Fairleigh Dickinson University Metropolitan Campus

Date: Jun 14 2005
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
I go to the Madison campus. I lack challenge in most of my coursework. This is not to say that I don't enjoy my classes, or that many of my teachers aren't interesting, but this is just not the rigorous workload I imagined that I'd have in college. I have heard that Wroxton has excellent and difficult courses, and I am extremely pleased to be able to take 2 semesters there, in accordance with my majors. As to advice on this subject, I am not sure what to give. I am not a teacher, nor an administrative official who ought to be used to such a situation. Perhaps FDU could raise standards on admissions? Give teachers the impression they must up their expectations? I'm not sure what would help. Some teachers are extremely difficult, don't get me wrong, but it is touch-and-go in that area, others are extremely easy and in some cases, I have hardly had to think in one class or another. While I am without ideas for improvement, this is probably the most important flaw in FDU's system, to me.

The campus is beautiful all around, but in the periods when it is not some of fall, most of spring or we do not have snow, it is awfully ugly. The mansion is the crown jewel of the campus, of course, and no one can help that; it's a few-million-dollar building. At the same time, some things are especially ugly because of lack of upkeep. The headless statues in the Italian gardens are ridiculous to be kept like that, ruined, and there is an awkward-looking camera in place of one of the lamps (see stone columns around mansion. This year, there was continual work being done on the fountain, which made it quite unfortunate looking. Additionally, the Village buildings are especially an eyesore. I could go on and on, and I explicate this in detail because I feel strongly about keeping up the legacy of the campus, not letting the beauty of its era go to waste. Please let me emphasize that this is in no way the most important part of the campus, but it is a significant factor in student's morale.

Another factor to call into question, regarding morale of students, is the quality of the on-campus cuisine. Of course it is difficult to serve a thousand resident students (and sometimes teachers) three times a day, and of course money is extremely tight in this area, because food is not important next to academics; however, there is some serious reorganizing to be done in the kitchen. The smallest additional amount of attention can be paid to the food to make sure, for example, the pasta isn't undercooked, or the vegetables aren't tasteless mush. That requires no extra money, just extra supervision by whoever is supposed to be in charge in the first place. I am not a vegan or vegetarian, but the options for them are simply outrageous. The "Vegan Station," or whatever it is, serves spaghetti, and meatless sauces. That's it. The salad is depressing and often brown, nutritionless iceberg lettuce. All the other things at the salad bar usually look delicious, but the main component of salad appears to have fallen off the back of the garbage truck. I honestly lost 10 pounds at the end of last semester because Gourmet Food Services stopped trying. The weather was bad, the food got worse, and it was easier to stay inside and make popcorn.

Finally, the social life here is rather uninspiring. A good bulk of the students' permanent homes are located anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour away by car, so on weekends, the campus is dead. I live an unfortunate three hours away, so I do not have this option to escape. Student life puts forth a reasonable effort to improve the social activities on campus, but I have to say there is a lot of pre-planning and difficulty in getting oneself and some of their friends into one of these activities. Observing the surrounding towns, there is Madison, a strip of expensive nothing for students, or Morristown, which is much more diverse, but still difficult for those without transportation to get to. There IS a shuttle FDU provides to both places, but it is not well advertised, and half the time I forget it is there. The train is also located a good 15 minute walk from the campus, meaning it is well placed, but still somewhat of a hassle. New York City is supposedly close, but it is truly 1 hour and 10 minutes away by said train, AND it is $11.50 round trip. This is a lot to spend to go to NYC, say, every other weekend, if one were so inclined. The surrounding towns, especially Madison (closest to us) do not want us there, they do not cater to us. There is NOT EVEN A SIDEWALK along the roads to either place! If you are broke or late for the train (which you walk 15 minutes to get to in order to take a 3 minute ride), you risk your life just trying to get to Atlanta Bread Company! Something about this has to be changed. Again, I don’t know what kind of deals can be made with the city, petitioning and so forth, but really, this is ridiculous.