A poll
I wish this blogspot thingy was set up to conduct a poll. I would like to know how many people....all people, believe that a college student is a consumer, a patron, a customer of sorts. Is the college administration a boss? Are the professors, and all other people paid to provide a service to the consumers? An interesting question that I hadn't considered until I....a student, wrote a paper about those three elements that most businesses have, and my professor posed the question to me, "Do you think this school/college is a business? Yes! Of course.....then some hesitation as I realized I haven't ever thought about that. Hmmmm
posted by Laura at 8:32 AM
3 Comments:
Colleges certainly depend on students to stay alive--though tuitions don't pay anywhere near all the bills, which means the taxpayers through the legislature are also customers, i.e., have a stake in what goes on here.
Fact is the college may be a business but it isn't run like one--it has to consider other things when it figures its dollar outlays. How many people, how many customers do you think WANT to take ENG 101? Not enough to keep me employed, that's for sure. So, why do we continue to 'sell' something no one wants to buy--is that any way to run a business?
We keep selling it because we have to consider accrediting agencies and 'the way things are done.' So, it's tricky. You guys don't get to pick whether you will take the course, so what kind of customer service is that?
But when the admins I deal with constantly blather along about 'customer service,' as if it meant something in our context, they're just dreaming that life was simple and that there were unambiguous guides to the way the place should be run. There aren't.
This does not mean that people should be rude to you or act as if your goodwill and satisfaction are unimportant. But again--there's a catch. Many students leave me dissatisfied--they've done poorly and are supposed to leave dissatisfied! So, again, the customer is not necessarily always right.
Hope this helps--again, none of this in any way excuses people not giving you quick information and help. (But you do notice, for example, that the wheely chairs still aren't in, even at the request of a person of my huge importance, no mere customer.... Bureaucracy is like that. Don't think I'm just waiting--I'm hassling them. But if people wanted wheely chairs quickly, they'd have to start having back spasms and calling their lawyers.)
That is an interesting question. Even though I read the post, I could have guessed it just from the elaborate comment it drew from Goldfine. I think it was like 6 or 7 paragraphs. Nice job.
There's a software company giving away html language for a free polling device for a blog. 'Bravenet'--very decent stuff.
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