Friday I came to school
to work and for some meetings, arriving upstairs in Building 3 about 11 am.
Three “automatic” doors
leading to my office were locked. Yes,
on a work day. (What about students
wanting to drop off papers, or who would arrange meetings on this day in which
they had no classes, so they actually had time to meet?)
Daily, many of these same doors are locked. Students can view at
least eight faculty offices from either end of the back hallway of this
building, but can’t get through to them due to locked doors. One each of the outside double doors at each
end of the building leading to the faculty offices and classrooms are locked down
every day.
Students by nature are
intimidated from coming to see faculty in their offices (despite our begging,
pleading, encouraging and sometime even requiring them to do so). Unfortunately, the slightest barrier will
discourage them. Even though we may not
want to admit it, these locked doors send a not so subtle message to our
students: “Keep out! You’re not really
welcome here.”
Thursday I had a student,
who I didn’t know, stick his head into my office and ask, “How do I find my way
out of here?” At any given hour of the
day one can find Richard, Ivonne, other staff and numerous faculty acting as “catacomb
guides,” assisting students in finding the secret passageways to faculty workplaces.
Clearly, our office spaces (and they are legion!) in Building 3 were not
designed to encourage student-teacher interaction.
We know that
student-instructor interaction is a KEY to the ubiquitous call for “completion”
and “retention.” But it seems like we’ve neglected to think carefully about
this key component: Students' physical access to their instructors.
Granted, at this point it
is totally infeasible to redesign our office layout. But, given that limitation, shouldn’t we be
doing EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to encourage student interaction?
When I’ve enquired about
this situation, I’ve been told that the locked doors are a result of “county
codes” and “security.” But if this is
the case, why is it not uniformly enforced across campus? The double doors to the Rider Diner, Library
and—yes—even the Administration Building are both almost always unlocked. Why is it more restrictive for students to
visit their teachers?
This raises several
questions:
* Are we perpetuating, even creating, a “culture
of fear” on our campus in the name of so-called “safety”? (Please excuse the sociologist in me.)
* Why can’t we have open conversations with
facilities, campus safety, administration and others involved on how to lessen
these restrictions and make our offices more inviting and accessible to
students?
* We are working so hard to make “Pathways” for
students degree programs, certificates and career goals. Why is it so difficult to clear “pathways”
for students to the offices of faculty, when we know that is such a key to
student success?
* Have we been so taken by automation that it
overrides our goal of educating? What are we thinking? Really?
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