Durham College : Oshawa
Durham College : Oshawa is a Public, Non-Sectarian, Career, Institute established in 1967. The campus is located in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada and hosts students with an endowment of .
Website: www.durhamcollege.ca
Address:
Phone: (no local phone number)
Email: (no public email address)
Institution Type: Public, Non-Sectarian, Career, Institute
Established: 1967
Campus Enrollment: N/A
Acceptance Rate: N/A
Graduation Rate (6Y): N/A
Campus Endowment: N/A
Tuition (Local): N/A
Tuition (Non-Local): N/A
Tuition (Foreign): N/A
Mandatory Fees: N/A
Housing (Room): N/A
Latitude:
Longitude:
Tax ID: N/A
Next the people. Some are amazing, just like you, they want to make a living and provide for their families and experience the College life…. except there are some who appear to still be in Grade 9 of high school. These people are catty, they make fun of people, they are rude and obnoxious, and make the experience a whole lot worse. It also made for working in groups absolutely brutal. Also, areas like the Computer Lab are just horrific. It is so loud in there, and everyone is on their phones yelling, playing games, eating and drinking(all banned things), just overall being so loud. And not that it matters to me in the slightest, but it really does not feel like I am going to school in Canada when I go into the computer lab or really any area in Durham college. There are so many international students I actually feel like I am in India most of the time. Not a big deal and some might think I am racist, but in reality, it is incredibly hard to relate to people when they are all speaking a different language around you, and the many many cultural differences that come along with it. I really wanted to make friends here but everyone is from India and they all keep to themselves not willing to mingle with me or people like me(and sorry to say but my experiences with the international students has not been great, they can be very rude.)
Next, the bathrooms are for the most part horrific. A few are okay. My first day I tried using the washroom and there were 10 international students in the men’s washroom, playing a game on their phones together. Incredibly weird. Also, there’s usually piss all over the floor and walls which is disgusting. All men’s bathrooms smell like an outhouse that hasn’t been cleaned since 1980. While touching upon smells, usually the computer lab and main hallway with the piano, reeks of body odour, and so do many many hallways and classrooms. Most areas smell like B.O. I agree maybe 10% have health conditions, but the other 90% just don’t practise hygiene and refuse to wear deodorant.
Next, the way you get to choose your optional GNED courses is very weak. Despite being one of the very first students to register, I never got to choose the GNED I wanted. They are all taken/gone. Instead, I constantly have/had to chose one I really didn’t care for, which to me defeats the coolest aspect of the GNEDs; now its just another mandatory course that does not help me or my future, aka useless.
Next, the scheduling. I took a course that was morning classes, I specifically did not want late afternoon or evening, or else I would HAVE CHOSEN EVENING CLASSES. But still somehow, I ended up with some 8:00am classes, and some (the same week or day even) would be a 3:00pm-5:00pm class. What the hell is that. So, some days you would go in from 8-10am, then not have class until 3pm that same day. 5 hours of waiting for your next class; that should not happen. And It would happen several times in a week. Also, the difference between schedules was so ridiculous between fall and winter, I had to quit my job after the fall courses. They need to make schedules more stable for students and not assume everyone is okay with waiting 5 hours in between classes (People need to work remember, to pay for that huge parking bill ?). I know for a direct fact at least 3 students in my class got messed up after the fall semester by the schedule changes, and it ended up costing them their year ( they ended up missing classes and finally stopped showing up). These are good students and people we are talking about here as well, sorely missed classmates, who really wanted to succeed, but because of crazy schedules, had to quit for their family.
Durham is basically set up to eat money from kids who are at school on their parents credit cards. That is how the school is tailored. They assume you have tons of extra money to dump on random things, when in reality Durham is the one who should be forking out money for their students (how much they make off of parking is astronomical). It is a business first and foremost , always remember that.
Next the people. Some are amazing, just like you, they want to make a living and provide for their families…. except there are some who appear to still be in Grade 9 of highschool. These people are catty, they make fun of people, they are rude and obnoxious, and make the experience a whole lot worse. It also made for working in groups absolutely brutal. Also areas like the Computer Lab are just horrific.
The Game Development / Game Design/ Game Art program is a complete joke, you can teach yourself more, faster and better by watching YouTube videos (What most students do anyways due to the lack of actual education being provided from the professors).
A few of the professors were outright rude and disrespectful and would belittle students as a whole (or individually) in front of the class. For the record I had very high grades here, this review is to warn future students of the prospects of going here. I could maybe disregard the poor teaching skills of the professors if they were at least nice, but a good portion of them have no respect for students
No regard for academia or professionalism to be found here, do not go here even at a full scholarship, it will be a waste of your time.
Durham College — school of broken dreams and surly administration.
Rant is over. *drops mic.*
Pros:
–Accessible learning staff are helpful in securing the small things for the comfort of a student. There is a “zen room” for the over-stimulated/stressed students to visit, and there is a private work room for said people.
–Most of my teachers so far have substantial experience in their field, and if I have questions in class, they generally get answered.
–The campus is kept pretty clean.
Cons:
–Communication couldn’t get much worse. Notifications are spread out across “MyCampus”, “DCMail”, “DCConnect”, and social media sites, and often important dates are missing – such as timetable selection hours.
–Software availability/functionality is awful. As a student in a technology-based program, we need access to several expensive programs which only seem functional in the two classrooms. The Computer Commons computers are constantly running into licensing issues, or the program just isn’t installed at all, making homework completion very difficult in certain classes.
–I’ve run into several teachers who copy-paste assignments and notifications (with another person’s name signed…couldn’t even be bothered to edit that line out), and I feel like a pest constantly emailing certain people about their sea of typos, incorrect dates, broken links, and misinformation; these teachers will find every excuse to shift the blame rather than improve/own up to it. I had another teacher who completely brushed off the concept of copyright infringement when creating a final project (photomanipulation); when I challenged them, they once again shrugged it off as unimportant.
–The Cafeteria is understaffed, and the only healthy option – Extreme Pita – can take upwards of 30-40min to move through a generally short line.
–While I don’t use a parking pass myself, I’ve heard countless peers complaining about their car being ticketed multiple times despite having their permit on the dashboard. Their parking spaces have also been forfeited for unrelated sports tournaments, leaving them to scramble to find a space is another thing I’ve heard.
–Student conduct enforcement is an issue. I’ve had two conflicts with other students in regards to appropriate/respectful conduct towards others and harassment. I feel like I was completely ignored, rushed out of the office, and I doubt anything was ever done. Other students have come to me and told similar stories, and several don’t even bother to inform the staff because they know nothing will be done.
Lots of room for improvement.
Instead I have found a wasted opportunity.
The recent strike and upcoming strike have honestly had a negative impact on my attitude towards the school, but when I try to look at it objectively I see it as a blessing in disguise: It might just save me from a wasting 3 years.
The way the courses are taught…..Durham College categorizes Teaching Loads & Working Loads different things, to create the situation where work that logically is considered part of being a teacher, is now considered voluntary. In short this is a legalese way of being able to maintain the image of fair work compensation when in reality any part time instructor (and there are many, in fact I havent met a teacher or professor yet) is taken advantage of or the students take the loss because who wants to do a bunch of work for free when you have bills and like to eat? Now I do not feel that every *instrcutor* I have dealt with is lazy or unqualified or given up, but there are a lot and its painfully obvious.
This strike needs to happen, or preferrably the school accepts the unions demands, if you want to honestly consider going here not a waste of time in most instances.
There is something I have appreciated greatly though, that is many of my peers are genuinely dedicated to learning no matter the obstacles. I have learned more discussing topics and doing research with other peers than I have yet to absorb from any 5-10 year old powerpoint made by a random school employee and not even my own instructors.
Destruction breeds creation and I think that all this trouble has the potential to truely transform this intitution into a place I wont regret attending.
The courses are hollow. The environment lacks academic pursuit and some teachers should not be there.
I’m not surprised in the least at your experience. Durham College administrative staff is horrendous. They’re rude by default. I’m sitting here waiting for an answer to a simple question I sent to Strategic Enrollment Services three weeks ago! I tried calling them up, but the idiot who answered the line only offered me “I don’t know” and wanted to get off the line.
What fries me is that they teach business at Durham, yet every interaction with their administrative staff involves poor communication skills and treating you with disdain — both things that they teach are bad for business!
I’m almost done with these knobs and will graduate in October. Once I get my diploma, I’ll never have anything to do with Durham College ever again. They need to learn which side their bread is buttered on.
A few reasons I’ve learned and dealt with here in Durham College are explained below for easier understanding I’ve put them under different points:
1. They are very expensive with the tuition they offer. Even the so-called “Scholarship” (through IELTS score) that they offer isn’t useful most of the time because it’s just for the books.That is like $500-$1000 down the drain if your course doesn’t require a lot of books.
2. I wasted two years of mine trying to get a degree. Like the other reviewers pointed out, professors try to flunk you so they can make extra money the next semester. Because you pay a lot more than what the domestic students pay.
3. I’ve tried changing courses to benefit from a better course and to graduate as soon as I can to benefit the reason as to why I’m here in Canada but turns out that a person can only ‘wish’ for things in this institution.
4. The Administration staff are not just clueless about things but also have the right to be annoyed and rude to you when you have concerns regarding your payments and courses.
5. This institution doesn’t hesitate or waste time to take money but when you demand a refund they find a MILLION reasons to determine if they will be able to return the money you deserve back or not.
6. The insurance scheme has to get better. What’s the whole point that I get sent letters to pay for my medical bills when I pay for insurance that claims to cover most of my general check-ups? The reimbursement process is a pain as well as you will have to fill out tons of paperwork.
These are just a few points that I wanted to mention. given a chance, I would have a big list but there is not point.
So, I’m just stuck here without a degree with two courses and nothing of them working out because no one has responded to me as yet. I’m helpless and in despair and losing out on my patience. I’m glad a few of them had an amazing experience here but this has made my abroad education a horror story. I would not suggest someone who is willing to spend their hard earned money here especially if you are an international student.
I’m not sure how Durham College is able to claim diversity and non-discrimination amongst students if they cannot promote the same for the people they hire. It’s very problematic and I don’t see them making any changes to fix this.
To start with, while Durham College does have some very good professors, the majority of profs there honestly don’t give a damn about students. The full timers earn upwards of six figure salaries whether or not they do a good job in teaching. As long as enough pass each course, their jobs are secure.
I ran into some medical problems at the beginning of my fourth semester that forced me to withdraw from three courses that I will have to take again in the summer. Do you think Durham College would cut me a break on retaking those courses? Of course not. I’ll be charged about another $1,200 to take courses I’ve already paid for. In what universe is that fair?
After about 85% completion of my course requirements for my diploma, I’m currently achieving a 5.0/5.0 GPA, but does that earn me any sort of recognition around the place? Not in the least (other than a cheap form letter each semester to tell me I made the Honour Roll). Their chief concern is that I paid on time. My fucking average is near 98% and no one cares. In what kind of place does this happen? I would imagine that if I were a transgendered, indigenous or black woman, that the administration would be falling all over itself to congratulate me and tell me how intelligent I am while encouraging me to pursue even loftier goals. What do I get? I get made to feel like I’m no better than the slack-jawed, Twitter-obsessed student sitting three seats over from me who barely scrapes by. At the very least, they sure don’t know how to do a decent marketing job to retain smart students. When I’m done in August, I’ll not darken Durham College/UOIT’s doorways again. If they ever send me alumni letters or whatever, I’ll mail them back with instructions on how to insert the letters up their ass sideways.
To begin with, the teachers are very knowledgeable, helpful and caring. Our courses follow the course outline, and grading is timely. Before we go into the final exams, we had all our assignments and test grades posted on Connect. Teachers in my program also work closely with each other to make sure we get the best learning experience throughout the semester. All of this created a very pleasant learning environment which I seldom have throughout my years of schooling.
Then, the field placement guidelines are clear and we were given a series of seminars to prepare us for job interviews and work. I really can’t find much to complain about my program.
Administration can get a little disorganized sometimes, but most of my experience with them has been good, and I did get the answers to my questions. It is way better than my old university, which sent me from department to department, and I never got an answer after all the hassle.
Overall, this is a good option if you’re considering to go into Accounting. Can’t speak for other programs though.
Where to begin? The program coordinator said a bridge would be made to uni. This did not happen. 3 days before starting our final block placement, we found out where our next 7weeks would be spent. There is virtually no jobs. As for placement and internships, you want hospital placements but, very few were offered. 1 person got a good job, another is infield working minimum wage, and again, since grad, not one call. There were several trips to the deans office over marks and disputes with teachers. Pick another program at a different school.
Some guy was fapping at ranom girls in the parking lot. Some guy got naked and kicked over a piano. School lockdowns are common. Stabbings on campus. Gun threats. A lot of crazy women. The actual amount of people that should be fired that have a government job is ridiculous. My application to the college was not processed. When I called people out because it was in on time, they waitlisted me rather then fixing their mess. It was until I contacted the Dean it was reconciled.
Go to another school or do a trade.
The place is, first and foremost, a money-making operation. They try to sucker students in with their ACTU, MKTU, and HRTU programs to vacuum more money out of bank accounts with the pie-in-the-sky promise of what a glamorous bachelor degree next door at UOIT will get you (as if anyone can guarantee what a degree will get you these days).
I also have to say their administration is a joke. Once they have your money, you’re not a priority if you need anything from admin.
Wallet sucking organization. Rude staff. Idiot students (for the most part). Too many minorities (I thought this was still Canada?) who b***h and moan about “racism” (no one is keeping you here, darlings).
Oh and I don’t know about other schools, but the social aspect of this place makes going to a dentist for a root canal seem like a pleasant experience by comparison.
P.S. – How fucking long does it take for the honour roll list to come out? The winter semester has been over for three months and they’re still working on it! Maybe they need to go back to college to learn how to do basic things like put lists together.
It’s hard to determine the root cause of the administrative incompetencies. But, if I had to guess, I would assume that it has something to do with upper managerial decisions and office culture. There could be pressure on the administrative team to generate admissions and tuition fees, which would explain the ambiguous information given to students.
My biggest complaint is that the school continues to advertise fast-track classes starting in May, generating interest from students who want to get an earlier start. Then, they habitually “suspend” those fast-track classes a month before, saying that they did not get enough enrolment. They then offer to transfer you to the September program. I think this is a sneaky and mean technique to generate enrolment. I was very upset when this happened to me. It made me doubt my decision to choose this college, until I actually started the program. This happened to at least two other people that I know of.
The administrative incompetency could also be an office culture problem, wherein senior employees do not share information with the team. Often, if you have a question, there will be only one person in the office who knows the answer. That person tends to be out of office or on vacation.
If you live West of the college (Greater Toronto Area), beware of the false advertisement of “free GO transit”. While the local DRT transit will be free, the GO transit is only covered for students who live North or East of the campus. There is a free DRT Pulse bus for students, but it only goes to UofT Scarborough, making it inconvenient for most people who don’t live in East York. Also, most days, the “Pulse” is as irregular as that of a moribund person. It also does not stop at the Whitby campus.
The Whitby campus currently lacks a cohesive culture, due to being so new. There are few, if any, extra-curricular activites and the campus is not welcoming to commuters (the campus bus stop lacks benches, there is no sidewalk for commuters entering the campus from the North side). However, I foresee this improving in the future as the campus grows.
That being said, the faculty in the Horticulture Technician program are outstanding. The tuition fees are worth the hands-on, technical experience that you get under the supervision of professors with decades of experience. Our class got design, implementation and construction experience with real-life projects. Also, the Parkwood Estates partnership provided occasions to get hands-on training in garden maintenance.
I have done two programs from this college and I have two completely different experience. Project management thumbs up. Great teachers, good courses, nice assignments where you can learn. most impotently very helpful teachers i loved them I am still in contact.
Now lets talk about IT program that I have done. I wish I have never went to Durham college for this program.
1) They never teach us anything( Particle and lab are jock ) nothing is going on in class accept talking about how much we know and how great we are. specially two professors I do not want to take names but they are husband and wife. Horrible teachers .
2) They give us assignments but until end of the semester no feedback, no grades nothing. You get all your grades for all the assignments at the end witch is horrible you do not know where are you standing in the program
3) That two professor I was talking about husband and wife .They are course coordinator. what a poor management we as students have remind them that hello it is week 8 already and we supposed to have assignment can we please have some work. half of the time they do not know what to give us. and very last moment they give us work without proper details and some time they even forget to create dropbox folders where we submit assignments
4) Most shocking part was they are externally resist int two semesters I have heard more than 5 times they” overseas students do not want to work hard ” ” Overseas students are lazy” funny part was out of 27 students 24 students were domestic students everyone else is from overseas.
5) Every time you have questions about software or assignments instead of explanation you only get one answer ” This is post graduate course we will not teach you everything” No help at all
overall poor knowledge professors with no teaching skills at all , resist attitudes, waste of money. they have changed 3 professors in between semester so no body have idea what the hell is going on
If you wants good knowledge about networking , hacking do not go to Durham college
If you wants to learn about managements, HR skills etc Durham college is the place.
I took the Occupational therapy assistant/Physiotherapy Assistant program from 2013-2015 graduating class.
Where to begin? The teachers were great. Many of the teachers were very knowledgeable through their life experience in the field (PT or OTs in hospitals or private clinics). There were a series of others who made appearances in the program for presentations. These were done extremely well. I noticed prior to graduation that the price was going up. When I paid, it was a fair bit cheaper.
The actual school has a ton of problems. For starters, the setup of the actual Simcoe building is dreadful. Its hard to do presentations. This program is nonstop presentations and many are a third of your actual final mark so, a better system should be implemented.
UOIT stands for University of Ontario Institute of Technology. You wouldn’t know it. The computers are dated as is the majority working in administrative roles but, more about that later. Tons of assignments are to be submitted. Some teachers want hard copies. The SALs building took me more then 30minutes to print out an assignment because the computers are full of viruses. I had to print out tons of handouts for presentations so, I ran out of money. On a weekend, I came to use the printer and it wouldn’t let me. It didn’t prompt me that my funds were empty. It just left me hanging. It was the weekend so, there was no way to print without increasing my funds. The internet for the school went down a bunch of times. Projectors would shut off on students during presentations. Some technology issues are to be expected but, it was far too often especially with the thousands of dollars being put into the school.
The flex gym is very nice but, it is really crowded. The change room is disgusting. A lot of people do not shower ever or wash (often). As a female, it is a bit intimidating but, a lot of people stare, gock, and make creepy comments. If you go early, it is much nicer and not as crowded.
The worst part of the student experience is the Registar and placement office. It is a matter of fact that, you get most of your experience through placement or practicum. The school provides paperwork to fill out regarding areas of interest. Do not bother filling these out. They handout placements wherever, whenever, and in the most difficult of ways regardless of your means of transportation. The student adviser and placement adviser left for vacation the day block placements were supposed to be handed out. The aftermath was that, less then two weeks (ten to be exact) before the start of placement, block placements were distributed. Preceptors on the seven week block placement did not know even if students were cleared to come. It makes the student look bad even if they did no wrong. Imagine having a part time job and trying to explain this conflict? This matters because the hours for PT and OT must be met by a specific date in order to graduate. Essentially, you could not graduate because the required paper work is not in or if interviews need to be conducted by placements. Bottom line, many of the people in administrative roles should be fired and not in these roles. Fortunately, a teacher who was excellent entered into the adviser role to fix things as best as possible given the circumstances.
If there is any conflicts or issues, rest assure that the program coordinator will leave you hanging. No response to emails. Cold shoulder for meetings the day of after no response and no follow up to the email. Any issues or concerns are disregarded. Many of the things that are promised like placement dates, hours for a class contributing to placement hours, bridge to university for the program, and a lot more stuff did not happen.
I really liked the program, the teachers, the training, and what I learned. This program has so much potential to be something special yet, it misses the mark. Sadly, it is ruined by incompetency. I feel ripped off as I have spent so much money and i got jerked around. Fleming is a better alternative or go to the city. If you want to do a undergrad, presume the college either has in place a bridge for university or not. I am disappointed and if I knew what I do now, I would have made arrangements to attend a different college.
I wish anybody thinking of Durham College to reconsider alternative choices. You will be disappointed.
didn’t they plan to tear down or demolish the Simcoe Building back in 2003?
https://www.durhamcollege.ca/media-room/media/durham-college-announces-plans-new-simcoe-building
I did the health science program to get into oversubscribed programs. I can say that this was a well done program and the profs involved actually are there for students. The profs had an open door policy.
Moving on, when I applied to OCAS for a variety of oversubscribed programs. Problems began here; 1) my application and transcript was not sent to different colleges on time for the Feb 1st 2) Durham College wait list (when i checked as to why, they did not process my application. RETARDS! They would not resolve this so, I had to email the dean of the college to reconcile my conflict). 3) after 3 semesters of emails to a placement adviser regarding a particular placement, nothing has come of it but a email snubbing my interests.
Seriously, unless you are doing the health sciences for oversubscribed programs or the paramedic program, invest your money in a education from somewhere legit. The place is full of useless slob. There are young girls running around spreading herpes or getting pregnant. The profs could give a f**k about education. Emails to UOIT admission are a go nowhere.
The past two years, the place has been lockdown multiple times with people going crazy. Lastly, the Simcoe building is a death trap. Only one exit in rooms meaning, you are trapped if someone goes psycho or gets terrorist-E!
Go to Fleming or George Brown.
Sincerely,
Dieing slow
From completely incompetent professors who don’t even follow the schools policies or treat their students with respect, to badly organized and irrelevant courses to rude admin and tech support staff. This is such a poorly run institution on all levels that there must be some serious problems high up.
From someone who loves learning and going to school, Durham college in Oshawa was an awful experience from start to finish. Please save your time, money and energy for a program that cares beyond getting paid.
Professors:
I am currently a student in my final year and none of the professors can answer any of my questions about placements/internships. Even though all through the first semester of the first year they claimed how many jobs there were out there, and how we would have a placement/internship. The course material is all dated, and no one seems to care that the stuff we should be learning is not included. Often I have to teach myself things that we should have been taught. I have heard many horror stories of students from this program (or a very similar variation) that have lost many jobs, or not been able to get a job because of what they had been taught at this school. And the worst part? Some of them that can’t get jobs end up coming back to the school to teach or assist. What kind of ‘higher learning’ is this?!
Tuition/Payments:
The tuition payment scheme has been changed at least two times since I started this program. Both changes have been negative, mostly towards students who require OSAP. From what I can tell there is no good reason for changing the payment times. But, now the students are required to pay mid-November, and OSAP comes January… Thinking of the students? Not likely. ‘Success Matters’ is a joke. Another reviewer said it perfectly: The financial success of the school is what they mean. Simple reminders that payment deadlines are coming up? Not a chance. They love to gouge students for late fees. Late fees that many students can’t afford.
Classrooms:
Broken power outlets, broken ethernet ports. Often speakers do not work, I haven’t made it through a semester without at least one faulty projector per classroom.
TL;DR – This school only cares about money. In my case the courses are dated and the professors don’t seem to care. Anyone who tries to go above and beyond will get the same marks as the people who barely hand in the minimum. And did I mention they screw you for every dollar? Never in a million years would I recommend this school to anyone.
First off, this college is an outright SCAM. 90% of the students in my course are not Canadian citizens. They have to pay 3 times what I pay and do not complain or quit lest they have to go back home. After speaking with them many of them in confidence, they’ve told me they’ve learned absolutely nothing but it’s “too late to reconsider”. Their “google” skills are the only thing that has improved.
It’s quite obvious that, strategically, the college is focused on acquiring great sums of money on the backs of these poor victims. In a proper universe, this college would be shut down and the executives would be thrown in the slammer for fraud.
The teachers do not teach. They expect you to learn yourself. Really? That’s shocking! That’s not why I decided to pay $5000 of my hard earned money to attend an institute of “higher learning”! Do your job and teach. I came to hear your expert opinion not to listen to the Woody Allen in my head.
Yes, they give assignments – plenty of them. However, each assignment, rather than inspiring any depth of knowledge, is to be completed by surfing the net for a “marketing-level” understanding of a topic, then regurgitating this marketing “schlop” into the assignment.
Plus, assignments are rarely discussed in class and are assigned many times without warning a few days before they’re due. This means you may wake up on Sunday and realize that you have an assignment due Monday that had not been discussed in class nor posted prior to Sunday.
Plus, many assignments were assigned from books that were not available at the college bookstore or elsewhere, for that matter. Students needed to take pictures of pages from those who had the textbook in order to do the assignments.
So not only do the assignments not facilitate learning, they actually take time away from any self-scheduling of valuable self-learning activities you’re trying to squeeze into your day.
More than half my classes have been wasted due to teachers 1) not showing up, 2) leaving our class to sub for another teacher in a different program, 3) conveying material not in the course outline, 4) providing guided tours of the campus during class time, 5) bringing in corporate sales people from random companies.
In 5 of my 6 courses, no assignments have been graded and the courses are almost over. According to their policy, all assignments are supposed to be graded within three weeks of completion. Although the course advertises itself as being “hands on”, there have been no hands on activities (unless you count using “google” as hands on).
When cornered, the instructors get defensive and accusatory and blame the students for their frustrations with the program. Textbooks were purchased that were not used. Textbooks needed to be purchased that weren’t specified in the course outline.
Tests, ALL done online (and only viewable a few at a time), cannot be scanned prior to beginning nor can a question be skipped and completed later. For example, this means that you may be at question 49 of 50, having properly budgeted your time to that point, then be presented with an essay question as the last question, not having adequate time to complete it. It is a terrible online system that exacerbates the other problems.
Each instructor uses the online system in significantly different ways, making it virtually impossible to keep abreast of new assignments. I have configured the system to “push” emails to me when instructors update things. However, everything BUT new assignments is emailed to me. There is no way to get the system to notify me of new assignments but to constantly look for them.
It’s obvious that no training or standards have been given to the instructors with respect to the online system. Again, when cornered about this, they blame the system or the students. I feel like I’ve just bought a phone with no ringer.
There have been plenty of “group assignments”. But, none of these assignments has had a group component as each must be completed individually. Why would you initiate group assignments that have no group components?
In another case, an assignment was given that was not discussed in class (worth a high percentage mark). Key documents that were to be used in the assignment were not properly placed or referenced in the online system. Those of us who completed the assignment early (4 hrs of work, for my part) were told we would receive a zero because we did not base our assignment on a document that was never given to us.
I could go on and on. If you’ve read this far, you’re interested in this sort of stuff or you have contemplated attending Durham College. You may as well take the final step and withdraw any inclination to invest in this scheme. Consider Seneca or Centennial or, if you can swing it, proper university (not University of Ontario).
I’m out $5,000 and my future plans have been put on hold because of this college. At Durham College “Success Matters”. Just to clarify, that’s THEIR financial success at the expense of YOUR career success.
https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/4352054-durham-college-uoit-plan-for-expansion/
I agree with everyone of the posters who criticized this cesspool.
NO student life, Oshawa and Whitby are boring farm towns in the middle of isolation, no sights and no sounds, I so fricking agree 5:1 guy/girl ratio. The service is abysmal, security was rude, profs couldn’t care less or speak good English the courses are jokes, mud and snow everywhere,small and confined, construction never ending, the laptops are mad old and ripoffs that are useless.
The feel that I get from this place is that UOIT is a sub-par joke university that isn’t really a uni and they know it, they laugh at the losers who had to even sign up for their low programs.
Durham college is the same, so un-organized, feels like a joke, no staff anywhere, damn I’m lonely.
All they want is your money :( they never let my best friend come back for Winter semester to his program after he dropped out briefly in fall because of his financial problems most inflexible institution ever because you either start out beginning of the year or you go home and try for next year, when I applied to the college they threw me on a wait list while George Brown offered and accepted me immediately.
PLEASE reconsider if you thought about DC/UOIT
The gym is nice although, it is over crowded. I wish they had a pool. The equipment is nice and the gym is kept clean. People are friendly but many lack manners. I suppose it is a by product of A year ago, they had Avicii present for frosh week.
Admissions takes way too long for responding. Application info came into the month of April. Centennial does not respond to emails. My application is open and i have yet to hear from Centennial. I can only imagine their education. No thanks Jeff.
Durham is pretty average for an Ontario college, which are all pretty much terrible. The thing is these schools are filled with people who have no idea how the system works and/or could not make it into university. If you are looking for a stepping stone into university or a quick way to a technical job then Durham is just as good a choice as any other Ontario college.
Try to do your homework before you choose something you are going to regret.
They teachers are uneducated, and come across seeming as if they think that they are teaching a class of kindergarteners, or chimps. They belittle students academic levels, their skills, and their problems.
WASTE OF TIME, ENGERY, & worst of all MONEY.
This awful institution is NOT recommended for ANYONE!! (not even if were used as an educational facility in a prison!!!) DON”T GO HERE IT’S ONLY A HEADACHE
– Failure to communicate between their own departments
– Refusal to respond to student inquiries regarding *anything*
– Most rooms do not have working electrical outlets (some are even without working lights)
– Vandalized/missing equipment is never dealt with despite requests from the professors themselves
– Relevance of course content is questionable
– Some professors don’t bother to show up for days/weeks at a time (I kid you not)
I regret ever trying to do ‘business’ with them. They are well aware of their shortcomings but refuse to do anything about them. Currently they are trying to attract attention to their $1,500,000 in bursaries – no doubt to reel in students that will make them look good and distract from their faults.
The only time you’re likely to hear from them is if they have an issue with your tuition fees and want money. Bear in mind that communication only works one-way with these people and any attempts to acquire answers will be ignored. This is the sad but true reality of Durham College.
If you value your future you will avoid Durham College and take your money somewhere that can provide you with the services you’ll be paying for.
May 21, 2011 at 6:12 pm
check this out Durham poor excuse of a college expansion in Panama and India are failures!
https://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/156410%5D
this link is now dead
another news website reporting on Greedy Durham College trying international expansion and failed
https://www.durhamregion.com/DurhamRegion/Article/1114287
https://www.newsdurhamregion.com/news/article/156410
Thank you Durham College for taking my money over 3 years, and making me live in a dump of a city (Oshawa).
For people who love Oshawa, they have never been anywhere else in the world, and come from towns of less than 1,000 people.
Plus, the people in Oshawa hate students from Durham, so don’t expect anyone in the city to be nice to you because you are a college student.
one of the most unhelpful, unintelligent and pathetic excuss for a post secondary instiution. They charge students for services that cant possibly be taken advantage of, neglect inquiries regarding payment and provide students with little information regarding process and purpose of fees. i hate this place more than anything it is awful and i feel DUMBER for going there. If any professor/adminstrator/admioror of the school see this message, lick my nuts.
don’t live in the dorms on the Oshawa campus. somebody constantly setting off false fire alarms
Oshawa is the crack capital of Canada, with more crackheads than normal people (not a joke). Housing situation around the school is segregated, and the residents hate that students are around, as does the city. You will never find grads of the school living in Oshawa thats for sure.