Our View: Communication is key when working with students

A member of the International Student Council was surprised to see food the ISC had served at their banquet on Saturday being sold for lunch on Monday. Not only was the food two days old, but ISC members claim they were told it was going to be thrown out after the event and now there it was being sold as a “special vegetarian dish” in the TSC’s Carousel.

USU staff in charge of selling the food say they did nothing wrong; the staff is well trained in keeping food at safe temperatures for reasonable amounts of time. And, they also say, selling leftovers from events happens in the professional world all the time.

But maybe that’s the point … when policies are transferred from the professional world to the academic, not everyone is going to make the transition smoothly, especially students. Even a group as experienced in programming and with as professional a reputation as the ISC was still fuzzy on how leftovers from events in the TSC would be handled. Policies that may be commonplace in the private sector may not be common knowledge for students and if these policies were never clearly explained they can hardly be blamed for being upset.

The importance of communication from professionals to students who may or may not have background in a particular area of expertise cannot be overstated.

A little communication can go a long way.

We should know. Since the announcement of the expansion of the TSC computer lab, an ad hoc committee was formed to come up with possible locations to relocate The Statesman office. Places on campus as far-flung from our current location as the Towers and the Nutrition and Food Sciences Building were originally suggested. The move from central campus would have been a death sentence for our small publication.

USU journalism professionals and professors saw the imminent danger to the quality of journalism on our campus and quickly made their concerns known to the powers that be.

And they listened.

Those students and administration involved in this decision recognized their own lack of experience in journalism and were willing to take advice from those who know the business. Possible locations on central campus have since been identified.

It doesn’t take much. Just a little understanding.

Each year, professors understand it would be unfair to ask each successive group of incoming freshman to enter with the knowledge the previous group left with. Basketball fans expect the program to build on itself, but no one expects the rookie to automatically meet the skill of the senior star they are replacing.

We encourage all those in professional settings on campus to take a step back when dealing with students and identify the experience and background those students are most likely coming into a situation with. Needed patience, understanding and maybe even a teaching moment will be the result.