Let me just start by saying that had the experience then (beginning in 1994) been what it is today, I have no doubt that I would have earned close to a 4.0 GPA. Now why would I say that, you may ask?
Well, for starters, taking attendance appears to be a thing of the past. In the fall of 1994, I failed a class for attendance alone. I had an A in English 111; however, I missed class twice and was 'late' three times, meaning I walked in when the huzzy of a teacher was still taking roll but had already passed my last name. Her policy was three lates equaled an absence, and three missed classes equaled a grade of F for the semester.
Second, the teachers all have their lecture notes on the internet. You can print them out ahead of time and then take little notes in the margins. OR you can take notes in the lines that they have already included for you to take notes. If you miss class, you won't have any additional snippets of info the teacher added; however, you WILL have anything that appeared on the screen outlining the lecture. Honestly, these poor kids would die if they had to go back to just one day of political science in a hot Peck Hall classroom with only a chalk board.
Third, parking is not even remotely the problem it was then. You can feel pretty comfortable arriving on campus closer to your class start time, instead of needing 30 extra minutes just to find a decent space. You can also park a lot closer than previously.
The biggest improvement is PipelineMT. Wow. For those of us that originally had the DOS-based FRANK system, you can't even understand why they bothered giving us FRANK. It was uncooperative and difficult to navigate. It literally was a DOS program. That should be self explanatory. Now you have PipelineMT. PipelineMT is this whole HTML interfaced portal with access to your MTSU email account, your account for paying for school, your teachers' sites, on campus dining, the library portal, etc. You get the point.
My point is that the level of convenience is phenomenal these days.
1 comment:
Ahh... My only F in college was the result of too many absences & tardies in one of the English courses.
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