Wednesday, November 9, 2011

A.O.C.: Values & Choice

Haley Scholar Reading Groups

By Danielle Hall

As we’ve been reading each chapter of A.O.C. we have had many opportunities to contemplate and discuss the complex processes involved in making decisions. However, I found chapter 5 “I, Robot?” particularly interesting because Iyengar identified in several essays, the ways in which our choices are often “manipulated” by external factors beyond our control. Some of the noted examples from the chapter were the “Ballet Slippers” vs. “Adore-A-Ball” nail polish samples in “Neutral Observer,” color and trend predictions of fashion designers and retailers in “You Say Chicken, I Say Egg,” and bottled water vs. tap in “There Is A Difference.”

In each scenario, I was able to see myself and my decisions…like the occasions I’ve gone to the nail shop and found it difficult to select a neutral color in the “cotton candy” family or even going grocery shopping, I am often very particular about what “brand” of bottled water I purchase, even though I know there's probably not much difference. At this thought, I could not help but apply this theory to education and intellectual growth at SIUE.

In many instances, education marketability is competitive and very much like fashion “wearability.” If academic life is viewed as a trend, we may be able to identify some people who place values on how much they spend on their education or where they attend school (i.e. Harvard, WashU). If we acknowledge that such factors exist and are inevitably linked to the options we have and choices we make, what are some of the values that brought you to SIUE and how can we as scholars create an intellectual network of shared values here at SIUE as a model to market our growth and capabilities?

12 comments:

Denita Campbell said...

Some of the values that help to make my decision to attend SIUE were the small class size, diversity, and finacial costs. I think these are important factors to consider when deciding on a school. SIUE can market themselves as an intellectual community by defining the importance of education and reaching out to their students to ensure academic excellance. There has to be an outstanding academic criteria that SIUE has to enforce in order to create a demand. Schools that are highly valued have a demanding criteria for acceptance. I don't think the value should be on academic criteria but on the overall college experience.

Joe Brown said...

What brought me to SIUE was that it is a well respected intstitution, and that I can chase my dream of being a pharmacist without having to move away from the place that I love to call home, that in itself is worth more to me than anything else.

As for how SIUE could 'market' itself, I must say that the "What the 'e' in SIUe" campaign is a good marketing campaign as is. However, as we go through these tough economic times, it only seems fit to remind the public of the value of a good college education, so a campaign that makes SIUe resonate with the idea of a strong education (and logically following, a job) would be a good route to follow.

Hilary Conrad said...

I too am one that takes my time on making decisions and I put in much thought into the smallest decisions. Making my decision to come to SIUE was very stressful. In the end it turned out to which school would offer me the most money either academically or athletically. After receiving both an academic and an athletic scholarship to SIUE, my decision to come here was very easy. The school was close to home, I loved the track team that I was going to be apart of, and they had the academic program that I was looking for. Another factor that attracted me here to SIUE is the closeness of the community. There are always activities going, and there is something for everyone depending on your interests. I think that we need to continue to listen to the interests of each student, so that everyone can feel apart of something.

Maame A said...

When thinking about the reasons as to why I chose to attend SIUe, the values that come to mind include: location, offered major, friendliness/openness of faculty, residential living, finanical cost, size of classes and diversity. Being from Chicago I had many schools to choose from, but I wanted to be far enough so that my parents wouldn't just stop by, but not so far that my parents wouldn't visit. I also like how the campus is in the woods differing from what I grew up in. The resident halls at this campus are FAR way superior than ones that I visited at other schools, almost not comparible. The size of the classes are small enough so that I can focus in class and be able to approach the professor if need be, and the cost is amazing. I don't think you should have to pay an arm and a leg for an education, especially since an higher education in some countries is provided by the government for free. The diversity of SIUe's campus is lovely. You see people from all parts of the country and the world with a common goal of recieving an education. SIUe can definitely markent themselves by sharing with incoming freshmen or students that already attend the school all the quilities that make SIUe a great school. By informing incoming freshman it will allow them to see what they would be missing if they did not attend and by informing upperclassmen it will remind us why we chose this school instead of UofI or UIC!

Tia Baptist said...

What brought me to attend SIUE was there remarkable nursing program and dedication to wanting ther students to succced. I have came across a few people that weren't help but for the most part many people have been very helpful. I really like what SIUE stands for to. Were not known for a party but known for how great how programs are.I think if we continue with our image of academic excellence then that should go to market. Plus just the overall experience here would be something that can marketed to the public.

Sierra Bradford said...

Sierra,
SIUE is a predominately academic school, our main focus is not sports or parties but education and career building. I wanted to apply to this school because of all of the resources SIUe offers like the career center, and tutoring and SI sessions. The objective of the university is to graduate their students. All of these qualities aside I left my final decision of attending SIUe up to prayer, and I believe was meant to be here.

Jaimie Belen said...

What attracted me to SIUe was the nursing program. I knew I wanted to go back to school after my bachelor's and I saw that SIUe has some graduate programs that I may be interested in.

SIUe should focus on how good the programs actually are. Furthermore, they should emphasize how many people from SIUe graduate and actually get a job afterwards.

LaToya Bond said...

To be honest I really didn't care what college I went to, so I ended up here because this is the only school I applied to. What I like about this school is the dorms, the approachability of the staff, the small class sizes, and the nursing program. We as scholars can make an intellectual network of shared values at this institution by excelling and achieving our maximum potential while in school. This means studying hard, making good grades, and passing boards, if that applies to your major. Achieving great things in these areas will make our school look better and it can attract more people because they will realize that they don't need to spend a lot of money on their education to do well in life.

Robin Caffey said...

Some of the values that brought me to SIUE are the small classes because it gives a chance to have a closer relationship with your professors so you won’t end up just being a name on a paper. Another is of course the price. I feel it is a very affordable yet quality education that I am receiving here. Also it was a very diverse campus and welcoming atmosphere. And finally the accreditation of the school of business was the biggest selling point.
But unfortunately trends aren’t always about what’s best it’s just about what’s popular. SIUE has marketed this information very well but, we can’t change the mind frame of those whom are receiving the messages. So overall the question shouldn’t be how to market or growth and capabilities, we have done that, but how do we make people decide that quality is better than trendy.

robert b said...

I had so many colleges shoving ads my way towards the end of my junior year. It was so hard to decide which colleges were worth spending time on. It came down to location, and presentation just to narrow it down to about ten schools. I got lucky and my cousin, who is an alum, convinced me to come take a look at SIUe. The visit is what sold me. The beautiful campus, the affordability, and the opportunities available at a developing school are what drew me here in that order. I don't know if many people value campus beauty as much as I do, but that is most certainly one of the biggest advantages SIUe has over other schools. I believe pleasing environment is the most vital thing to a students success.

Shawn C. said...

I apologize for the tardiness of the post, I evidently did not read the posting scheduel correctly.

However the values here at SIUE are strong all around. The values that brought me to this school over any other school are the values of integrity and trust. Both of these values seem to be brought on by the personal connection between the student and faculty here at SIUE.With the smaller class sizes I feel a more connected relationship with my professors making it easier to trust them, thus making the learning process more efficient than a place where the student to faculty ratio is one where the professors are only teaching for their paycheck. Also the integrity/pride at SIUE is one that rivals most of the major univeristies in the land. For such a small up and coming school it seems that the pride and intergrity students and faculty have for the Edwardsville name is beyond most other schools, which makes it an easy transition for those joing our community here. Finally how can we gain a pool of core values at SIUE and use them to market to the outside world, of course the university has their own values laid forth as a way to market SIUE values. However I believe for one to truly belive anothers value core, we as scholars need to exemplify the idea that SIUE is an up and coming university by being used on various trips to highschools and various meetings to spread the truth about what each of our values means to the individual student, which is a lot better than hearing the same core values laid out speech prepared by the university to attract outside world attention to SIUE.

Anonymous said...

I'll be honest, I decided to attend SIUE because I have grown up in Edwardsville. I am able to still live at home and attend a four-year university, which is a pretty good deal. Another factor in my choosing was receiving this scholarship. Money was definitely an issue for me, as I imagine it is for most students. I was limited in my choices of univerisities: I needed to stay in state, apply for scholarships, and be close to home. SIUE seemed like the only choice.
So at first, I resented SIUE. I wanted to go away, leave the all too familiar town of Edwardsville, and meet new people. Now that I have been at SIUE for four semesters, I appreciate it so much more.
I have met, not only new people my own age, but some of the most interesting, intelligent, down to earth, helpful, and all around awesome professors. When my family told me I would be getting the best education for the price at SIUE, I rolled my eyes like a jaded teenager. Now I see that to be completely true.
I would encourage other teenagers to really look at SIUE. They shouldn't pick a college that has a reputation for the best parties or something trivial like that. I would tell them to look at the classes that are offered here and make sure to talk to the professors in their field of interest (because I've found that they are more than happy to welcome a student into their offices).
You can meet people and party anywhere, but here you'll meet teachers who actually care. Shouldn't that be a pretty important factor in choosing a college? It should be at least in the top five if you ask me. I learned a long time ago that if I had a bad teacher, I wasn't going to learn anything at all.
So how can SIUE market itself? Promote those professors.

A.Cortes