As a junior at NSU, I’m aware that NSU has been trying to grow as a university well before my introduction to it’s programs. I support NSU’s continued mission of growing and adding on more programs and new academic experiences, but I do not support students being left in the dark about changes and adjustments to their programs.
Our core mission as NSU students, other than to be engaged in the community during our stay here is to, well, graduate, which I feel is made exponentially harder when there are changes to your program that you need to abide by that you have no clue about. There is never a notification, an email, a smoke signal, nothing.
Luckily, throughout my years and the changes I’ve experienced in my own program, I usually have my ear low enough to the ground to pick up on the gossip and confirm the rumors with my academic advisor. However, what if I wasn’t so studious or involved? How would I possibly know about these changes unless I’m sitting in a meeting or speaking with someone who is aware of those changes? The answer is I wouldn’t, and honestly, I feel that’s why some students have to extend their planned four years. They find out too little too late about changes in their majors and minors.
Now, this isn’t just from the “higher ups” who work in our program, but some of our professors are in the dark too. Take one class I found out was cut from our core curriculum; I was told this through a stroke of luck with my professor in a meeting during his office hours, and when I mentioned this to another professor in the same program, I was met with a shrugged “Oh, really, huh” response.This wasn’t the first time that I noticed that the communication between students, professors and program leaders was so strained. Another interaction I had was during a class in which the professor told us that a certain class most of us signed up for next semester doesn’t count towards our major as we were led to believe. The room became a chorus of panic as we all started making appointments with our advisors and asked the usual “what, why, how, when” questions.
There are numerous interactions that I can speak to from other students in my program and many others, but at this point, it would sound more like complaining and be less conducive to an actual solution.
I just don’t understand why we aren’t told about these things or are even slightly involved in the decision making process. I mean it’s our education, in the end, and I’d like to know what classes aren’t being taught or why certain majors have priority for signing up for classes over majors in the same program. I understand we can’t be involved in strategic things, like scheduling classes or course curriculum, but we should have an open dialogue, monthly meetings, a suggestion box, e-newsletter or some sort of communication between those who run a program and the participants in the program because as of now, that doesn’t exist. It doesn’t make sense why nothing is communicated.
Most of the time, students figure these changes out and just theorize the “why” to the change, but most of the time, we don’t ever know the “why” and we just chalk it up to “well, That’s NSU.” I don’t want to say that anymore, I want to actually know why something was changed or didn’t change. I want to have more of a dialogue in the decisions in my program. As a student, I’m not trying to gossip or complain, I’m just genuinely trying to figure out a way I can graduate within four years and sometimes it feels like aspects of my program are working against me rather than with me. I want to graduate from NSU, I want to take these classes and learn new things, but these changes are just so constant, to a point there is no way to keep track of what’s going on. I’m constantly updating my four year plan like an endless, frustratingly complicated jigsaw puzzle with a blindfold on. I just want someone to remove the blindfold.
Sourced: M. Henry
