NSU is always trying to improve campus but one thing that’s missing is the whiteboards in the classrooms. More specifically, the Carl Desantis Building classrooms. All of these rooms are carbon copies of each other with desks, chairs, a projector and the all important whiteboard also known as a dry-erase board. But there is one issue with these boards, they don’t work. All of my classes this semester are in Carl Desantis and consequently, this involves my professors writing on this imposter board. After the first dry erase mark, these boards become a mess of faded ink and blotchiness that overtime, becomes a challenge to decipher what is being written. So now, students are distracted by the mess rather than what the words and figures are actually trying to explain in regards to course material.
It’s not only students, I’ve watched plenty of professors rub furiously at the board and to no avail. This is usually followed by a string of sighs and shaken heads. The school provides a spray bottle full of an unknown solution and paper towels yet it has a very minimal effect. Professors are left with two decisions: either take time away from class and constantly clean the board or just stick to powerpoints and most choose the latter. For those professors who don’t, it becomes a frustrating chore for class. As a student, I come to class to learn and be a part of lectures and when teachers have to constantly stop lecturing or teaching to clean the board, it can be incredibly frustrating.
Funnily enough, if you take a closer look at these boards they don’t even have a similar texture to a dry erase board. They have bumps and ridges and seem porous rather than a smooth texture that most boards I’ve come across have. Which leads me to believe that they aren’t white boards at all. I think they are some sort of canvas base with a few layers of paint layered on top to prevent staining. This can explain why there are signs in every room that clearly state that you can only use dry erase markers. This wouldn’t be a problem if they were the right surface for dry erase yet professors still try with all their might to make it work.
However, this isn’t a problem in other buildings where classes are held like the Parker Building. Parker has easy to use, fresh-looking dry erase boards in every room and surprisingly, they work. It’s no secret that this is one of the oldest buildings on campus. But if thats the case, than how does one of the older buildings have the better equipment? At this point I’d rather have chalkboards. Chalkboards are always easy to erase and if the school can’t outfit every room with this amenity, there are plenty of cheaper options like chalkboard paint. It works just as good as the real thing and it can go right on top or replace the existing whiteboard space on the walls.
It seems like NSU is always working on improving the university for the better. With residential housing and parking garage construction, the opening of the new M.D college last semester and the new brand campaign which claims students who attend NSU will gain a competitive advance or “edge” in their field. Well how are students supposed to gain an “edge” when we can’t even have basic classroom education tools that work properly? For now, I’m left squinting at the board until a better option comes along.
