College of the Redwoods experience/suggestions

Jeff Marsee, President
College of the Redwoods
7351 Tomkins Hill Road
Eureka, CA 95501-9300

Mr. Marsee,

While visiting College of the Redwoods today I discovered some pleasant and unpleasant experiences.

I believe it is best you know that my wife and I are both in wheelchairs from spinal cord injuries. Returning to school is a very positive program for both of us, and College of the Redwoods (CR) has much to offer with the various venues and locations of completing classes for individuals with disabilities.

While visiting the bookstore I found most of the clerks are very helpful, especially, Jen. I was looking for the books that went with the classes I signed up for and the book codes so I could search for them on-line to save money. Jen did the search for me from a list the bookstore had made for the 2009 Fall Term. She was very helpful and her assistance was great appreciated.

Another experience was visiting the Financial Aid office for getting a couple forms completed regarding verification of financial aid my wife and I will received this year. After queuing for nearly 30 minutes I was told I needed my wife’s signature on the form. I explained that I would need to push down to the parking lot and then back up the hill to get this.

I am dumbfounded why I can complete the application for Medi-cal and Food Stamps without my wife, but could not get information my family needed from the Financial Aid office without her signature. I realized it is not the individual’s fault at the window, but this situation could have been dealt with much more understanding and the paperwork I presented could have been reviewed more thoroughly and it would have been recognized my wife’s signature was not needed (Sometimes bureaucracy is over-used in accomplishing ones duties.).

I wish to offer these solutions:

Bookstore: First, I would work to placing the listing of books with their titles and ISBN codes on the CR website. This would allow individuals to access to finding out what books are needed and search for them on line and at the same time save on energy used to drive to CR (Talking on the phone is not always the most accurate way of gathering information. It is also not always the friendliest either).

Secondly, I would work towards an agreement with an on-line book dealer such as Amazon Books in representing CR and being the place to encourage students to purchase their books. I could see a small amount of money being returned to CR from Amazon as part of the agreement. This in turn could possibly save the bookstore money.

Financial Aid Office: Access and service is very important from this office. Today, my first visit I queued behind ten individuals waiting for assistance at a single window. When I returned with my wife’s signature, still only one window was open for assistance and there were 20 individuals waiting for assistance. When there are three or more individuals waiting, it seems that there would be others available to open other windows to serve those needing assistance. People walking or confined to a wheelchair should not have to wait longer than 20 minutes for service.

I would then look to the future and move all student services to lower ground. You have great spaces for disabled parking, but having to climb the hill to receive financial aid and such is very discouraging. What would it hurt to moving all of Student Services to a friendlier location?

College of the Redwoods has a great campus, but I believe there are some simple things that can be done to make it more student oriented for all that wish to attend, including those who use manual wheelchairs. (Almost forgot, I visited a lecture room to take a State exam and the pencil sharpener was upstairs and not accessible. Is there a possibility to place a sharpener where individuals in wheelchairs have to sit?).

Have a great day!