This podcast of a lecture by Lou Carbone, CEO of Experience Engineering Inc. was a helpful reminder for me that we are in the business of engineering student experiences. It also reminded me how many institutes of higher education tend to forget that. Lou brings the example of banks, who used to be in the "relationship" business, but moved away to making "products", and I think many universities are guilty of the same sin. Listen to Lou's presentation (at least to its first 40 minutes or so) to learn why so many customers who provide high rankings in customer service questionnaires are still likely to move away to a competitor, and what questions you
should ask to identify those who are less satisfied. See what we, in higher education, can learn from barbers, Harley Davidson, Starbucks.
The strongest point is Lou's emphasis on constantly examining how we make our customers feel about themselves. If I look back at many right and wrong decisions I took in the past in regards to students, focusing on how the decision would impact the way students feel about themselves would have been a very good rule of thumb. In academic education making students feel good about themselves is a complex matter, if you wish to maintain high academic standards. The temptation to drop the standards is always there. Nevertheless, students are highly sensitive to that, and though they might like undeserved grades in the short term, at the end of the day they will know when the standards have been lowered, and with the lowered standards, they will feel less good about their academic accomplishments, and consequently about the institution that awarded them the grades and the degree. The best compliment from a student is always "it was hard work, but worth the effort". In our line of business the best student experience is a result of placing real challenges in front of students, and then giving them the tools to overcome these challenges and emerge enriched from the experience. And, if they can overcome the challenge using the power of collaboration, then the feeling of accomplishment gets mingled with a strong sense of a learning community, this being a winning combination.
