The IT Student Blog

A few weeks back I had the following conversation with an old classmate on Facebook about our free fuel, coffee:

E: Ursäkta?!?! Free?? Vilket uni går du på?? (Excuse me?!?! Free?? Which uni are you attending?)

Me: E, Yupp – free selecta-machine coffee! Det är nice, men som sagt… inget slår färskbryggt. (That’s nice, but ofc, nothing beats newly brewed)

E: Okej, jag sadla till IT uppenbarligen. I Örebro har de uttrycket “Ocker som i tolv spänn koppen”. (Okey, I should change to IT apparently. In Örebro we use the expression “Usury as in 12 kr per cup”)

Me: Å andra sidan kanske det inte smakar svart gift? (On the other hand, maybe it doesn’t taste like poison?)

E: Bekant med uttrycket “gratis är gott”? (Familiar with the expression “Free is good”?)

And then I realised I had just finished another conversation about how extraordinary it is to have free coffee available!

Over my two years at uni I have still to find one other university in Sweden which offers their students free coffee. Admittedly I often use it for bragging about ITU and it often feels like I’m pointing a finger in my opponents eye. While continuing to describe the luxury available to us they not too rarely end up convinced they should have gone into IT instead.

Now all this is going to go away. By 2010 there will be no more coffee advantage.

While I understand that universities should not be compared solely on their ability to provide their students with free coffee, it is one of those things that makes ITU special and somewhat geeky. By removing the coffee machines the university will loose one (out of several I hope) competitive advantages.

So what is the reason for this sudden change? Watch this:

Not a clean kitchen (by mett)

Evidently the administration/teachers/other staff, who also uses the coffee machines, are tired of finding the kitchen in this state. I admit, so am I, and many with me. So what’s stopping students (and staff?!?) to bring their own coffee machines? According to insurance (or safety) rules these are not permitted on the premises. Eventually, we’ll all have to pay for our coffee like at any other Swedish university. How boring.

Students, get your act together:

• put your cup in the washing machine after you’ve used it
• help empty a washing machine once in a while
• remind your friends to do the same

and together we can show the administration once again that ITU actually is a kind of cool place to study at.

Ps. I forgot to say thanks to those I regularly see cleaning up in the kitchen (they refers to both students and staff)

A Square at ITU (By McB of Camera Obscüra)

Considering my summer in terms of employment is rather patchy, I early April decided to apply for two summer courses. In case I found myself in a position of having too much free time, at least I would learn something new. Thus, off to Kalmar (on the east coast of Sweden) to take an introductory course in rhetorics. I didn’t have any expectations of facilities when I arrived but my first impression stuck with me the entire day.

So during a short break a few things struck me as I was sitting in the old dimly lit classroom waiting for the lecturer to start again – what a workplace IT-university offers in comparison! Here are five reasons why I like the workplace at ITU.

1. Everything is new
Surely, the furniture probably cost a lot of money, but there’s enough tables and chairs (of different characters) for everyone. Nothing feels rusty, smells old, or is worn.

2. Open areas
As mentioned in a previous post most curricular activities are centered around the squares. The squares are perfect for communication! It’s a place to meet, discuss, debate, lecture and work. Moreover, there’s plenty of light in the squares.

3. White-boards everywhere
When you need some group-alone time, perhaps brainstorming “the next big thing”, there’s plenty of white-boards to go around for everyone. Basically every bit of glass wall is a white-board and can be used as such!

4. Shared space
Teachers and students share kitchen, meeting rooms, and so on. At least in theory. Here’s a big room for a huge debate, I’m not going to go into the details, but I and many students with me I know, value the shared space. Let’s hope it will be this way also in the future.

5. Free coffee
Coffee fuels. And at ITU, the coffee is free. Students I meet from other universities are always shocked when I say this. “Unbelievable!”, “You’re kidding with me?”, and “Riiiiight… oh, you really mean it. Damn.” are just some of the responses I’ve heard.

My first impression of Kalmar University Collage is mundane. It works, but it doesn’t provide added value. They have a lot to learn from ITU.

What do you expect from your workplace? What does your favourite workplace look like? Let me know.