Upon first glance, not much would appear to have changed in the Main Library. To the average student, the laptops look the same as they ever did before— and yet, a costly change has taken place in recent weeks.
The addition of ‘Flexible Learning Spaces’ to the second floor of the Main Library in recent weeks has raised many eyebrows within the university. Amid the Edinburgh branch of the University and College Union’s (UCU) 5 weeks of strike action, this unfortunate coincidence immediately prompts questions surrounding the university’s financial priorities.
The Flexible Learning Spaces purport to offer enhanced student experience, by allowing students to connect their laptops to either monitors or Mac mini devices. The monitors, costing £293.99 a piece, serve the purpose of extending the screen of your personal device, and whilst “mildly helpful” may aptly describe their use, “necessary” is not an adjective which springs to mind.
Receiving first prize for the most superfluous technology in the library, however, are the Mac mini devices, which allows students to use the laptops as they would a MacBook. Bringing no apparent benefits, and costing £489 per device, these small boxes can only be met with bemusement.
Though the monitors can facilitate students who sit at desks with PCs, without actually using the PCs, it seems an extraordinarily expensive measure for an issue that could be resolved by a simple prohibition poster, and fails to accommodate the remaining PC spaces in the rest of the library. The decision continuously evades all rationality, and the financial splurge in a time of serious economic tension is not looked kindly upon by students.
As the compulsory redundancies of university staff still remains an unaddressed issue, with senior management maintaining claims that they are mandatory precautions in order to avoid a financial deficit, other expenditures must necessarily be called into question. A university struggling to stay afloat surely avoids furnishing its library with gratuitous technology.
The monitors come as the latest addition to a long series of questionable financial investments by the university— this is not an isolated incident. The renovation of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in 2022, now known as the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI), cost a reported £120m, £63,287,000 of which was paid for by the university itself. Whilst the EFI has become a popular study space since its opening, its dual function in facilitating the public prompts us to look towards a trend of financial incredulity which has plagued the University of Edinburgh for many years. Consistently it seems that financial choices are made without students at the forefront of the decision making.
Large expenditure on material goods during a time when staff are threatened with a loss of their livelihood leaves a sour taste in the mouth of every student, as yet another black mark has stained the murky legacy of the university’s senior management. It would seem that material gain has preserved its position as the main priority of the University of Edinburgh.
Photo by Max Brown for the Student.
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Upon first glance, not much would appear to have changed in the Main Library. To the average student, the laptops look the same as they ever did before— and yet, a costly change has taken place in recent weeks.
The addition of ‘Flexible Learning Spaces’ to the second floor of the Main Library in recent weeks has raised many eyebrows within the university. Amid the Edinburgh branch of the University and College Union’s (UCU) 5 weeks of strike action, this unfortunate coincidence immediately prompts questions surrounding the university’s financial priorities.
The Flexible Learning Spaces purport to offer enhanced student experience, by allowing students to connect their laptops to either monitors or Mac mini devices. The monitors, costing £293.99 a piece, serve the purpose of extending the screen of your personal device, and whilst “mildly helpful” may aptly describe their use, “necessary” is not an adjective which springs to mind.
Receiving first prize for the most superfluous technology in the library, however, are the Mac mini devices, which allows students to use the laptops as they would a MacBook. Bringing no apparent benefits, and costing £489 per device, these small boxes can only be met with bemusement.
Though the monitors can facilitate students who sit at desks with PCs, without actually using the PCs, it seems an extraordinarily expensive measure for an issue that could be resolved by a simple prohibition poster, and fails to accommodate the remaining PC spaces in the rest of the library. The decision continuously evades all rationality, and the financial splurge in a time of serious economic tension is not looked kindly upon by students.
As the compulsory redundancies of university staff still remains an unaddressed issue, with senior management maintaining claims that they are mandatory precautions in order to avoid a financial deficit, other expenditures must necessarily be called into question. A university struggling to stay afloat surely avoids furnishing its library with gratuitous technology.
The monitors come as the latest addition to a long series of questionable financial investments by the university— this is not an isolated incident. The renovation of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in 2022, now known as the Edinburgh Futures Institute (EFI), cost a reported £120m, £63,287,000 of which was paid for by the university itself. Whilst the EFI has become a popular study space since its opening, its dual function in facilitating the public prompts us to look towards a trend of financial incredulity which has plagued the University of Edinburgh for many years. Consistently it seems that financial choices are made without students at the forefront of the decision making.
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Large expenditure on material goods during a time when staff are threatened with a loss of their livelihood leaves a sour taste in the mouth of every student, as yet another black mark has stained the murky legacy of the university’s senior management. It would seem that material gain has preserved its position as the main priority of the University of Edinburgh.
Photo by Max Brown for the Student.
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