When a Customer is NOT a Customer!
Not every person who gives you money is a customer…
An INVESTMENT is not an act of a customer. There is risk with investments.
Today I ran into someone I have not seen in a while, but have known for over 25 years. He has vast experience in his industry, which is untouchable, and knows what he is talking about with great authority from someone who has, ‘done it’. Recently, he taught at a community college to share is vast experience and ran up against a challenge I’ve seen, have dealt with, and am greatly concerned about. – I’ll call it, “The Student As Customer Dilemma”.
One side of the dilemma states that: “Students today believe that since they are paying for a ‘service’, they should dictate the parameters of the ‘customer’ relationship, including: workload, curriculum, and EVEN grades. Schools have even bought into this notion! Evaluations of teachers/professors by students, both by the school and in social media, have turned the tables to favour the side of the student demands. If the student is paying for a service, they should get what they want.”
The other side of the dilemma states that: “The student is the product and the ultimate customer is the community or company that will eventually hire that student. Students are a rough piece of material that needs to be tooled the fit the mould needed and often demanded by industry. At the end of the day, it is the community which is the customer, not the student, they are the product.”
Let me weigh in with my thoughts.
Remember… education is an INVESTMENT!
Is the student getting a service? NO DOUBT… ABSOLUTELY! There are some things that the student should demand that they get the best for their hard earned investment. In my books these are: knowledgeable and engaging instructors; leading-edge applicable curriculum; and a track record of successful job placement for graduates. Like an investor, they are a stakeholder, but NOT the customer.
The scales tip here for me in Job Placement. Is this not really what the student is buying or investing in? What students are NOT buying, or should EVER BUY are grades, instead, they are buying practical skills that employers need and demand. This is an INVESTMENT!
I’m hearing time and again, and seeing students demand from teachers/professors that they are the CUSTOMER! NO…. NEVER! This is an INVESTMENT of which the student can decide to withdraw from if they don’t like the return, but it needs to be understood for what it is.
What is becoming a more harsh reality is that some students have begun to demand good grades from their instructors/professors with the ultimatum of poor rankings on the teacher evaluations. We are seeing the scales tip in favour of the student as customer. This is the proverbial tail wagging the dog, and what has also begun to happen is, teachers then give the grades so they can keep their jobs leading to grade inflation. At the end of the day, students are not held accountable to what they need to learn, and are being graduated without the proper skills required by industry. Soon an “A+” will be meaningless and Job Placement becomes the issue as companies stop hiring from that school and the whole system falls apart. Schools can only survive in the short-term in this endeavour, and it will eventually come back to hurt them and ultimately the student.
My friend is not teaching because he held his ethics in grading to a high standard, however his students felt different in their ethics and grading him low. The school felt the ‘customer’ was right. Is it possible there were other circumstances leading to the end of his short teaching career? Perhaps. But I’ve seen this before, and I’m very concerned about the state of higher education if this is reality and continues.
Pit Crew Challenge Website
Walk on Wet Paint Website
Bob, your comments ring very true to me, and I would like to support them wholeheartedly.
When you purchase a service, it is up to the consumer to decide if the service is meeting the expectations that were promised at the beginning of the relationship. The story above reflects the fact that the professor had set high expectations of his students, and that they were there to learn and grow as a student. They threw up their hands and cried “foul” because they were held to a higher expectation. Precisely, this is what the problem is because the school capitulated to the tantrums of the students.
Why do we pursue higher education? Is it simply to have a placement after our names, something to extend our moniker on a business card? Application of knowledge is true power, not simply the acquisition of it. Simply obtaining a certificate or degree is pointless – unless you know how to use it.
What does this mean as North Americans if we simply listen to and give in to student demands? Would this work in India, China, the U.K, or other parts of the Globe where the educational system is not as loosely managed as it is here? As an Employment Counselor, I see several people coming to Canada with fantastic education, and who are brilliant, talented and dynamic. With the world becoming flattened through several different channels, it makes sense that if we want to have jobs (and keep them and compete globally) captured on our true merits (and not because of our nationality) we need to realize that we cannot “hand out” accomplishments. The best thing we can do for our younger generation is to meet honest consequences to their efforts and teach them that they need to be the best by their actions and earn rewards, not complain enough to be told they are the best and be handed false accreditations.
linkedinheavyweight
July 6, 2011 at 9:00 am
Thanks Chris. I appreciate your comments and support.
Bob Parker
July 6, 2011 at 9:05 am
Very Well said, Bob.
Students should get what they pay for………….an education.
Passing grades they earn by their effort not their enrollment fees
John Stevens
July 6, 2011 at 1:49 pm