He said, She said, They said. What?

Last Friday morning Piedmont College was three inches deep in snow. While this would not have normally spelled a problem whatsoever for the daily classes, the partial thaw followed by the prompt refreeze created black ice on roads and sidewalks alike. Because of this, students and professors have questions over wether or not classes would be cancelled. This is where the day’s problems began. While students were assured that they would have information on class cancelation and postponement at six a.m., they were not informed on where to find the information. To make matters worse, professors themselves were in a state of bewilderment over the issue. In many cases students would hear three different stories; one from other students, one from the registrar, and a third from there professors. Under the circumstances, it is quite commendable that any students came to class at all. 

One good thing to come out of Friday’s confusion is the question of school communication. Having such a mishap occur forced the school to question its communication network, and hopefully improve. Luckily, Piedmont is a college devoted to excellence; when problems occur, the administration does work to find and institute solutions.  

What are some ways to improve current campus communication? Simple. Use the school email system. Every freshman at Piedmont College has a school email address. Many students check these addresses daily. If a school wide email had been sent to the students (and for that matter professors) Friday’s confusion would have been prevented. Another way to improve on the current system of communication would be to include campus wide text messaging. Forwarding a text message is no more difficult than forwarding an email. Also, in a time of emergency, or confusion campus wide text messaging would allow the school to contact students no matter what the student’s location happened to be. Campus wide text massaging would contact and inform both students and faculty instantly. Either of these solutions would be an improvement to the current, watch the news and hope system.