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| Class and campus life at Columbia: All good? Almost |
by Billy O'Keefe
Editor-in-Chief/New Media Editor |
Don’t let the good news get to your heads, Columbia staffers; you’re not off the hook just yet. You’re just on a bit of a roll.
A survey of 144 students conducted by the Chronicle shows that, while life at 600 South may not be all strawberries and sundaes, students are generally pleased with their experience at Columbia.
Leading the praise parade: an overwhelming support of the classroom experience.
A commanding 94 percent of those polled said that they found their instructors to be generally helpful, while the rest found the faculty to be helpful when pushed. Asked if their experiences in class had yielded at least some reward, all but one student said yes.
“It’s kind of hard to catch my instructors because a lot of them are part-timers,” says freshman Todd Fuksa, a film/video major. “But they usually give students an office number or something, and they are helpful whenever I call.”
As in the past, questions about the registration process delivered more than a few grumbles, although more than 40 percent of those polled said they either had no problem with or liked the current process. For the most part, students said that Columbia’s registration facilities, which do not include telephone or Web registration, are needlessly complicated and move too slow.
Columbia veterans and upperclassmen kept their criticism of registration to the bare minimum, often agreeing that the process “seemed to take an eternity,” as senior advertising major Kwasi Wilson put it.
But in the case of freshmen and some new students, the qualms often ran much deeper.
“In the film department, after I signed up for an appointment, the teacher blew me off and went to lunch, because he didn’t notice that I was in the office waiting,” said freshman film/video major Heather Johnson.
Still, students’ assessment of the registration process pales in comparison to their views on Columbia’s financial aid services, which more than one student dubbed “a complete nightmare.”
Students were asked to grade several of Columbia’s services, including academic advising, quality of materials and financial aid. Among the 102 students who voiced their opinions on Columbia’s financial aid process, the average grade was a D+, compared to an A- for classes and an even B for academic advising.
“It was complete hell,” says one junior, who asked to remain nameless. “I made several appointments to see someone in financial aid, and I was blown off, misunderstood or ignored more times than I can remember.
“The financial aid staff has got to be the most incompetent group of people I have ever met. They’re slow, unorganized, unfriendly and completely stupid.”
Despite students’ issues with the Financial Aid Department, nearly two-thirds of those polled said that getting help at and getting around Columbia is generally easy. Another third found it to be tricky at times, but no one felt that it was especially difficult.
“I took the time to walk around the school, and now I have no trouble,” says Web design major Leonce Bowie, a junior. “It’s very easy to get help.”
Johnson concurs—somewhat.
“I ended up going to four different places to get and answer to a question I had,” she says. “But I did find what I wanted.”
Perhaps surprisingly, students said that they were generally satisfied with the community atmosphere around Columbia.
“I guess it all depends,” says sophomore Leslie Michaels, a fiction writing major. “I’m not really looking for that whole community sort of thing, so I don’t mind if there aren’t student centers and stuff available to us.”
Many students agreed—but don’t cancel those expansion plans just yet, folks.
“I don’t mind the quiet environment too much because there’s still stuff to do,” says freshman Donna Weathers. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want them to do more.
“When’s that food court coming, anyway?” |
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