The Ohio State University’s online learning management system, known as Carmen, will turn seven years old this Spring Quarter. No longer in its infancy, the system, named after the alma mater, continues to provide a substantial amount of interactive features for instructors, staff, TAs and students since its full implementation in 2005.

Yet, after a $1.5 million implementation in 2005 and a major upgrade Dec. 17, students are still complaining about problems with the site.

Bill Riley, a graduate teaching associate in the Department of English, is familiar with this excuse.

“Every quarter, someone has a problem uploading an assignment. Often, they say they uploaded the document, but when I look, it doesn't show up,” he said.

Riley’s not alone. UWeekly asked seven TAs about the top five excuses given by students for not turning in their assignments. Aside from the standard family emergency, personal illness or ignorance about the due date excuses, Carmen related reasons were listed by all seven TAs as one of the main excuses students use. Three of the TAs said a Carmen related excuse accounted for two of the top five excuses they receive every year.

The other four TAs each listed a Carmen related excuse (“I didn’t know where the dropbox was” or there was a Carmen submission problem) in their top five.

What is causing certain students to complain every quarter? The Office of the Chief Information Officer’s website has a page dedicated to addressing disruptions in Carmen and gives students guidelines on what to do if they are experiencing problems.

Mike Hofherr, senior director of learning technology in the Office of the Chief Information Officer, said student reports regarding disturbances with Carmen are a “very uncommon occurrence.”

December’s customer satisfaction survey showed a 90.5 percent satisfaction rating, and during the last year Carmen only experienced five unplanned outages, lasting an average of an hour a piece.

“Per month, we get maybe five-10 reports from students saying they were unable to submit a quiz, dropbox assignment, et cetera,” Hofherr said. “Most of the time, student issues in Carmen result from not completing all the steps to submit or save work, how the instructor has set something up (not released it to the whole class, etc), or connection/browser issues.”

The last disruption posted dates back to Dec. 19, 2011, where it reported “the Carmen service is still experiencing minor issues” in relation to a recent upgrade. It urged students who “experience slow response times or other unexpected behavior” to report the issues to the IT Service Desk by calling (614) 688-HELP.

“I try my best to give my students the benefit of the doubt, but since Carmen sends receipts for uploaded assignments, it's sometimes difficult to understand the student's concerns. Ultimately, I think Carmen helps students be personally accountable in that way,” Riley said.

Even some alumni, like 2011 graduate and strategic communication major Brennan Pepper, can recount the times that students used the online learning management system to their advantage.

“I never used Carmen as an excuse for turning something in late, but I saw it happen quite frequently. I always used a PC and would wonder if people were actually having that much difficulty with it,” he said.

Some professors simply decide not to use Carmen for assignment submissions, like James Fredal, associate professor in the Department of English, simultaneously combating the potential of excuses from students.

“Trying to keep track of some students using Carmen and others using hard copies is very confusing to me, so that if I don't want to use Carmen for everything, I don't bother using it for anything,” he said.

Many take a different approach to the site, like Christopher A. Jones, professor in the Department of English.

“I rely on Carmen in all my classes, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. Its best feature is that it allows me to distribute supplementary course materials, assignment guidelines and revisions to syllabi much more efficiently. The drop-box function has also made collecting and responding to certain kinds of written assignments faster, more convenient, and more secure,” he said.

Carmen also opens up a world of possibilities, including accessible distance-learning courses where students can take classes by using the interface.

“Because of Carmen, I’m able to take an online class this quarter,” said Ford Hannum, an OSU student majoring in international studies. “I’ve encountered problems with the site once or twice in the past, but it seemed to be a class-wide problem and was discussed when we met in class. I’ve never been the only individual having problems with uploading a certain assignment.”

Ultimately, Carmen is an integral component of the educational system at OSU through its wide range of capabilities. It provides services otherwise unavailable to students outside of the classroom, such as access to interactive discussion groups, a roster of students and instructors for the class and their email addresses, and a page to check on the status of your grade.

For more information on Carmen, visit the Office of the Chief Information Officer’s webpage at ocio.osu.edu and click on the Carmen tab. If you ever experience disruptions in your Carmen access or are having difficulty submitting an assignment, make sure to call the IT Service Desk at (614) 688-HELP.