PointWeb is at the core of our collegiate experience; it holds the key to everything we are academically but its functions are less than desirable for students trying to track degree progress on their own.

Though Point Park made a valiant effort over Thanksgiving break to modernize their website, the administration still has a lot of work to do before students can say they are happy with their online university hub.

A problem that seems to persistently plague students is the frustrating setbacks that come along with tracking their completed classes and attempting to navigate what their future semesters might hold. Students aren’t able to access multiple credit categories simultaneously, which can make it difficult to build a schedule that doesn’t overlap.

As far as trying to build a schedule based on class content and how well each class’ workload will balance into your week – forget about it. Class descriptions are few and far between. Your best bet is to try to track down someone who took the class previously and ask them directly what to expect.

Another annoyance students face alongside the massive online presence Point Park requires is multiple sign-ins and monitoring through numerous platforms including PointWeb itself, Blackboard separately, Outlook Webmail separately and now the shiny new classroom management system, Schoology – before we’ve even fully given Blackboard the boot.

Students pay enough money for their education and degree management should be taken into consideration. We must demand a more streamlined process so we don’t overlook necessary requirements for graduation in a broken and confusing system.

College students have enough to deal with trying to balance classes, extracurriculars and jobs. We shouldn’t have to take extra time to navigate through the complexities of PointWeb, often getting lost in its sticky trap.