Back to School

I was fortunate that during my first semester as an undergraduate I had placed out of a few classes. I wanted to get started with programming courses (I entered as a computer science major and left as an art major, but that’s another story) but needed to swap sections of a physics course to accommodate the change. Back then, freshman schedules were chiseled in stone and could not be changed. Anyway, I went to the registrar’s office and was told I couldn’t do anything about it. I argued aimlessly and left without any progress. Frustrated, I resorted to undergraduate’s favored course of action: complaining. Annoyed with my incompetence, my mom called the school and got things changed in one phone call. This was me at eighteen: frustrated with bureaucracy and needing parental intervention to get things done.

Since then, I’ve grown a bit. I’ve also attended other universities and community colleges, taught at a couple more, and generally gotten to understand how to navigate academic institutions. For those of you who haven’t been to school in a few years, and even for those jumping in while the ink on your BA is still wet, you probably expect some responsiveness for the $80K you’re parting with for your MBA. Pepperdine indeed is better than most schools I encountered, but it is an academic institution and has some bureaucracy. If those of you who get frustrated at the DMV (who doesn’t?) and who weren’t able to get that Sociology 312: Postmodernism and the Simpsons course because of some inflexible administrator, I offer the following tidbits to keep in mind:

Take the initiative and introduce yourself early

The best thing to do is to introduce yourself to your advisor, career councilor, professors, and even the dean. These are the people that will have answers and provide resources. Furthermore, the earlier you become known to these people the better they’ll understand your needs. If you wait until the eleventh hour—the day before an exam, the last month before internships are required—you’re less likely to get the attention you desperately need.

Stay connected

Image what it’s like as an academic administrator. Why do students come to your office? To chat about MTV’s “Jersey Shore”? To praise you on your recent 5K run? No. They come because they have a problem. Day in and day out, admin staff deal with students’ problems. Usually the egg is broken and the student wants someone to put it back together. Don’t be that student. Visit admin and develop relationships before the egg breaks, so that when you do come with a problem they are helping someone they know, not fixing a stranger’s mess. You’d be surprised how much more helpful people can be when they know something about you.

Know what you need to do

While staff may have the professional responsibility to make sure students are taking the right courses and attending required events, mistakes happen. “Nobody told me” is not an acceptable excuse in the business world. Information is available everywhere about required courses, deadlines, policies, and so forth. If you can’t find it, ask someone. But don’t wait until the last week of your internship to review the syllabus and see if it meets requirements. Assuming that you will always be told where to go and what to do will lead to problems.

Slow drip

Sometimes you request action or support from admin and then are thrown into Limbo. No emails, no updates, no nothing. Bureaucracies move painfully slow and though Pepperdine’s small size makes it more nimble, change does take time. The best response is the slow drip method: occasional office pop-ins, polite email inquiries, and so on that keep the person reminded of your request.

You catch more bees with honey than vinegar

Getting upset and arguing with admin is pointless. It will not produce results. The reason I failed as an undergraduate to switch my schedule was because I got upset and pushed. And when someone is pushed their natural reaction is to push back. The reason my mom was successful was that she is friendly, even in the face of opposition. A friendly, polite approach will always be more effective than an aggressive one.

You probably see a theme running through these: that getting things done involves forming and managing relationships. With such a small, personal environment, Pepperdine offers chances to interact with faculty and staff that other schools can’t match. This allows opportunities for change. And if none of these techniques work, you can always call you mom.