Four days.
Four posts.
If I'm not careful, I'm going to set a dangerous and impossible-to-maintain precedent for myself. But I want to strike while the iron's hot, so enjoy this while you can.
A couple of months ago I was asked by the communication studies department at my alma mater to serve on an alumni board that would review student portfolios prior to their graduation in 2009.
After reviewing about a dozen portfolios last night, I'm ashamed to say I'm disheartened by what I read.
It's one thing to struggle with the essence of a press release. Even the most seasoned communications professional gets stuck trying to come up with the perfect lead.
However, judging from what I reviewed, that doesn't begin to approach the root of the problem.
These kids don't have a basic understanding of grammer and puncuation.
It's difficult to provide honest feedback on other aspects of their work when I can't get past the missing periods and misspelled words that would be remedied by a simple spell check. Based on their body of work, no employer would hire any of the students we reviewed last night.
Unfortunately, when they receive feedback, it's going to hit them like a ton of bricks because they've been led to believe that their work is acceptable.
Some of the papers in the portfolios I reviewed received very high scores from their professors, yet, these were the very same pieces of work I wanted to deface with a red marker.
What gives?
It's hard to blame the students when faculty lets them off the hook.
Are the students really that bad? Or are their professors not doing their jobs?
One caveat I should add is that my school isn't known for their liberal arts program, and perhaps therein lies the rub.
If there are any readers who have intimate knowledge of the state of similar programs at other schools, I'd love to hear feedback.
