The Journal

Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Opinion/Editorial

After being at Webster University for a year, I think I finally have become accustomed to how the university works. I know how to register for classes, can navigate the campus with ease, have met my adviser and know how the payment plan works. This knowledge was something that took me a long time to learn, and coming by it wasn't always easy. The university didn't provide me the help I needed and left transfer students to figure out the university for themselves.

I transferred to WU the fall of 2006 from Maryville University at the beginning of my junior year. The decision to transfer wasn't the most planned-out action on my part. I wanted to leave Maryville because I needed to change my major, and I filled out my paperwork during the last week students could be given full aid consideration. After being accepted into WU, I realized that in my haste, there were still a lot of things about the university that I didn't know but needed to. I should have asked better questions, but the university should have also provided me answers to common ones.

WU can be particularly difficult to navigate, especially Webster and Loretto Halls. None of the information I received when I transferred told me which buildings housed the offices where I needed to go, such as the Registrar, the Business Office, Financial Aid and Academic Advising. No one told me where these places in the university were located. Once I found the right buildings, I wandered around, aimlessly lost. It shouldn't be that complicated to find an office. The signs in the university did not help either. I had to continuously ask different people I saw where to go, hoping that they led me in the right direction.

When I entered the university, I was also confused about how the financial aid and the payment plan worked. I learned the hard way that a student's financial statement is listed online. No one informed me of this. I thought I would receive a bill in the mail, like I did at Maryville University. WU only informs you after the fact that you need to pay. The first time I got a statement in the mail, the tuition that I owed was already late. The payment policies should be made clearer to incoming students.

The university does try to help its incoming students by having student orientation, but the event is targeted towards freshman students. It is an all-weekend-long event that many transfer students cannot take enough time off of work to attend. Other schools like Washington University and St. Louis University invite transfer students to attend the first day of orientation or specific events that addresses particular aspects of the university to students. Freshmen attend the rest of weekend so they can become more acquainted with each other.

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