The Listening Box continues to provide a venue for students and staff to share concerns, ideas, suggestions, and
comments with the college community. The leadership team is very serious about responding to all concerns. We continue
to strive to meet the needs of all our community, students, and staff. We care about our people, our students, and our staff.
Please try to be respectful of one another when submitting your specific concerns. The intent of the Listening Box is to
provide a tool that encourages and supports growth. To that end, we reserve the right to edit your comments for
publication.
Complaints against individuals will not be responded to publicly. If you would like a response, please leave your
name and contact information
Listening Box: January 2017
1. CONCERN:
Why did the VA move from the 4th floor??????? Why are the phones not working????? Who made them move
and why?????
and
I am a vet that has been extremely satisfied with vet services at North Lake until last week. I am in the vet
center now. After calling COUNTLESS times and getting another department I came in and found the new vet
center. Looks like vets have been kicked to the curve. Never expected this to happen at North Lake. No one
could explain WHY the Vet center was moved. Although I got several answers they were the typical party line.
Whats the deal with the telephones. If any planning took place before this move it obviously was not enough.
Phones have been out for over a week. With a host of vets running the Vet Center did anyone one of them
consider several COAs in case problems popped up, like phone outages. I CALLED AND FINALLY CAME IN
TO REGISTER BUT I AM SO DISGUSTED UNTIL I HAVE DECIDED TO GO TO ANOTHER SCHOOL,
PROBABLY TARRANT COLLEGE.
and
Why did the VA Center move?????
and
I am a veteran that will complete my AA this year. Although I registered early I came to campus on Saturday
just to say hello to the folks in the VA Office. Since the office was locked, I looked thru the window and the
office looked empty. Although a sign indicated that the office had moved, I was so disappointed. I just returned
home. So disappointed
and
North Lake College should stop pretending to be Military Friendly after kicking veterans out of their office.
Who made this stupid decision???
RESPONSIBILITY: Mary Ciminelli, VP of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management
RESPONSE:
The decision to move the VA Center did not come lightly and was made after much deliberation from the
Student Affairs Leadership Council. The move was made in conjunction with the realignment of five
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departments within Student Affairs. The rationale for the move was for North Lake to adhere more closely with
the State of Texas’s requirement for Career Assessment for all incoming students and to provide additional
resources for students in North Lake College’s Guided Pathways Project. This project assists students in
developing their Educational Pathways, whereby Career Planning is the first step. Therefore, it was imperative
that we move Career Services to the 4th floor so that they would be in close proximity to Enrollment and
Advising services. The VA Center was chosen to move due to space limitations on the 4th floor. The VA Center
is a One Stop Shop model, which provides comprehensive services to our Veterans. The rationale for their
move was based upon their model of services and their excellent reputation, which we believed would continue
in spite their location. The new location also provides them with space for the Student Veteran Association
activities, which allowed us to honor that request. Unfortunately, the phone problem was beyond our control,
and every effort was made to divert calls to their office during this time. The phone system is currently up and
running and all services are fully functional We do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
On behalf of North Lake College and our Veterans Center, we apologize for the inconvenience and frustration
you experienced. North Lake is very proud of our Veteran Center and the excellent service the VA staff
provides to our students. North Lake has made a commitment to supporting and serving our veterans so please
know that your dissatisfaction and complaints have been noted and have been addressed. The relocation
complications impacted five Student Affairs departments and unfortunately the phone problems were beyond
our control and the staff did their best to serve our veteran population during this time. Currently, the Veteran
Center is fully functional in their new location, H220.
We would like the opportunity to continue serving you as you complete your education. We hope you will
choose to remain here at North Lake College and we certainly invite you to have a personal conversation with
our VA coordinators, Skip Ragler or Billy Yost or our Dean Carole Gray at 972-273-3169.
2. CONCERN:
I wish some of the daytime art teachers could teach at night. I took drawing at night last semester and wanted to
take drawing 2, but wanted to take the class from a different instructor. It would be nice to have a little choice.
Now I have to go to Brookhaven and it’s a longer drive.
RESPONSIBILITY: Martha Hughes, VP of Academic Affairs, North Lake College Art Faculty
RESPONSE:
Thank you so much for your feedback. It is truly great when a student takes the time to voice their concerns
about their college.
You make a valid point: choice is important. Taking courses with a variety of instructors is an essential part of a
well-rounded education. It is true that North Lake College has had only one drawing instructor at night for the
past several years. There are several factors involved. One reason is that we have only had a few art/design
students that register for evening classes, so multiple sections of drawing have not been feasible. One alternative
to evening classes that many students take advantage of is our Saturday drawing class. True, it is a daytime
class, but the weekend affords the possibility to take a course with a different instructor for those students that
have weekday jobs. We realize, however, that this still leaves some of our students without as many options as
we would like to offer.
Rest assured, we will continue to look into the possibility of creating more choices for our evening students. We
hope to have options for different instructors and courses in the near future. Thank you for your time and
consideration. It is truly appreciated.
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