Throughout our college experience, the importance of communication is heavily stressed. Students are expected to follow specific communication guidelines, which often vary from instructor to instructor.
However, these expectations are not always reciprocated by faculty and staff. This inconsistency causes additional problems with students’ learning experiences, resulting in grading discrepancies, a lack of content retention and overall frustration. It must be resolved to help nurture an environment that encourages healthy learning.
Accessibility has been a major concern for communication. Many students do not work traditional 9-to-5 schedules, limiting the time they can attend office hours or send digital messages, like emails, to staff and faculty. If students cannot access resources like success coaches and advisers, they can have a more challenging time finishing school. It also causes a “trolley problem,” where students must choose between work, family and school. Amarillo College’s large population of non-traditional students makes it even more vital to address this roadblock.
Even when students do attempt to make contact via email, they often face long wait times for a response, if they get one at all. This leads to additional stress, as this can cause issues with tight
deadlines or scheduling.
Another issue is the lack of clarity regarding who to contact and sometimes, how. If students are able to visit the Advising Center in person, they may get a different adviser who isn’t as familiar with their degree plan, which can cause scheduling setbacks. Contacting academic advisers has also proven difficult for some students, as what is displayed on the AC website often leads to no response and students may not know if they need to contact them via Watermark or email. The inconsistency proves challenging.
The communicated information also needs improvement, as students can be hit with different information depending on who they are talking to. Depending on who you are talking to, it can feel discouraging to be told different information about degree requirements. Advisers should be a trusted source for information regarding courses and degrees. These inconsistencies end up hurting students by delaying their graduation or causing them to pay for classes they don’t need.
In addition to individual staff and faculty members reflecting on their communication methods and working to improve their own accessibility for students, the college as a whole should work towards implementing more standards.
Some examples include encouraging more office hours, requiring faculty and staff to respond to students within 24-48 hours, and expanding the functions of the “Ask AC” bot on the AC website, as it provides limited information and often sends you to speak to a person with limited hours. It’s also important to make information more standardized so there’s less confusion when it comes to graduation requirements.
Allowing easier and more efficient access to truthful information will help students be more understanding of their requirements and what they need to succeed in furthering their education journey. It will also give students an example of how they should communicate after they finish school and start in the professional world.
Leave a Reply