Island Paradise or Inefficient System
Lately I have found myself getting really really REALLY frustrated with the UH bureaucratic system. They are quite inefficient and they seem to wait until the last moment to send important information. They tend to use snail mail for important document that could easily be put into pdf. They send emails the day before something is due. Here are just two personal examples of the inefficiencies in the system. TB tests. Apparently they were required before registering. I had no knowledge of this before I jumped on a plane and flew across the ocean. It is very possible that the information was slipped in on some email that I overlooked. Or I thought it was junk. Or I just didn’t receive it. The fact of the matter is that I have to wait several more days until I can register so I can get the test and the results read. If they had sent an email with the subject saying something like “IMPORTANT PLEASE READ” I definitely would not have missed it. After all, I have never missed a deadline on anything IN MY LIFE. I am the kind of person who promptly responds and takes care of my shit. I worked in place for almost 2 years that did TB tests. I could have got one for free (or at least discounted)… But then I look out my window, feel the breeze, take a breath, and remember that I am in Hawaii and things seem to work themselves out. The other example is one involving shipping stuff. I didn’t feel the effects of this one as badly as the TB test debacle. We were told before moving to not ship anything before the dorms were open. This makes perfect sense. When we all show to check-in we had to sign a paper stating that we understood that the office (of the dorms) will not be signing for any packages other than United States Postal Service. That would have been fine except there was absolutely no mention of this before. Some people had there stuff perfectly timed so that UPS or FedEx would be there the day we moved in. Those people are pretty much fucked. They have to call their respective carriers and find some way to get their stuff. Basically sit around all day waiting for the truck, all because the housing office doesn’t want to sign for the packages. Luckily I had waited to ship my shit, and with one quick text was able to avoid certain disaster. See that. One text and I was to send important information to the people who needed it. Why can’t Hawaii do that? With the technology out there people can receive up to date information almost instantly. I have been trying really hard not to compare UH to OSU, but OSU has their game down pat. They can move in nine thousand people in one day. All incoming students were properly informed about what is expected from them. This school can alert 50,000 people that there is a snow day. Why can’t Hawaii adopt some of these practices? They have the technology. I think it’s because the people running the system lack a sense of urgency that is necessary to properly run a school. Maybe it’s an island vs midwest thing. Maybe it’s an isolated problem. Maybe I have reached a point in my life where I am just slipping up. Whatever it is, it’s something I am going to have to deal with and fix. So on my many walks around campus to fix these foul-ups, all I have to do is look at the palm tree growing in front of the classrooms and relax. I am in Hawaii, bitch.
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