To the Editor:
As a professor, I have heard that some university leaders have suggested that students should be treated like customers. Students do pay tuition, which tends to be hefty at many institutions, to get their education. However, there is a big difference between those who pay shops to get goods and those who pay universities to get their degrees. Shoppers buy their goods, but students earn their degrees.
Here are my thoughts about students as customers, based on the difference between buying and earning a product:
Yes, students are our customers. They should be able to easily and effortlessly register for classes. They should be able to communicate with their advisers via e-mail, chat, IM, or other convenient means to find out what classes they need to take in order to complete the requirements for their degrees. Colleges should set up computerized systems that students can use to enroll in courses that they need.
Yes, students are our customers. When they come to school, they should be able to park their vehicles immediately, without having to drive around campus searching for spaces to park. Students do pay extra fees for parking, but on most campuses space is not guaranteed in parking areas near classrooms in which they take classes. Such a situation is not customer-friendly, and something needs to be done soon to correct this situation.
Yes, students are our customers. They should expect to have access to clean drinking water, clean and fully functioning restrooms, and a variety of healthy food offerings, at a minimum. Many universities do offer these and many more services on campuses that often function as cities within cities. It is not uncommon to find dry cleaners, banks, food courts, hair salons, and other essential services.
Yes, students are our customers. We should prescribe the best textbooks that do not cost an arm and a leg. We should provide state-of the-art technologies that students can use to learn the content that we expect them to learn in our courses.
Yes, students are our customers. We should offer courses that are rich in content so our students become highly qualified and are able to secure leadership positions in a global economy.
Yes, students are our customers. We should stop charging them extra “value added” or “convenience fees” for offering courses at times that are suitable for our students.
Yes, students should consider themselves to be the consumers of products and services provided by colleges and universities. Institutions should treat students as customers and lower their tuitions to meet students’ demands. Tuition keeps going up each and every academic year and the cost earning of a university degree is getting beyond reach for many potential students.
No, students are not my customers when they are in my classroom. Consumerism stops at my classroom door. When I teach an online course, consumerism stops when students log into my electronic classroom. When they enter my classroom I expect them to earn, not buy, their grades.
M.O. Thirunarayanan
Associate Professor of Learning Technologies
College of Education
Florida International University
Miami