Bureaucracy is system of organizing things. College bureaucracy is the process through which students acquire their education. The main aim of college education is for the purpose of higher learning; nonetheless, bureaucratic problems in schools can limit people’s educational experiences as result of complexities in the system.
Within every stage of the higher education process, colleges in the US are quite bureaucratic. Every college contains its own set of rules and deadlines concerning admission, course options, financial assistance, and submission of academic credentials among others.
The first instances whereby most people experience this strictures normally involve initial admission to the college as a learner. College admission ask the prospective students to fill their details, sign then hand in their application form, normally at a fee and within a certain deadline. Aptitude tests have their own deadlines as well, as well as credentials from other institutions. If recommendations from former tutors are needed, search a specific form and the deadline for submission. International students ought to be careful on deadlines, because getting transcripts and translations of credentials can take time. The best thing to do is to plan ahead, and go through the requirements with caution.
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Apart from complications with the general admission procedure, access to student services is a more cause of bureaucratic distress. So that students can access the student services offered within most colleges, students are forced to through various levels of bureaucracy so as to accomplish very simple tasks. Long queues are a familiar sight in most colleges, more especially because the necessary services such as buying textbooks phone services and parking services are offered in just one location, each with very long queues. But queues are not the only thing students deal with, there is also the issue of paperwork.
According to a report, College students change their majors around two times before they graduate. Students can change their major’s more than two times were not for the distress procedure that comes with such changes. To switch majors, students are required to go to the college of their desired new major, raise a petition and wait for it to be signed by an administrator. Then they go back to the department of their previous major and get their petition signed, after which it is reviewed by the college committee of the new major. Once approved, and only after the necessary steps have been taken, the student can change the major.
Switching a major is not the only hassle in college’s bureaucracy. Financial assistance schedule changes raised after deadline and student fees. International students, cannot enjoy the benefit of being given student loans and grants, nonetheless, most students complain that disbursement of loans is quite slow and aggregated by bureaucratic processes. Most colleges do not send out the checks until they receive payment of registration fees, and for most students who require financial assistance, getting the loan check is the only way they can manage to clear the fees.
Attending the college online is the idea behind distance learning, this method of online education makes it possible for learning by yourself option, allowing students to have the freedom of learning at their own speed. Statewide, standardized tests can be bought at a cheaper price on newsprints and can also be found on the internet. A reasonable price is charged for the national assessment test once a course has been completed making college more affordable for everyone.
There has been a lot of campaign on distance learning, pointing out that students who have part time and full time jobs, with family or other commitments, can benefit a lot from this option as it allows them to decide when they will participate, there will be no travel time, makes it possible to utilize late night hours, settles course conflict issues and places the planning of their time fully under their control.
The solution to these bureaucracy issues within colleges is the implementation of the technology for group interactions into regular classes and the movement of all college student services into the system. There should be no reason why any process the college offers the student cannot be dealt with through internet communications.
Technology can solve most of the bureaucracy issue. New internet access such as online registration, online counseling, buying books online has made it simple for students to access their services and using the web for educational purposes for instance class discussion posts, and online class site with access to the course syllabus, which has made it possible for student to participate more in class.
The internet lessens the hassles of student life and disperses power. The internet makes it possible for students to learn by themselves without having to deal with academicians, and go on with their daily activities without having to wait in long queues.
References
- Boser, U. (2003). E-Learning–Working on What Works Best,“. US News and World Report.
- Grissom, J. A., Kern, E. C., & Rodriguez, L. A. (2015). The “representative bureaucracy” in education: Educator workforce diversity, policy outputs, and outcomes for disadvantaged students. Educational Researcher, 44(3), 185-192.
- Weber, M. (2015). Bureaucracy. In Working in America (pp. 29-34). Routledge.
