schools/colleges & student treatment

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When running a business, you typically want to give your customers the best experience and least hassle. When visiting a typical retail establishment, this is done in many ways. For example, customers are given the parking closest to the doors, and in most suburban areas, parking is free. Security hassles are minimized and are designed to be as transparent as possible. Once inside, things are laid out in a reasonably convenient way, and generally employees, at least try to make the customer feel satisfied, even if they really can't. In more office type businesses, customers are typically given refreshments and given very polite treatment. In just about any location, the areas that customers may see are maintained to be as clean and as presentable as possible. This is all done so that customers will get a good experience, and will return for more business...they are the lifeblood of the operation, if customers didn't exist, then the business wouldn't exist.

Schools and colleges seem to operate on a totally different method. Students are their customer, but even though schools and colleges primarily exist because students are there to attend the college, they are given afterthought treatment. Going to a college sort of gives me the feeling like "Yea, we are a college, and teaching students is sort of a necessary evil of being a college, so get over it and don't bother us"

The most obvious way this is shown is how they handle parking the students, which is totally opposite the way any other business handles it's customers. Facilty and staff typically get the best parking spaces closest to the buildings, while students get the back lots significant distances from the buildings. In many instances, facilty and staff are not even charged for parking, while students are. THEY are making money working there, while the students are paying their saleries and the "benefit" of going there! Facilty and staff are typically allowed to use nice, well maintained restrooms, while studentes are relegated to use bathrooms that are located out of the way, and are afterthoughts in maintanience. Performing administrative duties at most schools is always a hassle, as the process for applying, registering for classes, paying or any other task is ususally annoyingly complex, and the people hired to assist with these tasks basically act like you are a burden to them and distracting them from more important work. Even in some schools, students are given security hassles and made to show ID's and stuff, while security wouldn't dare hassle staff for the same

Oddly enough, I find less of this attitude at the smaller community colleges and trade schools than I do at the bigger universities, but still, it seems like they would treat their primary reason for existance a bit better. Any of you all notice this?

colleges try to screw you over every chance they get. For instance, the computer shop on campus has a no return policy. They also try to tack on extra fees for random things. For instance, they said i owed them 10 cents on my tuition and had to pay a late payment fee because I am 10 cents short.

plus, the books cost way too much and you can't buy some of them on amazon!

College/university is a joke. I know, I go there. Everything is too expensive, and you get little out of it. A degree doesn't mean much anymore either. Luckily my dad has enough money to send me to school, otherwise I wouldn't go.

There is a reason for the bad treatment. In stores and other customer service businesses, customer come to buy good and services voluntarily. They choose to frequent a particular business. In schools, and to a lesser extent, in colleges, students are captive customers. Kids and teens to go school because it's the law, not because they choose to go. So schools don't feel obligated at all to provide good service. In colleges, going there is semi-voluntary. There is no law requiring it, but most people go because the business world requires it. So the issue of providing services is the same.

It really is your choice on what school you go to.. you just need to put some effort in your search for what you want.