Inside Truman: How Much Are Students Utilizing Resources on Campus?

Laura Maciel Talks to  UIC Admission Counselor Amanda Williams as Another Student Waits on.

It’s amazing how time moves so fast. If you feel the semester began just in the third week of January and that we didn’t get anywhere yet, you need to think again. The most interesting news for you is that half of the semester is right behind us already. As we count down towards the end of spring 2011, we also need to reflect on campus events and about people around us who we usually don’t pay much attention to.

Many times we take for granted how much effort Truman staff spends to organize or help bring outside institutions to our campus, to expose students to relevant information and  as a result, to more opportunities.

Worse even, it’s important to ask whether we are taking full advantage of services that these outside organizations offer including information about transfers, campus life, scholarships and job opportunities after graduation.

Student Laura Maciel Talks to  UIC Admission Counselor Amanda Williams

At 11 a.m. today, I stopped by at two stands at the cafeteria entrance where female admission representatives from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and DeVry University answered questions about transfer and related opportunities at their respective schools.

Udamtsog Magsar stops at DeVry University Stand to Seek Transfer Information

Although the ladies were cheerful and prepared, both with answers, and with information brochures, very few passersby stopped by to ask them anything; I stayed there for half an hour, observing, and only three students stopped at either one of the two stands.

Is it because students are really busy to mind what happens on our campus or we have all the information we need to transfer to other schools, especially at a time when the District is studying why City Colleges of Chicago have such a low retention rate?

Next time you pass before the cafeteria, just observe how many students check out the fairs that are usually showcased there and think about how much gratitude we owe to those who made those resources available to us.