3 months after a cyberattack, some students and staff at MUN's Grenfell campus are still having tech problems

More than two months after a cyberattack impacted Memorial University's Grenfell campus in Corner Brook, a professor and student say the situation is still much worse than university administration has let on.

Gerard Curtis, a professor in the school of fine arts and a representative of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Association, said Tuesday some students still can't access their Grenfell campus email, the ability to print documents is spotty at best, and the school's emergency phone protocols don't work.

"Morale is low, for sure," Curtis said. Some labs aren't working because they don't have full computer systems operating, he said.

"They're trying to use Wi-Fi, which the university is claiming is working but when you talk to the students they'll say it's spotty."

Curtis said students are fighting with the university to have their service fees refunded.

The ransomware attack, which happened over the Christmas break, shut down the campus's IT services. The university says the banking information of five students was stolen.

Julia House, a psychology student studying at Grenfell, said the prolonged effect of the attack has made things difficult — especially when it comes to using email services.

She says she used to use Wi-Fi set up by the school after the attack but high demand has resulted in slow Internet speeds.

"It's hard to stay in contact with everyone," House said.

"When you go to access, like, your final exam schedules, all of that is perfectly accessible at times. But when you're trying to book appointments for like, the math appointments and some other, like, services … you can't get into it at all."

Curtis said he's resorted to using Facebook groups as a way to reliably connect with his students.

The university made no one available for an interview for this story but said in a March 6 update posted to the school's website it's working to restore services with frequent communication.

In an email to CBC News after publication, MUN clarified that students can still access email through the mun.ca domain. It also said emergency systems like 911 and other alarm systems are in place, but an in-house notification system isn't yet functional.

He says university administration has downplayed the severity of the situation and suggested centralization of university operations in St. John's is partly to blame for the lasting effects of the attack.

"Our email could have been up and running within two weeks…We could have been back in the fold dealing with students much more rapidly. But because they want to centralize our services, they have taken our servers and moved them to St. John's," he said.

"There's a type of disconnect, I think, that's gone on with the administration and what's actually happening at the grassroots level."

Curtis says the provincial government needs to get involved.

"I do worry about the failure of the government to really step in and help the university," he said. "Both in this instance, but in the long term by funding it and helping it to develop to become that jewel that it is."

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