Troy vs. UAB
Starting a new school is hard enough, but even more difficult when the school’s process for new students is unorganized and unclear. This is my second semester at Troy University in Montgomery. I am a transfer student from the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB). I noticed that Troy’s process took more than two weeks to complete. Troy’s primary market is catering to the “adult” student; however, the new student orientation is not conducive to the “adult” student. After conducting several informal interviews my findings support that other Troy students share similar experiences and agree that the new student registration process needs some serious work. In this essay I’ll compare and contrast the registration process between Troy and UAB and will look at these four main aspects:
Orientation/open house
Meeting with an academic advisor
Registering for classes
Getting an I.D. card made
Based upon past experiences my expectations for Troy’s orientation was to obtain more information on financial aid…whether I would be receiving it or not if so when would I find out how much, would it be here in time to pay for my classes and purchase books, register for classes, get my ID card and a parking decal. In actuality the orientation/open house took place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. and what was on the itinerary simply consisted of a welcome, several of the staff/faculty members talking about their departments i.e. Career Services, T.R.I.O., Financial Aid, and a tour of the campus. There was a considerable gap between what I expected and what the actual orientation delivered. So when I left orientation I wasn’t really feeling “Trojan Pride” I was thinking “what have I gotten myself into?”
Before new students can register for classes, they must meet with an academic advisor to get an academic plan together. However, the following problems were observed:
• There are only six advisors for the entire University
• There isn’t a specific...