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| A scourge of freshmen. |
The president sent an email around saying that enrollment was low and that we should all try to improve our customer service skills. I work in customer service. I had no idea. I need to add that to the old CV. Enrollment is low because you make horrible decisions that make this school crappier and crappier by the second! Why doesn't he, or any of the other higher ups, get that?
Because he has poor customer service skills.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, if you're a cattle rancher, the cows aren't your customers. You need to keep some of their requirements in mind, but if you can't get a good ribeye to the consumer, you fail. No matter how happy your cows are.
ReplyDeleteBecause he'd have to accept responsibility?
ReplyDeleteHopefully, you guys understand that MANY of your graduates and former students will be re-filling customers' coffee cups, and grabbing them hot towels. But, hey, keep charging them $30K per year in tuition, for a watered-down product.
ReplyDeleteI had to take a lot of customer service classes at my old job, and some of the things I learned do come in handy in dealing with students. However, I suspect the ones who really need the Customer Service classes are not the profs, but the people in registration, parking, etc.
ReplyDeleteNando, can you be so foolish as to think that professors (the people that make up this blog) somehow have any say in the cost of university tuition? Really? Most of us are so far left on the damn spectrum, that we think university should cost nothing or next to nothing for qualified students. Speaking of which, we don't have any say on the quality of students that keep coming in either. You haven't been around here long, have you?
ReplyDeleteMA&M, I agree. Customer service can be as simple as dealing with people politely, even sympatheticly, when both you and the customer are having a bad day. Diffuse situations before they get out of control while still holding your ground is my favorite method for getting students to do what I want while I keep a smile.
ReplyDelete@Dr Cranky,
ReplyDeleteAnd profs are also the assholes that always require the latest textbook editions even though absolutely nothing changed since the last one except a new cover. But why would profs care? They get them for free from the publisher.
Nando, I don't "refill coffee cups" myself, but that's because I can't get those jobs because I'm "overqualified." However, I do similar odd jobs along with my watered down teachin' because, like you, I went to school and have over 100K in loans and can't find much of anything and am barely getting by. I work at a community college, so tuition isn't much. Our enrollment is down because higher ups make horrible decisions, get rid of things we need, keep things we don't, are corrupt, etc. I was just commenting on how disgusting the consumer model of education is to me. Carry on.
ReplyDeleteStock, proffies have their faults and if you read here often, you'll see that we gore our own pretty regularly. However, you need to address this concern over at www.bookpublishermisery.com.
ReplyDeletePublishers make money by selling new books, not used ones. To ensure that we always require new editions, they print them and stop printing the old ones. I can't rely on the used book market to guarantee that all 500 chemistry students get the first edition when it hasn't been in print for five years.
To specifically address your comment, yes. Profs can be assholes but not for the reason you provide.
So happy that Nando and StockStalker are here to remind us that students don't understand even the basics of how a university is run. That's no fault of theirs, but there's nothing like arrogance to put the shine on total cluelessness.
ReplyDelete@Stock
ReplyDelete"And profs are also the assholes WHO always require the latest textbook..."
Love,
Prof. Asshole
We always get this spiel at the beginning of every quarter about how students (in their exit interviews) LOVE the professors and rate their teaching highly, but students have left because of housing or housing cost increases, or the location, or the food on campus, etc., but then we are asked to please increase our customer service skills because professors can impact students. Are they not reading their own messages? Clearly, professors aren't the problem on our campus (well, most of them) and areas where students NEED customer service to work (or a bed without bed bugs) are to blame.
ReplyDeleteWell said. Though I'd settle for having bed bugs (they don't carry disease!) in my own bed if they kept more than 15% of faculty full-time, or didn't rehire people they fired (for unethical behavior) on contract positions, which, needless to say, are full time.
ReplyDelete