Personally, i am not always capable of going into uni all the time due to a chronic illness, and heavily rely on having home access to complete my course work. As some other comments have said as well, our campuses are not equipped for the volume of students that require the software to complete their work. I understand that this was something put in place for covid, but so many people, including myself, have become reliant on using this software at home. It is how I have managed to get into uni for one, and complete my first two years of uni, and I know that not having access to it on my own laptop is going to impact my ability to complete my third year.
    Molly Harmson
    11:50am on 12 Aug 23 Going into third year, I feel that the decision to stop providing the adobe creative suite on any personal device is something that will affect me and all the creative courses within the university. I understand that it was a provision put in place for the pandemic, but allowing us to experience our whole uni experience up until third year with these tools and then suddenly taking it away is very unfair. With paying just under 10k a year in tuition fees, the adobe creative package was one of the things I would assume the fees would cover and taking this away makes me question where that part of my money is going? As someone who needs a part time job to fund my time living at university, I find myself having to go back to my home town in breaks such as Christmas and Easter, which is when many of my assignments tend to be due. Taking away access to the adobe creative cloud on my own devices will mean that I will be forced to pay for my own subscription which I do not have the money to fund and will impact me greatly. Although the library and hardwick can be useful to get work complete, often computers can be full or there is personal reasons I cannot make it to one of these spaces. I feel that if you take it away from personal devices you will see more people struggling financially and for some, added stress will be a massive thing, especially for third years who are trying to get our degree and plan for stuff that will help us find employment after we graduate.
    Jessica Medway
    12:15pm on 12 Aug 23 Many of us including myself work tirelessly to earn money to support ourselves while studying here. Meaning our uni work gets done during unsociable hours, and unless you’ve walked St Paul’s as a woman in the dark you will not understand what I mean by the fact we feel extremely unsafe having to walk to campus after dark. Which is why the remote access severely aided our studies as it meant we were able to do our work whilst safe. The remote access not only made us safe it gave us access to course mandatory applications such as indesign. For one of the Ed and Ad assignments the use of indesign is mandatory to pass the assignment. If I didn’t have remote access to the Adobe suite I wouldn’t have gotten the grade that I did, in fact I highly doubt I would have passed at all. By you removing the remote access you have hindered all of us to achieve the best grades we can, and in turn hurt the university grade average for this course, and many creative courses alike. That is one aspect I know you’d be concerned about because it’s certainly not the students, in this choice of yours. As well as this, for me remote access is almost an essential part of my degree. I have chosen to narrow down my skill set and specialise in boudoir and underwear campaign photography. And so due the NSFW content of my work I don’t want other people to be uncomfortable when I am editing in shared spaces. Doing post production in the library or shared IT suites not only exposes people that don’t want to see this style of photography to it but also means the models in this shoot which are of university age/ all students, are exposed to people that have now seen them in their underwear. Which is not something they agreed to in the contracts they sign before a shoot. As a student and the increasing rate of the cost of living, many of us don’t have the spare finance to buy our own licenses to be able to do our work at home. We are living paycheck to paycheck hoping we have enough money to eat by the end of the month. Student finance? Oh no that won’t help because it barely covers my rent, so unless you’re willing to provide additional funds to those on creative courses to enable us to purchase our own licenses almost all of us going into the third year will struggle.
    Jessica Galgey
    2:40pm on 12 Aug 23 I’m going into second year and on the Ed and Ad course and I believe it is crucial to have the adobe software on our laptops because I agree with many of the comments the fact about unsociable hours and being unsafe to walk back from campus if we need to work at those times, I also agree it’s a cost we should not be paying for. Like many others I also have a part time job which has to fund university however I don’t have the money to be paying for this separately. This whole decision should definitely be reconsidered and thought about from the students
    Katie Bishop
    2:26pm on 14 Aug 23 Given that the Adobe package is basically the only one we can use to complete most of our work, it is incredibly unfair to restrict us to only being able to work on campus. This makes work basically impossible for anyone who commutes, can’t access one of the uni’s very few computers, or feels unsafe accessing the campus at night. It also makes it virtually impossible for anyone to go home during the holidays. Suggesting we buy the licenses ourselves is ridiculous as it very much begs the question of where the 9 grand each a year is going if it can’t be spent on basic necessities.
    George Stephens
    2:35pm on 14 Aug 23 This decision is incredibly poorly timed with the current cost of living crisis. I can’t see how you can justify adding additional bills for students. Secondly the lack of computers within the uni will slow down students and reduce the quality of their work. Adobe is essential at uni and at home!
    Toby Ghebru
    3:50pm on 14 Aug 23 Hi everybody! Just wanted to say thank you all for taking the time to submit your feedback on this issue. It's gained a lot of traction in a short space of time, which clearly indicates that it's something you all feel would negatively impact on your studies, and to quite a dramatic effect. Currently, myself and the Education & Community Officer are working on the next steps to resolving this problem, and hopefully achieving an outcome that is satisfactory for all students on Creative Courses. Really appreciate the feedback, and we'll be sure to update you ASAP once we've decided what to do next! :)
    Cara Gaffney
    4:28pm on 14 Aug 23 As a Landscape Architecture student, I find this decision deeply concerning, considering the use of Adobe software is integral to our coursework. While I appreciate that access will be retained within the school premises, this compromise falls far short of meeting our academic requirements. From personal experience, using the Uni computers has proven to be unreliable with unexpected shutdowns, glitches etc. that result in lost work due to the disconnection of cloud systems on shared devices. Along with the frequent malfunctions and frustration, the onsite computer rooms are already overcrowded and noisy failing to provide a suitable working environment for those that prefer to stay focused and undistracted. The university is aware of the time-consuming nature of learning and managing multiple software’s for beginners, and when combined with external work commitments and multiple deadlines, the university's decision forces us on site in unsociable hours. This is particularly concerning for young female students and logistically difficult when the studio is inaccessible after 10pm. This decision really adds to my ongoing dismay. We have faced a variety of challenges over the last two years, with fluctuating lecturers, unclear guidelines and subpar digital communications tutoring in first year. Now, removing our ability to practice at home during our free time is another blow that seems implausible. As young adults, we are aware that some things are uncontrollable, but in this instance, it is astonishing that such a significant decision was made without robust opposition. It appears that the importance of providing essential tools to students has been overlooked, along with the implications this will have on our learning experience. I really hope that the university reconsiders this ill-conceived move and aligns with the evolving needs of its students.
    Angharadd Jones
    9:52am on 15 Aug 23 Other University are able to provide a way to remotely access a universities desktop/Server (other than just using the MyGlos/Moodle & OneDrive). If we had this, then there would be no need to remove our "at home" access as is allows you to access the university pcs remotely from your own computer. The resources we have at uni with the appropriate software on are limited. You're now asking every student to use the limited supply - there will be issues on availability! Some students travel a long distance. There is a lot of money being lost in many areas unnecessarily within the university, I am sure one could find ways to recuperate the monies the university wants to without removing course specific and necessary software. This WILL effects a students study AND their mental health.
    Sophie Howells
    10:25am on 15 Aug 23 Even with remote access last year campuses were proven to be ill equipped to cope with student demand. Due to the cost of living crisis I hate to think how many new university students joining courses in September will be unable to afford their own computers or laptops. Onsite access should be a priority for those individuals. Removing remote access will only stretch valuable resources even thinner. It also takes away a students ability to work from home during the holidays. These programs are essential for the submission of most, and in some cases all, of our modules. Removing remote access will make it impossible to return home during the uni scheduled breaks. This could have serious ramifications for the mental health of many students. Which in turn would lead to a decline in grades achieved by this establishment. We've been told that it is due to costs, but with each student paying £9,250 a year it begs the question, where is that money going? Our facilities are not being improved. Our lectures are on strike because of pay. Are our fees being mismanaged? It seems that the money I'm paying for my education is instead going towards a development in Gloucester that current students will never benefit from.
    Max Tomlinson
    6:54pm on 15 Aug 23 To Whom it may concern, We hope this message finds you well. We would like to express some concerns and frustrations regarding the recent email outlining the changes to access Adobe on personal devices. While we understand the need for cost management and standardization over the courses, We find the decision to discontinue free access to Adobe Creative Cloud, especially considering our previous year's access and the nature of our course, quite disheartening. Last year, as you are aware, we were provided with free access to Adobe Creative Cloud, which included essential tools like Photoshop, Lightroom, and Adobe Bridge. Access to this software is crucial, and we believe it's important to note that this provision was during a year when Covid-19 restrictions had already eased. Therefore, using the conclusion of Covid-19 as an excuse for cutting our access is not entirely convincing. We would like to highlight some critical points from our course, Photojournalism, that make Adobe Creative Cloud access crucial for our success: Off-Campus Assignments: Our course often involves off-campus briefs, such as photographing events like Crufts. These real-world experiences require us to work remotely and quickly process and send images. Similarly, the mock major incident at Oxstalls campus simulates the fast-paced demands of real press photography. Without Adobe tools, we're left at a significant disadvantage. Professional Commitments: Many students on our course have jobs in photography that require the use of Adobe Creative Cloud. These jobs, coupled with the ongoing cost of living crisis, make paying for individual Adobe subscriptions a considerable financial burden. Physical Submissions: Our course requires physical submissions, which include printing images for assessment. The cost of these print submissions is already significant (around 58p per 10x8 lustre print via Simlabs plus shipping or around £70 per year as stated on the PJD page on the universities website), and the added expense of outsourcing these prints due to lack of facilities on campus further compounds the financial strain. Considering these factors, the proposed individual student subscription cost of £16.24 per month (rising to £24.96 after a year) is simply not feasible for a significant portion of students. This reality, coupled with the reduction in some students' loans (by as much as half in some cases), places an undue burden on us to bear these costs. In light of these challenges, we kindly request a breakdown of where our £9,250 tuition fees are allocated. This transparency will provide us with a better understanding of the distribution of our contributions and how they directly impact our educational experience. We genuinely believe that our concerns stem from a place of dedication to our education and future careers. We greatly value the opportunities and experiences our course offers, and we are eager to make the most of them. However, the sudden change in Adobe access affects our ability to fully engage and succeed in our coursework. Thank you for your time and understanding. We hope we can engage in a productive dialogue to find a solution that considers the unique requirements of our course and the challenges many of us are currently facing. Sincerely Photojournalism and Documentary student's 2nd year.
    James Davey
    7:07pm on 15 Aug 23 I actually can’t believe the uni is taking an essential service of its students. I’m on a course where we have on the spot briefs and have to edit our images on the go and send them in. We can’t do this without the adobe services, as students we are all struggling as it is and it baffles me that we pay£9,250 but can’t access this service outside of the university campus and are being advised by the uni to pay for it. We already have to pay extra on top of our £9,250 for printing images for assignments, we have to pay travel for commuting to events that we have to document some of those in completely opposite sides of the UK. Where is our loan going? I have around 20 people. Studying my course which means the university is minimum getting £185,000 from one class alone. I understand lectures and speakers need to be paid and also equipment for the students but how much is left over? I have rent to be paid food to be bought, trips that the uni say we “Must” attend, work to be printed to pass my assignments which is not cheap and on top of that I now need to pay for the services necessary to pass my course ? To pass my course I’m being placed in 37,000 worth of debt over 4 years to the government/university and basic requirements to pass the course like photo printing and editing software cannot be funded ? Somethings defiantly wrong.
    Conor O'Sullivan
    3:46pm on 4 Sep 23 design student We have been told countless times over the 2 years of my course I've done so far to buy our own ipads and buy pro create. And "encouraged" to buy other software like sketchup, indesign, prohotoshop and other Adobe software and other design software using our own money. Some of which cost hundreds or thousands a year. All materials we buy our own, even paper sometimes. Last year my model, where I was provided no materials, cost me near £100 and was not of much detail at all and had barely any impact on my overall grade, let alone for that one module. My course seems to be, the more I pay for materials or apps etc the higher grade I get.. so what am I paying £9,250 X 3 years for already? Nothing is funded for us and a lot that was promised on the course page on the website when I applied in 2021 to start 21/22 year, has not been taught to us or even mentioned. A lot of the trips have been cancelled and the 1 that wasn't, cost an arm and a leg. I overall think I'm not being taught what I need to, to go into the workplace at all. I couldn't even get a work placement with the things I was "taught" in my first year. And yet I'm going to be £30,000 in debt for tuition as well as near that again on top for accommodation. What am I paying for again?
    Simon Beasley
    4:45pm on 7 Sep 23 We are told adobe is what is used in industry and need to know how it works for our future careers and is what needs to be used for assignments. But for any work we do outside of uni we have been shown other bits of software to use. Doesn’t make sense. We are doing internship or work experience and we can’t use this software for when we are not near campus or use the computers on site when there are some free and available which is never.
    Cornelia Gower
    11:55am on 20 Sep 23 Frankly the recension of personal Adobe licences is appalling, the programs it provides are essential to course and allow us to work to the industry standard. Limiting this to on campus computers is contradictory to the concept of self study at university. Especially for those who commute and only make the trip to site for timetabled lectures. It also puts those here as international student in a different situation as they are more likely to go abroad during holidays, making campus access impossible. And even when you do go to site to work, the amount of computers are limited and close to deadlines getting a a space even now with the personal licensing is near to impossible. This will also make accessing the current campus specific software, only available on studio computers harder as every student will have to be on site for sometime as integral as indesign or photoshop. Assessing the advanced software will be made infinitely more difficult which will in turn limit the advancement and quality of work. It feels nonsensical to have remote project submission but restrict technological learning and progression only to campus. As there have also been no deductions in tuition fees, this cut back feels unwarranted. My secondary school provided personal creative cloud licensing from year 7 up until our senior years. It doesn’t make sense for a university to have a lower standard of resources then a high school. Fluency in these softwares only come from constant practice and use, complicating that will only result in poorer employability for graduates and constricted career opportunities and more time spent post graduation having to catch up to the industry standard. Which is not what Glos markets itself as or has based its reputation for employability on.
    Leon Keys
    2:59pm on 20 Sep 23 For my course adobe software is used daily and often needed in the field. Since it is only available at campuses because it is limited to computers at campus there is more planning needed and stress about achieving tight deadlines for photography assignments that need to be submitted within a short timeframe. A personal license would mean that the necessary software could be used at the time it is needed to process photographs. Instead of having to come back then go to a campus to do the same thing.
    Eleanor Flack
    8pm on 5 Oct 23 This is highly insensitive considering the current cost of living crisis and creates a barrier to our education which is not what university is about, students of a variety of backgrounds should feel welcomed to the university including its resources, there's no sense of empowerment for those who are limited in travel to university due to personal or financial reasons. Furthermore the university clearly states the necessary amount of hours students should use to study outside of lectures, this new regulation for adobe defeats the purpose of part time/full time students who live afar and for students using time out of lectures especially for those who come into university solely for lectures, it does not take into account the various physical or mental health conditions which also may be a barrier for some students coming to university in person.