I just got finished completing a survey for the Institute of Technology at the University of Minnesota.
I felt that the University of Minnesota, from my first course as a PSEOA (high school) student, tried to make the students jump through many hoops. My experience at private schools is that you focus more on the learning and the rest is simpler, more service-oriented.
It started my first day as a PSEOA student, a Minnesota program that lets high school students take courses at the college or university of their choice. I went to the bursar to straighten out my payment with the State and the staff worker said to me, "No, you had better be prepared to pay this bill. This is not a JOKE." Maybe all service organizaitons could do better service by treating everyone as a B2B customer instead of B2C.
To the U of MN, I would request focus on students' needs. Example: parking was always an issue, placing the Alumni building in place of it does not appear student-oriented.
To the Dean I would say my favorite experiences were with IT group activities. Encourage IT activities that cross disciplines. I tried to take in seminars. Now I am not sure where I can go to find them all in one place (what took the place of the newsletter?).
I remember professors in the Civil Engineering Deparment, Gary Parker in hydrology, Otto Strack in hydrogeology, and Randal Barnes in geostatistics. There was a lot of character in all of the professors and they really liked their work. They motivated me to go on to graduate work.
Posted by ledlogic at October 28, 2004 09:14 AM