Communication or lack thereof

All it took was a winter storm to pass through Northeast Georgia for students to realize a complete lack of communication at Piedmont College.

On January 16 Northeast Georgia experienced its first winter storm since 2005. The roads were not only covered with snow and ice but trees were down around the county as well. This created a problem for many residents. These were the reasons that several of the counties surrounding Habersham closed their schools and businesses, which included other colleges in the area. However, Piedmont decided to remain open with a two-hour delay.

This would not have been a problem except for the fact that many of Piedmont's students were unaware of the delay due to a lack of communication on the school's part. Piedmont placed an announcement on the homepage of its website, however, the problem lied in its residents not being able to pick up an Internet signal to check the site or email. Piedmont also had a recording set up through the school telephone service. This was a good idea but many of its students didn't know the schools' number to call or were unaware that they could call. Even Piedmont's professors were unaware of the school's morning delay and were trying to rush to work on dangerous roads.

The winter storm was not the first time that Piedmont has failed to notify its students of events happening around campus. Throughout the fall semester several events took place that ended up being a bust because no students showed up. For example, on World AIDS Day the nursing school in conjunction with Rev. Dr. Ashley Cleere held a worship service at Congregational Circle. About 30 people showed up for the service. However, many were nursing students and faculty members. Other students knew nothing about the event until they walked up and saw a large group of people standing in the Quad.

It is events like these that separate Piedmont from others schools across the country. If its own students are unaware of what is happening on campus, how is the community supposed to see the success of the school?

Other schools that are similar in size to Piedmont, which include Young Harris and Savannah College for Art and Design out of Atlanta, have great methods in which they communicate with their students. One such method is having a section set up on the front page of their school website that lists several of the upcoming events. If you click on a link it will also take you to a list with events for several weeks. If Piedmont would take the time to fix Internet connection problems in its dorms, then both the resident students as well as commuters will be able to know what is happening on campus. This would also mean that Piedmont would have to constantly update its website on current happenings instead of listed events that have already past.

If Piedmont would just take the time to listen to its students or look at the example of other schools communication, it could build its greatness and expand it reach to not only current students but also prospective students. If they see the amazing things that Piedmont does for its students, they too may want to come and join the Piedmont family.