Tell me this: when did I turn into one of those people who considers college students to be consumers and sees her job as providing exceptional customer service?
Probably since I moved from the classroom to administration. I used to grandstand about the life of the mind and goods and services and commodity culture and all the rest. I used to think college was more than just an exchange of cash for degree. But now? Now I’m working my ass off to make sure that there is a tutor for every tutee, and I’m not doing it because I’m concerned about their education. No, I’m thinking about how if a student is turned away, that student will complain that s/he didn’t get what s/he wanted, which will in turn piss off the dean-ly people, which will in turn jeopardize our funding. Our cash. Our Gs.
I’ll tell you more about it later. Right now I’ve got a customer.
