By Liam Simonelli
Editorial Cartoonist
When it comes to providing its students resources, the College is second to none. But in telling its students of such, it feels like it falls dead last.
I began my first semester at the College this fall. I took the route that many of my peers take; I transferred from Mercer County Community College after completing my first two years there. I am now left with the standard two more years to attain my Bachelor’s Degree.
There is no shortage of resources for transfer students. We are welcomed with the same multitude of services as all incoming students — academic guidance services, mental health counseling, veteran services and financial aid counseling, to name a few. Each seems sufficient from afar, but at first there was a lack of clarity as to how to locate and utilize them.
I do not feel as though I was the only one of the hundred-some that gathered at Kendall Hall for a welcome lecture this past June who exited feeling uneasy. I was left with countless questions in mind and a hope that they could be answered in some form sooner or later.
A few weeks ago, I found myself in a common position — withdrawing from a class. When I reached the decision, I did not have a clue as to how I would go about it, let alone the obvious daunting questions. How will this withdrawal affect my academic standing? My credits? How will this affect my student aid?
After the matter was sorted out and the withdrawal process was complete, I found myself asking if there was any way I could have avoided such confusion. And, on a larger scale, how many other students are currently coursing through to proceed with the ultimately simple, painless process of withdrawing from a course?
Email advertisements for bookstore apparel and brand-spanking new textbooks were plentiful. Nearly every day for two months straight they landed in my inbox. Frankly, I wish that I had received the same number of emails on matters that could help equip me with the knowledge and tools I wound up needing this fall.
I believe it is the student’s responsibility to research their institution’s academic, financial and health services. However, most or even half of incoming students probably will not do so. Incoming students, inhibited by work, application paperwork, getting acclimated to the school and burnout recovery are tied up. By the time we come to need one of these resources, there is little to no knowledge as to how to use them.
In the months leading up to the start of my studies at the College, there was one method of communication that I always read — physical mail. Blast emails from the school got lost and Welcome Week lectures often went through one ear and out the other, but physical mail was a sure-fire way of getting my attention. Having something that I could physically hang up might have done the trick. I valued what information was mailed to me, always filing it in case I’d need to look back at it.
I imagine that method would have been very effective in learning how to withdraw or change my class schedule, understanding PAWS, learning about Flex Points and much more. I found myself waiting for weeks on end for this critical information, but had no luck.
The College should utilize mail and emails to alert incoming students of its many resources or just how to manage my PAWS portal. Through my acceptance process up to the last week of August, there was a scarce supply of either. Something I can hold in my hand can mean much more than an email. I am not the only student out there to be lost in a sea of email blasts in frustration. It is too late for my class, but it is not for future classes.
