 |
|
|
| 
|
 If students were our “customers,” and I do not argue that they are, and if they were our only customers, then we should work to please them. But I would argue that if we do have “customers,” then employers, parents, and society are as much our “customers” as are the students. Just as business must balance the interests of various stakeholder groups, so must the educator. Unfortunately, in education we do not have a balance sheet and income statement that will measure our success with our customers and stakeholders.~ Sheri Bell, Ferris State University, November 2, 2006 If we do just give in, then we are not only cheating the student. We are also cheating ourselves. Prescriptive advising has worked in certain instances. But true advising is the fostering of student responsibility. It's showing students that value in knowing their curriculum. It's getting them to understand why certain policies are in place and what they're protecting against. It's instilling responsibility into every action they take. By doing this, we build upon the advising principles we all hold in one form or another.~ Chuck Allen, Temple University, November 2, 2006 First, I am relatively new to the challenge of student advising, so I am open to contrary opinion.I choose to see the student as the best judge of what their educational path should be because they are the final authority on their own lives. Our job as advisers seems to me to be “inform, not direct.” A student “encouraged” in a direction contrary to their desire is a half-hearted student fulfilling educational minimums. That said, good advice can and should still be given about not only the mechanics of obtaining a degree, but the attitudes and strategies for obtaining a meaningful education tailored to the unique needs of the student. As advisers, I believe we are responsible for just that—giving good advice . . . and respecting the student's autonomy. Our educational system is flexible enough to allow students to change course and even backtrack when necessary. ~ Jeff LeMieux, Coastal Georgia Community College, November 2, 2006 That's the problem with the “students as customers” idea. If they were “customers” in the usual (business) sense, then we should give them what they want. But they are our customers only in the sense that they are paying us to give them an education.Giving them an education implies that they do not know what is best for themselves. They want things—we are duty bound to help them develop their characters. They have to learn to take charge of their own development. We can provide information and guide them in learning it but unless we put them in charge of their own learning, they will never develop their full potential. So how far do we go? Each teacher needs to decide ahead of time what his/her standards or “rules” are. For example: I will provide information or show them how to find the information. I will guide the student in exploring the information. I will not do for the student that which they can reasonably do for themselves. ~ David Ekkens, Southern Adventist University, November 2, 2006 If one has the thought that college is a “business,” then the students would be our “customers.” As an “employee” in the business, our job is to provide quality service to our customers. I would surmise that the mission of the “advising department” of the business would dictate the services we provide. If it states that we provide support, then provide support; if it states that we provide answers, then provide answers. If there isn't a mission, then give them what they want!~ Bill Johnson, College of William and Mary, November 2, 2006 It might depend on the purpose and core values of a particular advising center. I would think that, no, we should not approach advising in that way. We need to use advising as a way to teach our students how to make better decisions, how to be involved, how to be responsible. We should challenge our students to do these things! Of course, I hope to give students a positive experience, but it takes a mix of good customer service and the idea of challenge and support to make them both happy and encourage learning!~ Kyle Hunt McCool, Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, November 2, 2006 If the students who seek to circumvent rules are our customers, then so are the students who follow the rules. Academic integrity is important, as is the reputation of a school a student earns their degree from. Students are paying for us to provide a service; but that doesn't mean they're paying for us to hand out meaningless degrees. Part of our implied contract with students at an accredited institution is that they have to earn their degree (emphasis on the word “earn”).~ Dean Hebert, University of Maryland, November 3, 2006 What does considering students as “customers” mean for the notion of education as central to the success of democracy? Do we do our future (indeed, their future too) any favors when we consider education a means (payment) to an end (diploma)? What kinds of workers we have won't mean anything if we don't have good CITIZENS. When we cease to link democracy and education, we turn out students who believe every negative ad they see and never challenge a person of authority when they say things like “We KNOW where the weapons of mass destruction are.” They believe whatever they're told, and they never challenge authority because they don't understand the value of critical thinking—and chances are good they also don't know how to think critically.Are these the types of citizens we want in control of the country some day? Will students who have had everything done for them know how to make the kinds of business decisions that will keep our country viable economically in the new global economy? ~ Michele Ramsey, Penn State Berks, November 3, 2006 The simple fact that these questions can be asked demonstrates that viewing students as “customers” is a faulty analysis of the relationship. The logical conclusion, which I have heard seriously propounded in customer service training sessions on my campus, is that “The customer is always right.”Education is not a typical “product” on sale in the marketplace. A student gains nothing of value from the educational process if the entire onus for making it successful falls on the teachers. Students have a responsibility to apply themselves and to be active learners for the process to work. That is not a “customer” relationship. ~ Marc A. Kaplan, Cleary University–Ann Arbor Campus, November 3, 2006 When students tell me they're “paying for their education,” oftentimes I correct them by saying “You are paying for the opportunity to earn your education.” I believe there's a big difference here. In my opinion, students are not “customers”; they're students. Customers go in to a store, pick up some items, pay for those items, and then leave the store in a relatively short period of time. Conversely, students apply to college, get accepted, attend orientation, go to many classes, read even more textbooks, study countless hours, and then graduate years later. Essentially, customers experience a brief event while students experience a lengthy process. As an academic adviser, I believe it's my job to assist students with their process by not making it an event, so this means I will ask what needs to be asked and, in some cases, pry where I need to pry. By giving students what they want in the short run, what do we teach them for the long run?~ Michael Stella, Penn State Berks, November 3, 2006 I'm pleased to see the number of comments already posted on this question . . . but I'll add mine anyway. My answer to all the questions [in the Forum topic] is “No,” so I have to answer the last one—where do we draw the line?Following the all-too-frequently used business analogy, I'll add to it. Students are our “customers” until they make the purchase (enroll). Then they become our “consumers”—of the curriculum, the services, the events, etc., that we provide. Finally, they become our “product”—that which we have developed as a result of their consumption. Unfortunately, we too often permit them to use an assembly line approach. Good academic advising provides the opportunity for invention (of new and better products). OK, OK, it's Friday afternoon . . . after the first week of pre-registration . . . what did you expect? ~ Tom Grites, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, November 6, 2006 If we insist on using business as a model (which I think is dubious in the first place), then students aren't our customers—they're more like our product.The tuition payment argument is spurious. Do you really think we have different ethical obligations to students on full scholarship than we do to students paying tuition? Or that students at a private institution are entitled to better advising than students at a public? Probably we'd all agree that our job isn't to please students, which is all we'd be obliged to do if they were customers. A physician is probably a closer model than a business, since like a doctor we are trying to do something for the students/patients, but we have to give them some say in how it's done, some amount of choice. But that's not a good analogy either since it's not the doctor's job to certify the patient's health to the outside world (except in some odd cases) but that IS our job. We have an obligation to the larger society to turn out graduates who meet certain criteria. That's why it's of some value to see students as our product. That analogy can be pushed too far also, since I think there are limits on our obligation to provide employers with exactly what they may may want. They're not customers either, in other words. ~ Marc Lowenstein, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, November 6, 2006 I'm currently reading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, and this question pertains to one of his chapters. Gladwell suggests that people often don't know what they want because their experience and level of conscious thought is typically limited. Simply giving students what they want isn't effective because they don't know enough about themselves or the opportunities available to be able to ask for what they truly want. Most of the time, goals students bring to advising are superficial; they chose a major because that's what they've always wanted to do or they liked that class in high school, so why not? They haven't taken time to think through their decisions in any depth. It's our job to improve their awareness, help them figure out what their real goals and aspirations are, and help them form a plan to achieve them.~ Michele Fields, LCSW, Indiana University–Purdue University Columbus, November 15, 2006
If we are to view students as customers, then we must define
who we are as a business. Are we trying to get students in
and out as quickly as possible? Does our business thrive on
the relationships we build with our customers? If we're using
the business model, which seems to have fairly widespread
opposition in higher education, then how do we want our
public relations to be viewed by others. The art of being an
academic adviser is that you need to know how to ask the
important questions while not seeming intrusive to the
students' lives. The very basis of this question imparts the
question of our style and whether we treat students as
numbers or individuals. If we are treating them as
individuals, then we must use our social inductive skills to
determine whether happiness from each customer requires
just receiving a rubber stamp or more developmental
guidance and adjust to each student as we see fit.~ Derek Furukawa, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, December 19, 2006 The Mentor is published by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/ Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University | All rights reserved | |
