Communcation Troubles on campus

Do you ever feel like you have no idea what is going on around here? You’re not alone. Regarding everything from daily activities on campus, to the status of the new Biomass plant, it seems that any news or information at GMC is difficult to come by.
After sifting through hundreds of deleted (and previously unread) emails, I have come to the conclusion that the biggest problem at hand is not a lack of information, but more that there is no easily accessible and aggregate form of all of the information students want or need to know. Inboxes fill up quickly, sometimes with up to 15 mass emails in one day. That sounds a lot like spam which often elicits the same knee-jerk ‘delete’ action that a spam message does. That makes it very difficult to differentiate between what is necessary or important, and what is irrelevant.
That being said, this is not a new problem. In fact, the problem regarding mass emails was supposed to be rectified a few semesters ago when they changed the email settings so that only a few select individuals had the capacity to send mass emails.
However, this may have further complicated the issue. Now anyone who wants a mass email sent has someone with this ability do it for them. Since the vast majority of emails now come from only a few accounts, it seems that students are receiving multiple emails from the same person each day. This makes for people to pay less attention when something is sent that it relevant to the interests or needs of that individual.
Generally, email itself is not the problem. In fact, it is likely the most effective form of communication that this campus has, rather it is the use of the system that has compromised its integrity. Many people have shared their thoughts on this topic and the general consensus seems to be that the only mass email aggregating information that students read on a regular basis is the GMC Journal.
This provides some insight for possible solutions. Perhaps, one major email a week that contains all news, events, and information representing all of the school or just one from each major area on campus (academic, residence/student life, Wellness Center, Learning Center, athletics). By restricting the emails to once a week, recipients are much more likely to read them.
The major problem with this model is that there are several mass emails which are sent that benefit students, such as surveys that they are conducting for class projects. Because of situations like this, a different system may be more effective. Websites like Epsilen and MyGMC are very effective at their individual purposes. Both sites are very effective in accomplishing what they need, however, most people only log on to their Epsilen site for class work and many only visit the MyGMC website to register for classes and check grades.
Using one of these very efficient platforms to aggregate all of the necessary information in a sort of bulletin-board style might ultimately be the most effective solution. If everything the student needed was contained on one platform, everyone would be more likely to utilize it.
All events calendars for school-wide programs (including everything from presentations to Wellness Center events to athletic events) could be collaborated in one spot. Additionally, there could be a section for students to reach out to their community, serving the purpose for things like surveys, which anyone could post to and read. This would need to be moderated from time to time in order to avoid spam or other inappropriate abuse of the system.
Ultimately, it seems that the best way to improve the communication on campus is to find a better system of aggregating information and disseminating it in a more concise and manner that is less reminiscent of spam. The school’s recently launched Twitter account is effective in reminding students of events on campus in a timely fashion (assuming anyone follows or looks at it). However, this simply adds another platform for students to have to go to for information.
Better circulation of information could be a major step in the right direction for several campus issues, including communication between administration and students, and student involvement. It would make it easier and less bothersome to find out about what is going on around the school. Again, the major problem here is not a lack of information, but a lack of an effective distribution system. Solving some of the larger problems on campus requires changes to keep students from being frustrated with the school and improvements, such as this, would be extremely beneficial towards reaching solutions for over-arching problems.BY Danielle Phillips
Do you ever feel like you have no idea what is going on around here? You’re not alone. Regarding everything from daily activities on campus, to the status of the new Biomass plant, it seems that any news or information at GMC is difficult to come by.
After sifting through hundreds of deleted (and previously unread) emails, I have come to the conclusion that the biggest problem at hand is not a lack of information, but more that there is no easily accessible and aggregate form of all of the information students want or need to know. Inboxes fill up quickly, sometimes with up to 15 mass emails in one day. That sounds a lot like spam which often elicits the same knee-jerk ‘delete’ action that a spam message does. That makes it very difficult to differentiate between what is necessary or important, and what is irrelevant.
That being said, this is not a new problem. In fact, the problem regarding mass emails was supposed to be rectified a few semesters ago when they changed the email settings so that only a few select individuals had the capacity to send mass emails.
However, this may have further complicated the issue. Now anyone who wants a mass email sent has someone with this ability do it for them. Since the vast majority of emails now come from only a few accounts, it seems that students are receiving multiple emails from the same person each day. This makes for people to pay less attention when something is sent that it relevant to the interests or needs of that individual.
Generally, email itself is not the problem. In fact, it is likely the most effective form of communication that this campus has, rather it is the use of the system that has compromised its integrity. Many people have shared their thoughts on this topic and the general consensus seems to be that the only mass email aggregating information that students read on a regular basis is the GMC Journal.
This provides some insight for possible solutions. Perhaps, one major email a week that contains all news, events, and information representing all of the school or just one from each major area on campus (academic, residence/student life, Wellness Center, Learning Center, athletics). By restricting the emails to once a week, recipients are much more likely to read them.
The major problem with this model is that there are several mass emails which are sent that benefit students, such as surveys that they are conducting for class projects. Because of situations like this, a different system may be more effective. Websites like Epsilen and MyGMC are very effective at their individual purposes. Both sites are very effective in accomplishing what they need, however, most people only log on to their Epsilen site for class work and many only visit the MyGMC website to register for classes and check grades.
Using one of these very efficient platforms to aggregate all of the necessary information in a sort of bulletin-board style might ultimately be the most effective solution. If everything the student needed was contained on one platform, everyone would be more likely to utilize it.
All events calendars for school-wide programs (including everything from presentations to Wellness Center events to athletic events) could be collaborated in one spot. Additionally, there could be a section for students to reach out to their community, serving the purpose for things like surveys, which anyone could post to and read. This would need to be moderated from time to time in order to avoid spam or other inappropriate abuse of the system.
Ultimately, it seems that the best way to improve the communication on campus is to find a better system of aggregating information and disseminating it in a more concise and manner that is less reminiscent of spam. The school’s recently launched Twitter account is effective in reminding students of events on campus in a timely fashion (assuming anyone follows or looks at it). However, this simply adds another platform for students to have to go to for information.
Better circulation of information could be a major step in the right direction for several campus issues, including communication between administration and students, and student involvement. It would make it easier and less bothersome to find out about what is going on around the school. Again, the major problem here is not a lack of information, but a lack of an effective distribution system. Solving some of the larger problems on campus requires changes to keep students from being frustrated with the school and improvements, such as this, would be extremely beneficial towards reaching solutions for over-arching problems.

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Posted by Danielle Phillips on Feb 3, 2010 Filed under College. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry