NU 6 by AC, What Pisses Me Off at the School

NU 6 PAPER – WHAT PISSES ME OFF IN THE AGSB

Submission No. 5

ENTREPRENEURSHIP by Mr. Jorge Saguinsin

Submitted by R110083

October 26, 2011

As an alumna of the Ateneo de Manila University, and now a current student in it's graduate school, I am hard put to find anything that pisses me off in the school.  But the discipline of being aware of opportunities has allowed me to find areas of improvement for the school.

·      GATE OR ENTRANCE OPEN FACING ROCKWELL – On my first day of school, I had not yet gotten my basement parking ticket and so parked my car in the basement parking of Rockwell PowerPlant.  Class ended at 10 in the evening and I walked to that entrance facing the mall as it was also my entry point earlier.  To my surprise and consternation, I found that the entrance had already been closed. I was told that the only open entry/exit point at that hour was that one along Bel-Air. And so walked my way over to that side, left the building and walked the dimly lit area to cross the street and get to the PowerPlant Mall which at that hour was also quite deserted and only select entry/exit point were open.  In my opinion, this is a very significant safety and security issue.  Students and teachers and staff are thus exposed to increased risk to life, limb and property. 

I suggest that the school keep that entry/exit point open for the AGSB community who are dismissed at 10pm or let go even after that hour.  After all, a good number who could not find any more parking space in the basement do resort to parking in the mall.  The others who don't are fetched anyway and they too may be fetched from that side of the building. 

·      BREAKDOWN OF FEES – On my first re-enrollment after 16 years, the procedure was a relative breeze compared to how it used to be done.  Kudos to the office of the registrar which had implemented technology and new systems to make this a reality.  However, I was surprised to find that after registration, I was directed straight to the cashier's office to settle payment of the fees.  After presenting the paper, I was informed by the cashier that I owed about PhP50,000 for the 2 subjects I was enrolling in.  I asked for a breakdown and I was informed that there was none available but that the receipt may have the information  I sought.  I was puzzled by this but issued my check anyway.  Upon receiving the check, I was issued a receipt.  But upon close examination, there were very few details on it as to satisfy my curiousity as to the breakdown of the fees I had paid.  I looked up on the cashier's glass window and I found taped on it, a complete breakdown of the College of Law's schedule of tuition and fees.  Why does the College of Law have this and not the Graduate School of Business??? 

How difficult could it be?  Why isn't it made available to the students? I believe transparency is a value that is important in a Jesuit school and it really begs to be asked how the AGSB could not provide the details of the breakdown of its tuition and fees?  By providing this, the school would well serve its stakeholders… particularly its paying students.

·      MORE FOOD CHOICES – The canteen on the 2^nd floor of the AGSB features a concessionaire offering dinner fare and some chips and a selection of drinks.  It also has mini kiosks for Wendy's, Fruit Magic and Pedrito's.  And that's it.  I lament the very limited and often unhealthy choices available in the canteen.

 

There is available prime commercial space on this area that the school can lease to interested parties and thereby offer more food choices for the community.  I, for one, often look for vegetable selections and healthier sandwhich options (more than the burgers and pizza currently available).  Not only will the school provide for such more delectable food choices but also capitalize on leasing income for the yet available space.  After all, affordability is not really an issue for many of the students in the Ateneo Professional Schools.

·      STUDY ROOMS VERSUS MEETING ROOMS – The second floor of the Ateneo Professional Schools features an area where AGSB students may study for their lessons. This is a well-lit, well-ventilated area, with good wifi signals.  It also has square tables that are movable and allow for the students to configure size and shape according to their number or requirement.. (VG)

What I have noticed however is that the acoustics are not friendly to each table group in relation to the other table groups, and may in fact disturb on going classes on that side of the building.  Because many of the school work for AGSB students involve group work, meetings in the area cannot help but be loud, or at least, beyond the tables' invisible perimeters.  May I suggest for the school to provide mini conference rooms to be made available for free use or for rent to its students.  In fact, for certain organizations, this facility may also have potential for additional rental income for the school.

This will solve the needs of students seeking some freedom from disturbance or interference from other student groups, as well as limiting these very same groups' disturbance on others and on classes nearby.  This too will eliminate students' propensity to meet in other venues (a security and safety issue for the school), increase potential revenue for the canteen concessionaire in that more students with freer eating time are in the building. At the same time, make for more efficient use of the space in the building.

·      CALIBER OF TEACHERS – I find that there is a huge area of improvement for the roster of teachers in the AGSB.  The undergraduate school now requires that all teachers must have at least a Master's degree in order to qualify to teach in the college or university.  I think this makes this imperative that teachers in the MBA program must at least have a PhD or a JD or a DBA or its equivalent.  While there is value in the expertise gained from long years of experience and exposure in the field, an academic credential beyond what would eventually become peers in the field seems to be in order because then its teachers would have strong academic proficiency.  This would be in keeping with the school's ideal for excellence and would certainly add to the graduates' distinction. (Prof are being retired at 60.  Our contracts are on a per term/subject basis.  There are Phds and DBA scholarship granted;  I do not know whether it improves quality of teaching)

4