Aliyah Thompson, Local News Reporter
(@Hel1o_itsme)
One of the primary complaints against Howard is the lack of communication between administration or staff and students.
“I don’t want to bash the people at the A[dministration] [B]uilding, cause that is a pretty difficult job, being responsible for like the 10,000 students at Howard and all their money, transcripts, transfer requests and major changes,” said freshman political science and African-American studies double major Zephaniah Galloway.
“But I just feel like if — especially through HU Communications — they could keep us up-to-date with dates of what’s the last day to withdraw or when you will get your refund check depending on your classification, that would make things a lot easier.”
To some students, this gap in communication stems from the administration’s perspective of students as merely students — not adults. Along with communication comes transparency, which the administration may not want.
To Galloway, the administration does not trust students enough to give them direct answers for the most part.
“They seem to think that we’re just here for First Fridays and we’re here to be featured in The Hilltop for having good looks or whatever,” said Galloway. “I just feel like they don’t really trust us to give us the direct answer and if they do, they don’t know the direct answer themselves. Information on both sides needs to be conveyed.”
For other students, such as freshman public relations major Kevion Daley, getting problems addressed and rectified is as simple as taking a trip to the corresponding office or department. When it comes to issues such as maintenance, according to Daley, the delay in resolving requests is beyond maintenance control.
“They’ve been pretty quick in my experience,” said Daley. “And the only time they’re slow on something is if they legit don’t know or have it. And that’s upper admin’s fault sometimes. For instance, I’m on the top bunk and I️ still don’t have a ladder. The maintenance crew told me Howard just hasn’t ordered them yet.”
Although the administration does hold the most responsibility when it comes to communicating, both Galloway and Daley think that it is up to students to take initiative when it comes to resolving problems that they may have.
