Frustration

Today is a rather frustrating day.

I wanted to finish and submit ALL my application materials at the end of the month except I am getting frustrated with many school administrations.

A. I can't seem to figure out what had has happened to my materials to UT El Paso because no one, including the post office, can't seem to figure out where it is since I sent out two weeks ago.

B. Why are so many school advisers lazy when it comes to prompt email reply? Of course not all schools are like that; but, I sometimes question what they do everyday. I thought adviser's primary job is to make sure the current and perspective students are on top of their task and be able to confirm the status of the application and etc. Even the student website provides no clarity of my status. Unfortunately they seem to have lots of unnecessary matters on their hands, thanks to the administration. Ironically this is the field I am trying to pursue but I seriously don't want to become like this.

C. One of my students has yet to contact me for a first meeting. For some reason that student name was familiar to me even though I never had him as my student before. Turns out I had that student last summer who ended up not showing up at all for summer school. My boss finally had to drop him off my list. Looks like the vicious cycle is about to happen. Again.

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I know the claim I'm about to make is nothing based on a hard fact, but this is the theory I'm sort of making these days.

So far, I have not heard any students from any school praising how well their school administration is. I admit there is a lot red tapes and bureaucracy going on in this field. The reputation of the school is generated mainly on its capacity of research, student retention, the quality of education, the value of its degree offered, and the list goes on. However, I do have a strong belief to this day that the quality of education and the student success can be improved greatly if the administration learns how to improve. I know many of you will disagree, and I know my theory lacks substantiating fact and/or explanation to back it up.

For an example, I never had an issue with UT Austin. Their update of my application status was so precise and accurate. Their website provided all the information I needed. If there was any question, I knew I would get a reply from the respective adviser within 12 hour period. UT El Paso, however, reflects the complete opposite. Even to this day I do not know what the status of application is and, moreover, it takes me days to reach them via phone or email.

Even though I may have jumped into a conclusion too quickly, I still believe that if the administration does their thing correctly and efficiently, it could eliminate many barriers that leads to an increase of productivity. Maybe it could even make the students and faculties' lives a little better. I've been noticing that so many faculties and staffs are struggling to turn in unnecessary materials to the head administrator that aren't even worth their time doing. Or they could try to hire smarter staffs who actually knows how to think.