Giving the students a voice: Jessica Thomas

By: Michelle Anstett
Editor-in-chief

While improvements such as the new steps up Wallace Hill and the changes to the food service offerings may be widely visible to students, there are many things taking place behind the scenes which are causing big changes.

Junior Jessica Thomas, an education major, is hoping that her independent study project will bring about some changes which students will not necessarily see. She is conducting a semester-long survey of the students within the education department in an attempt to get some changes made. Thomas said, “Students have issues with the department, and want to make their opinions known,” so her project will bring their concerns to the faculty.

This project is the direct result of a meeting which Thomas and junior Ryne Tate had with professor Craig Vivian last spring. The two students voiced some common student concerns which Vivian had not heard. He then suggested to Thomas that she turn an investigation of such student concerns into an independent study project.

At this point in her project, Thomas is compiling the data from the nearly 400 surveys which have been completed by students in the education department. The surveys, which cover nearly all aspects of the department, were optional for students to complete.

Survey questions included, “Do you think that aiding journals are a valuable part of the aiding process?” and “What percentage of the readings assigned do you read by the class period it is due?” Based upon the response gained by the preliminary survey, Thomas will distribute more detailed surveys in each category to determine where the majority of students’ concerns lie.

The next step in her project will be to organize focus groups composed of students who volunteer and feel passionately about making the education department better.

In preparing for this project, Thomas spoke with various education department faculty members to determine what they believed the study should cover. The main problem Thomas had was trying to incorporate every faculty member’s ideas, as they all had different ideas. Some things which people wanted to see changed cannot be changed due to state regulations.

When her study is completed, Thomas hopes that “people will be happy with the program and will feel prepared going into the teaching world… Hopefully, I want the campus to understand that the education department is willing to find its strengths and weaknesses.”