A Case for Mystery Shopping by Larry W. Tyree
As an assignment for one of her graduate classes at the University of Florida, a student – we'll call her Catherine – visited two community colleges near her hometown. Her purpose was to compare and contrast the environments of the two institutions. She approached the institutions under the guise of a prospective student. While her impressions were formed anecdotally, they were nonetheless quite real, and perhaps lasting to her. It also should be noted that Catherine is a mature, sophisticated young woman who will soon complete her master's degree. Unlike many of our prospective students, she is not easily intimidated.
The reader may be interested in her observations. She had this to say about Community College A (CCA): On a recent visit to Community College A, I was quite impressed with the campus and the staff members I came into contact with. Having attended a community college in pursuit of an Associate of Arts degree, I am accustomed to the welcoming nature I found to exist at CCA. Staff members who quickly offered assistance staffed each office I entered, from Enrollment Services all the way up to the president's office. There is clearly a concerted effort to get CCA students involved with each other on the campus and in the community through service activities.
The campus was nicely laid out and easy to navigate. Each time I asked where I would find a specific service, the staff members were quick to offer a map and gave good directions to me. When I happened back to an office, they just as quickly asked if I had found the building I had asked about earlier in the day. As I was there for many hours, I was pleasantly surpri sed that they remembered our earlier exchange.
Contrast those reflections of Catherine's visit to CCA with these observations from her visit to Community College B (CCB): I visited CCB with my 3-year-old daughter. I wanted to view the campus from the perspective of a potential student-parent. This was quite the ordeal!
I attended CCB from 1984-1992 while working full-time and never faced a lack of parking. The campus has grown considerably since then, and a new parking lot has been added in a location quite distant from the core of the campus. I was able to find a space way out in the new lot, and then I faced the task of getting a small child to walk quite a distance to the offices I wanted to visit. This walk was particularly eye-opening. It seemed an especially long walk with a toddler in tow.
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Dr. Susan Salvador
Office for Student Services
12/16/2003 |