Good Communication Between Administration and Students is Vital

In a small, private institution communication between faculty and staff is vital in ensuring the college provides an education and experience students are happy with. However, at the same time communication has to reinforce the mission statement of the college. This can obviously result in conflict.

As a student here at Piedmont College, I have noticed many ways in which the administration has communicated with students which has resulted in miss-communication or problems.

For example, last Thursday after the snow of the previous night it was unclear about how the campus was going to be operating for the day. Media sources from the college website and local TV channels, told students that classes would be cancelled until 10am. However a number of students who went to class at 10am found that their professor was going to cancel class anyway due to snow even though the college has announced classes would start as usual. Here professors and students all needed to have had a clear message as to what was going on with reasoning as to why a certain decision was being made.

This is similar to the confusion students have had with the attendance policy, different faculties seem to have different policies. When an argument was put forward about this at the Town Hall meeting last semester the President cleared the dispute up. This is a good example of how the exchange of ideas, “giving and receiving” can result in a positive outcome.

I think that at a small private college communication between administration and staff is vital especially as the college has the authority being privately owned to make decisions that may conflict with student’s wishes. Talking to other students attending small colleges in Georgia on the same International Program as myself they have experienced similar problems in miss-communication. I think communication and understanding on a two-way approach is necessary to a good relationship between staff and students here at Piedmont.