Do you consider yourself a customer at CCBC?

Assignment:
Please be thoughtful in your responses. Your original
response should be at least 200 words. Please respond to two of the discussion
comments with some level of insight or opinion. This discussion assesses the
course goal #1 – Examining the nature and reactions of various customers.

Read the article “Students as Customers” by Melodi
Guilbault. This article examines the nature of customers in an educational
setting. Please answer the following questions as it relates to the article. In
the process, please consider the reality of you being a customer (or not) at
CCBC.
Do you consider yourself a customer at CCBC? What types of
behaviors do you demonstrate as a customer?
Are there other groups or individuals that are considered
customers?
Why would faculty think that students are not customers, and
what behaviors would students exhibit when they consider themselves customers
in a faculty members class?
What does CCBC do that show that students are customers?
Please be thoughtful in your responses. Your original
response should be at least 200 words. Please respond to two of the discussion
comments with some level of insight or opinion.

My Response:
I would like to start by defining
what a customer is. A customer is anyone who purchases a goods or services. So
to answer the first questions, I do consider myself a customer at CCBC.
Behaviors that I demonstrate as a customer is receiving promotional information
about the college and the services they offer. That shows me that CCBC values
me as a current customer and they also support my goals to better my education.
Another behavior is the monetary exchange made. At CCBC I pay for a for the credit,
but CCBC offers great professors to help me do so. Those professors are where
the service provided is involved. If
they didn’t have great professors, student retention from freshman-to-sophomore
would be a concern.
Since I do not know the specifics
about other staff and the hiring process. It would be difficult for me to say
who other customers are at CCBC. As stated, I think a customer is someone who
has purchased a goods or service. Anyone who was wearing CCBC branded clothing
or swag. Anyone who attends sporting events, or utilizes CCBC campuses for
whatever reason. Anyone who is purchasing a service or a product from CCBC. I
believe CCBC even offers youth summer camps. Those families would be considered
customers.
Faculty may not consider students
as customers because they feel as if customer service would require all
students to receive an A. That they cannot provide a service when our grade
outcome is based on our performance. I’m sure it puts a lot of pressure on the
faculty members. I have taken many classes with all different faculty members,
and there are some that go above and beyond to support you. And there are
others who are just there to give work. But as a student, having the professor
that goes above and beyond to make sure I am ready for the midterm exam, or that
I am respond to my email with care are the teachers I don’t forget, and the
classes I learn the most from. As a student, the professor who doesn’t give
study guides, or equip you with what you expect on an assignment, I spend more
time frustrated and searching for pointless information, and learn little to
nothing. If I am reaching out as a student for a study guide, or for help on a
topic covered in the module, or continuously turning my work on time, I expect
to be treated with care and concern by my professor. I feel like this is when
faculty customer service skills need to be turned on.

One thing that CCBC does to show
that students are its customer is by always providing up to date information to
students. I feel like CCBC does care about their students and their experiences,
and they do that because they want you to continue at their campus instead of choosing
somewhere else.

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