Communication on a Two Hour Delay

Communication is a much needed thing on any college campus. Some schools have found many ways in which to effectively get in touch with their students. Meanwhile, other schools are having a hard time informing students of changes and upcoming events.

On Thursday, January 17, 2008 Piedmont students found out just how bad the communication between them and the school was. The students woke up to a snow covered ground. The school tried to get word out that classes were delayed two hours. They put this on the website. The problem with this was that the Internet was out in the dorms. They put word out to local television stations. They put this on with all of the other school closings. Most students got this message. The problem with this is that the school did not explain what the two hour delay was. Ryan Orlovsky said, “I was confused because a two hour delay in at my old high school meant you showed up two hours late. So I went to my eight o’clock class at ten. When the professor did not show up I went and found her for her to inform me what the two hour delay really meant.” The delay meant that school did not start until ten so students eight and nine thirty classes were canceled and the rest of the day was on a normal schedule.

This communication problem can be fixed though. Piedmont can look to other small schools to see how they are get word to students. Atlanta Christian College, a college with roughly 1200 students, have a great way of getting word out. Students there are required to go to one chapel service every week. If they do not go their grades can be lowered. During this service they go over all the events of the week. They also receive an email every two weeks with a two week calendar. If Piedmont would do something like this it would get students more involved and get them out of trouble making.

Young Harris College gets in touch by sending weekly emails. Every club also makes posters and puts them every where on campus. Student Jordan Burgess said, “If you do not know what is going on then you must be totally blind. With posters up on every door you enter it would be hard not to know when upcoming events are.

Nathan Dean, a Piedmont Freshmen, commented on the communication system by saying, “If the school would get the internet to work in the dorms, contact could be made. A phone tree would be a good idea; even taping posters to the doors would be nice. In my opinion the school does a terrible job of contacting students and making it clear about the cancellation or delay.”

Last semester Piedmont tried the use of mass text messages. This seemed to work but stopped all of a sudden. If weekly email and just a few other things were implanted complaining about the lack of communication and things to do. There are events happening all the time students just need to know about them to show up.