Students and Campus Resources

By Dafne Gamez

Thousands of students attend college without an idea of the resources that college offers. Most students just take their classes without exploring the facilities. These students end up graduating without using all the resources. Students have their own reasons why they do not use all the facilities offered by the college. However, it is more than clear that to know which students use the resources, a survey had to be conducted. The survey was designed to find out students’ opinions about the resources the college offers. It was also designed to find out which resources are most used by students, and which are not. Since some students only use one or two resources. Also, in this survey, students expressed their opinions about how some facilities could be better.  

To get satisfactory results with the survey, I had to interview 20 students on the QCC campus. During the interview, I asked the students which resources they use the most, for example, the library, the tutoring center, or the student union. To my surprise, some students did not know that the Student Union building is also used to study or hang out. Other students only use the library, and only very few use the Tutoring center. Only 90% of students take advantage of the resources at QCC. On the other hand, only 10% of the students do not use any resources at QCC. 90% of students that use the facilities at QCC more often use only the library.  

The chart below shows the facilities the students use most. Also, it shows that the library, the Student Union, and Tutoring Center are used more by the students. 

The chart above shows 60% of the students use the library, 10% use the Students Union, and 25% of use the Tutoring Center. Also, 5% use two different resources, such as the library and the Student Union.  

Despite the students using the resources, most of them only used them twice per week. In the second chart below, you can see how often students use any of these QCC resources. 55% of the students use the resources twice a week, and 35% once a week. On the other hand, only 10% of the students use the resources every day, when they are having presential classes. 

Even though only 90% of the students use the resources, I asked them how efficient the resources were for them if they are satisfied with what the resources are offering or not. One student’s opinion was “I mean it’s been good so far. [The] Library is particularly useful to study better.” Other student said, “[So] far the resources are effective and essential for me.” Several of the responses were remarkably similar except for one about the Tutoring Center. Some students mentioned that some of their classes are not available for tutoring. That means that there is no one to teach them the course except their own course teacher. Clearly this is concerning as all students should have access to tutoring no matter what class it is. 

Another of my questions was if the resources could improve. To my surprise many students told me no since they are satisfied and happy with the resources. On the other hand, several students complained about the library, since they did not like how it is organized. For example, a student told me that the tables on the first floor should have plugs to charge and not only on the second floor. On the contrary, other students mention that the library could be quieter. 

In the article “Smart Students Take Full Advantage of Campus Resources” by Academic Info, it shows that college students should take advantage of the resources available on campus for preparing for a career. Some resources that can help students are Career Services, Health and Counseling, Academic Resources, and other programs. Since colleges offer a variety of resources to help students succeed. These services can help them grow academically, teach time management skills, and find a tutor for whatever course students need. Students have the resources at their disposal, they just need to take advantage of them. 

To sum up, in my survey I found out most of the students use the resources even once a week. In the survey also most students are happy with the facilities, and how it has worked for them to study or better understand a course. It would have been interesting to know about other school resources that I did not mention, such as the Math Tutoring Center or whether students use the Gym or sports fields, or if they know that the QCC has an Olympic pool.  

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