Mar 04 2009
Nontraditional Students & Activity Scheduling
O
ne of the biggest differences between Laurentian U , where I did my undergraduate degree, and Trent , where I am now, is, I have become increasingly aware, is in their approaches to the scheduling of activities.
At Trent, I often do not find out about visiting lecturers or other such special activities until what I consider to be last minute.
At Laurentian - and at Georgian , also, where I did my Computer Programming Diploma, they gave us a lot more lead time for basically everything.
Trent is a much bigger school …. and there is a lot happening all of the time…. but still, for them to be effective as a school for non-traditional students, they really need to do a better job of giving us lead time, I think. And since overall enrollment is falling - but the numbers of non-traditional students going back to school is rising, seems like that is something they could do better.
I’m just not that available…I have a dog and a house and ….. I want to go home when my week is done. If I know that there are activities that I should stay for, I can make arrangements for the dog and so on …but when I never find out until the last minute, it is just not happening.
When I was doing the school + kid thing, I was even less available for last minute stuff…. if I had been at Trent then, it would have been a major hassle - and a lot of stress, too.
I am thinking that it might be worth talking to someone in the association for non-traditional students @ Trent about it…. especially if I am going to be going there for a few more years. Does your school have such an organization? Have you talked to them at all? We do - but I haven’t heard from them even ONCE since the orientation week…. hmmmm.
It amazes me how, when you’re an undergrad, they assumed you had a life , but when you’re in grad school (when you’re more likely to be marries and have kids and other jobs and and and…), that’s when they assume you’re their 24/7.
At Trent, they assume the undergrads don’t have lives either… mostly because it’s run on a collge system where the young uns are almost ALL in the residences right in the same buildings the classes are held in.
One of my students regularly comes to class in her jammies