By Stephanie Ball
Editor-in-Chief

My experience with Admissions during Fall registration was not pleasant.Some Brookhaven College Admissions counselors are not helpful or friendly toward students, from my experience. It seems as though students are not the priority here, and this is what led to my frustration.

Enrollment is down 5.4 percent, according to an enrollment report by the Brookhaven College administration. Now is the time for positive change, not negative feedback toward students.

Once I decided to attend classes in Dallas County Community College District, picking the right school seemed like an easy choice. Brookhaven came to mind first because of classes I took in the past.

I called ahead to find out about the required paperwork before I made the 25-minute drive. It seemed an official transcript was all that was needed in this situation. When I arrived, a long line led to Admissions. There were only two counselors helping people. Another person behind a desk seemed oblivious to the 15-person line.

When it was my turn, the counselor took the transcript and said it was not the right document. The lady was not friendly. She raised her voice, said it was my fault for not filling out the form and told me to get back in line and start over.

After waiting in line for nearly an hour and a half, she wanted me to start all over. There was some miscommunication between the
person who answers the phone, the campus website and the live representative.

It would be a different situation if the lady was friendly and politely informed a student of the mistake, but this was not the case. Everybody gets tired and needs to be left alone at times, but if a job requires working with students, or people in general, it might be necessary to perk up with a cup of coffee every now and then and put a smile on.

Students ask questions because they need help and expect a person in charge to find a solution. It seems students are seen as a burden by some of the staff, especially in S Building. This is where the school needs the sweet and informed staff, not the Debbie Downers.

It appears almost as if students at Brookhaven are looked down upon by some of the staff. What happened to the days when authority figures worked to assist and guide students?

It would be easy for a student to go to North Lake College or Richland College. Students are attracted to Brookhaven because of the unique classes and convenient location. Student service should be a top priority here. With all the long lines to fill out a form at Brookhaven, it is not surprising enrollment is falling.

Brookhaven is fortunate to have captivating professors and convenient class times; otherwise, students could find reasons to go elsewhere.