Student-centered means that the students are the focus of the learning process; not the teachers and administrators. In student-centered learning, the students have a say in how (and/or sometimes what) they are taught. Student-centered learning is not something where the students have an authoritarian control over the classroom as the teacher/professor has no say, but rather like a democracy where the executive branch (the teacher) can veto what the legislative branch (the students) wants, or can also approve of what the students want.

At WVU itself, I think that it is student-centered by having services ready and open for its student. If a student has some disability he or she can go to the Disabilities office, let the office know about what disability the student has and then that student’s teachers will be able to help that student learn better.

I believe that being student-centered is a good thing as it allows students an active role in their education by giving them a voice instead of being told, ‘Do this and only this until I tell you to stop.’ When education is student-centered the education moves away from on that focuses on standardized testing, and more on getting the students to think and reason for themselves.

At a student-centered university, students are responsible for being an active part of their education by participating in debates. If no students talk or discuss what they are being taught during class, how is the teacher know that he or she is teaching is sticking? Students also have to be on top of the material at hand in the class so they can demonstrate and utilize what they have learned on tests and in the real world.

WVU has always focused on the students and ways to make the campus and educational experience benefit them as a whole. That being said, I also believe that the students can have a personal student-centered education as well. WVU gives students a number, but does not treat them as such. Individual services and counseling opportunities are abundant and encouraged to help each and every student obtain their personal goals.
Student-centered education at WVU can be defined many ways and it may just need to be personally interpreted by the invidual.

Given that WVU just earned the reputation of “Students Study the Least” and the Hardesty era saw faculty humiliated and forced to bend over backwards to lazy students because evaluations meant everything to promotion and tenure, the whole idea of a student-centered environment should be bagged.

Carlos feels that the administrators at WVU think “Student-Centered” means accepting everyone who applies to WVU. After accepting them, they are crammed into the ‘center’ of morgantown resulting in too many people and 10 minute drives becoming 30 to 40 minute drives.

WVU can improve “student-centered” activities by accepting less students and then the faculty can devote more time to the students. Classrooms will also be less crowded resulting in fewer needs for part-time instructors thus saving the college money. By saving the college money WVU will not need to accept more students for the sake of ‘needing their money’.

Although there could be many ways to define, “student centered,” I believe that it means, it’s truly about just the students themselves. Which means, it’s up to, “YOU,” as to where you want to go in life and as to what education you receive. The more education you recieve, the more opportunities that they will have after graduating from college. Also as for, “student centered,” the help is here on campus if you want it! WVU has a devoted team to help it’s students. Another way student centered could be defined is (Without the students, there wouldnt be no college or any schools at all. The world would be at it’s ends to find the educated people that it needs.)

Student centered, to me, means that the students take part in the learning process. Rather than just having the professor read text out of a book, letting the students interpret it for themselves, they converse with the students. They make sure that the students under stand the material in their own mind.

I don’t feel that student centered has anything to do with how the faculty perceives the students, as pupils or people. Nor do I believe that it?s about the course being designed with material that the students will be able to understand. That would be student oriented.

So all in all student centered is about the students taking part in the learning process, not just memorizing material.

Being “student-centered” should mean that the best interests and needs of the student population are given great weight in decision making. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be the case as of late. Campus is overcrowded and severely congested. Classes are often so monumentally huge that personal interaction and relationships with professors become practically impossible. So many of us feel isolated and alone, and all the pep rallies and social events in the world can’t replace the special connection between a professor and a student; a connection sorely lacking at WVU.

Accessibility for disabled students is also a problem. There are students who have milder disabilities who have a very difficult time managing the enormous steep stairs that lead up from the Beechurst PRT station. A student-centered University has a moral obligation to make all classes accessible to students who cannot physically tolerate those stairs. Replacing the stairs with a flat escalator belt system would go a long way toward relieving that problem, and would provide increased independence and self-reliance for disabled students, as well as for non-disabled students who are carrying large burdens and/or have a temporary illness or injury.

If West Virginia University wants to claim to be “student-centered”, then these issues need to be addressed.

If a university is student-centered, then the students are the university’s top priority. The university strives to work with the students to maintain and/or improve their educational, mental, physical, emotional, and social well-beings. Students are treated as individuals as they are guided to their futures.
WVU attempts to create a student-centered environment by providing many services that have one main purpose: to benefit the students and help them on their way to greatness. At these services, students can strive to stay healthy, fit, and stress-free. Also, WVU provides amazing, educated professors who know exactly what to do to help the student, and they are willing to put forth as much time as the student needs. WVU gives back to the students because the directors of the college know that the students are the most important part of a college. These qualities of WVU make the university student-centered.

A student-centered university is one that gives students the opportunity to better themselves.
The reason that I believe this to be true is that a college is that a student must make an effort to improve themselves, and the institution is there to assist them. The student decides whether to attend classes and study or to do other things. The college is merely there to permit those who endeavor to improve themselves to have a channel to do so.

To be student-centered, I believe that WVU must focus its attention on the bettering of the individual student. If this University could ever hope to become truly “student centered,” it must try to make the difference to every single student. This could be done in many ways. First, I believe that the only professors to be teaching should be the ones who are actively involved with their students. To be “student centered” these professors must truly care whether their students are going to pass or fail and make every attempt to help the students learn.

“Student centered” should mean the college makes decisions to better the lives and production of the majority of the student body. I say majority because there is no possible way for the university to satisfy the wants and needs of every single student.

The reason this viewpoint stems from is the fact that I believe the university should foremost take care of its students learning ambitions, and not funding of research studies.

In order for WVU to be student centered, staff and faculty must soley focus on the well-being of each student, intellectually and emotionally. The student is the most important aspect of the university, for he/she is the future of our country. Professors must become personally involved with as many students as possible, and give them the encouragment and confidence needed to successfully complete their courses and eventually make a living for themselves.

Along the same lines as several of the above posts, I believe a student-oriented university is far from what we currently have. Student-oriented universities should work to increase the quality of life and the quality of education that a student enjoys while at their institution. People boast increased enrollment and research funding but never seem to note leaving faculty, increased congestion, or lower graduation rates which are precisely the categories that affect student life.

It seems like all WVU is centered around is student numbers. Prior to classes starting this semester, all I heard in the news was “WVU exceeds 27,000 in enrollment.”
The Problem: I have have had three of my professors openly complain about their work loads – and how it consequently effects education. For example, two of my professors have announced that because of the amount of students and sections they are having to teach, there will no longer be essays incorporated in assignments or tests. Another professor has dropped graded assignments altogether and now my class grade is solely dependant on attendance and four exams.

Is this an example of “lowering the standards” to accomodate WVU’s bureaucratic goals? How do you think this effects the education that students are recieving? By pushing for increased enrollment every year beyond what the facilities and staff are equipped to handle really indicative of “Student Centered” Ideals?

WVU should define student-centered as being an institution that focuses on a great educational experience and environment for students.

WVU’s large size gives us great resources and diversity. However, we need to encourage activities that protect students from becoming mere numbers.

Students need great professors who excel as teachers both inside and outside the classroom, and as researchers in their fields.

Students need appropriately sized classes, especially in courses in their major.

Students need safe places to live.

Students need a great place to exercise and stay healhy. (The WVU REC Center is totally AMAZING!!!!)

Students need to partipate in research in their fields.

Students need to be challenged by motivated and dedicated faculty members.

Students need to take responsibility for their own education by studying, reading, attending class, and encouraging other students to get involved in the academic life of the institution!

WVU should define student-centered in a way that is clearly distinguished from “customer-centered.” Professors should be encouraged to challenge, lead, and educate. A great education may not be all fun and games. A great education may not be easy. Student-centered should focus on providing students with the knowledge, values, and skills they need to succeed after life in college.

All colleges are student centered. Students are the ones paying the tuition, they’re the consumers, the bosses, and the administration is the employee.

So how does WVU make it different from other colleges?

It can be learning-centered, research-centered.

Student-centered means providing our students with the best academic education possible, being more student-friendly in terms of hours at dining halls, etc., having clubs and student organizations, and helping you post-graduation with finding a job. Residence halls and RFLs, libraries and tutors, and teachers being available for out-of-class study sessions are essential to being a student-centered university.