Radford University

Date: Oct 18 2011
Major: Math (This Major's Salary over time)
My review is largely neutral because it is based upon my experience at Radford University. It may be a bit long, but I hope that prospective students and others may find it helpful.

Background:

In high school I got off to a rough start, but ended up finishing pretty well (3.7 GPA upon graduation). My senior year I only applied and got accepted to 4 in state schools, and I also managed to take part time classes at community college in addition to my classes in high school. I was able to graduate with many college credits through my dual and concurrent enrollment and AP credits.

Out of laziness I never thoroughly investigated each and every school. As my decision deadline was only a little more than a month away, I had only narrowed my selections down to 3 of the 4 schools, and I felt it was necessary to visit each of the 3 one more time. So, I visited each one again scratched another potential one from my list, and became torn between the last 2 schools (JMU and Radford). Eventually, I chose Radford as my final decision.

I decided to attend Radford because I can honestly say that when I came to visit the school, I really liked the "traditional" feel of the campus. I felt as if the people that attended the university were largely friendly, and that the faculty would treat me like a person and not a number. The faculty member I met with 1 on 1 while visiting meant a lot to me. While visiting Radford, my time was spent largely on campus. I never really bothered to venture off campus during my visits to see the town and areas where a lot of the students live and breathe.

Academic Departments, Majors, Classes, and Faculty:

My major (Applied Mathematics, non-education) is probably one of the majors with the lowest student population at Radford. I can honestly say that I met fewer than 5 people that had the same major as I did. Since it was my first year, my classes were a mix of General Education Requirements (known as the CORE curriculum at Radford) and major related classes. The faculty generally was very friendly, helpful, and was always willing to help students in understanding the material. However, it ultimately depended on the student to take initiative, study, and help themselves. I had very few instructors that were arrogant and/or condescending. At points in time, I felt as if the classes were sometimes too easy, and that some were useless classes that tend to sucker people out of taking other useful classes. Attendance policies are not uncommon due to smaller class sizes.

Social Scene:

Radford's social scene is largely influenced by happenings occurring off campus and partying. Many students drink at Radford, and a number of students use drugs. The most common drug (behind alcohol) is pot. A portion of students abuse prescription stimulants for studying, and there is a minority that abuse hard drugs (not limited to just prescription drugs, I?m talking cocaine, heroin, prescription pain killers, sedatives, and hypnotics). The drinking can be explained because of the surrounding area, and lack of activities made available by the university. The Radford City Police see pretty bent on handing out tickets or taking people to jail it seems. The university also seems to turn a blind eye to the amount of drinking that goes on off campus (but I will talk about this and the police later).

Greek Life does have a large presence at Radford. If Greek Life is not your thing, it isn't like you won't have a social life. I got involved with Greek Life and was very glad that I did. Greek Life is not the only organizations on campus that are social outlets. There are numerous clubs and organizations available for students to explore and eventually join. A lot of these organizations do things off campus though, like trips, retreats, and excursions.

Students:

There are some students that are brilliant here, but there are also a lot of students that are kind of "in the dark" about things. I can understand going out and drinking in college. It's natural for many students. However, some students take it to the extreme too often. I'm not going to lie that I've done my fair share of drinking, and at points in time I have drank to excess and done regrettable things. But, I have seen some students go overboard with it, and it is a nightly affair for some. It isn't let's go out and have a few and socialize; it's let's go out and get trashed like last night and start a fight or do something stupid.

Administration:

Penelope Kyle, former executive director of the lottery, is the president of Radford University. Sadly, this means that she has NO prior experience in higher education and is invisible to the student body. I saw the woman only once or twice during my enrollment at the school. She made massive academic program cuts the past few years, has one of the highest annual salaries of a university president on the east coast, has a million dollar bonus at the end of her contract, and has numerous other perks from her contract. In addition, the administrative departments, be it student accounts, res-life, parking services, etc. is extremely incompetent. Her cronies are all ?yes-men? and all they care about is raising money for the school, and seem to have this general disinterest in the students and the welfare of the student population at large.

Strictness/Judicial Affairs/Discipline:

The Dean of Students office enforces university policies, and uses a discipline system known as the ?three strikes and you?re out? practice. The practice is not enforced equally upon everyone. I?ve seen students (due to their athlete status, or legacies who?s parents donate graciously to the school) get away with numerous violations of university policy. In addition, the school works with the local police department that can refer students to the Dean of Students office for disciplinary proceedings. The police department does not always refer cases to the school, but the Dean of Students office staff will go out of their way to find students that have been arrested or ticketed off campus. This is largely due to the assistant dean of students, David Horton. Horton is the type of person that seems tyrannical in his enforcement of policies. The adjudication process lets a student opt for a case resolution or judicial board hearing procedure. From what I understand, it doesn?t really matter if a student tells the truth or lies, the penalties for lying seem to be less severe than telling the truth (which in my honest opinion is wrong).

Most students will lose at their hearing if they opt for it. I have seen some students get in trouble, despite how high their grades are. There are also students I have seen get in a lot of trouble that have true emotional problems and turn to substance abuse to cope. It seems that the Dean of students is more bent on getting students in trouble, making a quick buck off of those students, and just not helping them if they need it.

Pros/Cons

Pros

1. Student Organizations.

There is a massive club fair in the fall, so it is easy for students to get involved. Ranging from Greek Life to Environmental Club, it is pretty easy to find an organization or a few to get involved in.

2. Campus.

The campus is pretty. The combination of architecture, landscaping, and building style makes the campus appealing to the eyes. The ugliest building is Muse.

3. Safety

I've never really felt unsafe on campus, and off campus I've had only a few problems here and there. The only time I needed assistance from the off-campus police was when I was being followed because I ran from about five or six people that were going to try to fight me.

4. Faculty/Classes

Classes are smaller and the faculty is, for the most part, interested in their students' success. There are lots of academic disciplines to study, and plenty of academic opportunities available. The education, nursing, and psychology programs are some of the best in the Commonwealth.

5. Friendliness

Fellow students are generally friendly and kind in nature. Most of them are those that are approachable and nice.

6. Off Campus Housing

Cheaper, more freedom, and just better. Plus you don't have to share a room, or buy a super expensive meal plan.

7. Party Scene

If you live on or off campus, it is very easy to have access to off campus parties. Since people are, for the most part, friendly here, it is pretty easy to find a party within minutes of stepping off campus.

Cons

1. Town/Things to do

The town surrounding RU sucks. There are the few bars, restaurants, and shops on Main Street, but that's about it. The university really does not have much to offer in the way of entertainment.

2. Administration

Not a fan of Penny Kyle or her cronies, she is a businesswoman. The program cuts, general incompetence admin staff, or the methods of "cleaning up" RU's image. In addition, the administration is not interested in the students it seems. The lack of activities on-campus and sponsored by the school, leads to the excessive drinking and drug use on AND off campus.

3. Police

Radford Police (on and off campus) are pretty nuts about the drinking. I have seen people get tackled for simply walking alone at night, regardless of whether they are sober or not. If there is beverage or some sort of container (non-alcoholic or alcoholic) seen in your possession, I can guarantee you that you will at minimum, be stopped and asked questions. In addition, the police will hand traffic tickets out to students excessively because they do not like the students.

4. Campus Strictness/Adjudication/Discipline

The university uses a self-proclaimed ?strike? system. Three strikes and then you are out. Not true. I have met people that have gotten over 7 strikes, while others have gotten 1 or 2 strikes and kicked out. The school does not back up their students at all. In fact, the school goes out of their way to find students that have gotten in trouble off campus. Policies are interpreted vaguely, and students can contest the charges, by having a judicial hearing, but most lose those.

5. Environment

The Radford City and university environments seem to possess a certain ability to bewitch people. Dubbed a "black hole" by myself and others, it just starts to affect your soul after a while.

6. Diversity

It's a white sea! Seriously. Although I have yet to see any clashes over diversity, it certainly is lacking here.

7. Meal Plans

Scams. Mandatory if you live on campus. Overpriced and so few options (especially on weekends).

8. Weather

Bring your entire wardrobe. More unpredictable than the stock market and tectonic/seismic activity. This is the only place I have been that I've experienced all 4 seasons in the same day.

9. Maturity

Radford City and Radford University are not real life. This place is a playground to tell the truth. There are a lot of students here that have an "unawareness" about themselves. I have had very few meaningful and intelligent conversations at Radford. A lot of people seem to be more concerned about where their next drink is coming from and what type of condom they should use.

10. CORE Classes

The classes named

CORE-(101,102,201,202)

are not good ideas to take. I didn?t get suckered into taking them. I would recommend to all students to switch into the sequence of proper English, philosophy, and public speaking classes in the event one wants to transfer.

11. On Campus Housing

Sucks. Res-Life messes up roommate requests, lots of triples (especially Fall 2011 because of the masses of freshmen). Also, things take forever to be resolved with res-life. If something is broken, good luck getting it fixed. You?ll get stuck with a meal plan. I lived in Muse my freshman year. Muse was fun and everything my first semester because of all the fun people and socializing, but by the mid to late second semester I was getting tired of all the noisy neighbors, the immaturity/stupidity, and Res-Life becoming obsessed with catching everyone.

12. Townies

A mix of a minority middle class people and the majority poor, but a lot of neighbors that are townies in Radford off campus are colorful characters (not colorful in a good way). I?ve seen cigarette fights (i.e.: people fighting over cigarettes), local crackheads and methheads, and the individuals that live in the ?box? on Second and Downey/Grove on Lightside. The townies HATE the students, and that in turn results in the police hating the students (actually, the police are townies).

13. Campus Dining

Eating at the Dalton or Muse cafeterias is like downing a whole bottle of ex-lax and thinking that nothing bad will happen.

For me, the cons seemed to outweigh the pros, so I left in the fall of 2011. I was actually granted a medical withdrawal from the university, since my doctor recommended that it be in my best interests to come home to Northern Virginia because of the lack of medical care in the New River Valley. I made a lot of friends at Radford and I won?t deny that. However, I was unhappy there. At times I felt as if I was getting dumber because of my surroundings, as strange as that sounds. To me, I felt as if I was in an environment that actually hindered my growth from adolescence to adulthood. I grew tired of the same thing all the time (i.e.: everyone drinking excessively, the unawareness of the student body at large, and that soul-sucking effect that Radford possesses). The town sucked, since it was only bars and police officers that absolutely hate the students. The academics were not challenging. Attendance seemed to be some of my professors? main policies they wanted to enforce. A lot of students couldn?t even make it to classes. I just got tired. I got tired of the administration and their policies. I got tired of the broken spirited student body. I just got tired of Radford.

Don?t get me wrong; I?m not saying no one should go to Radford. The school has some great programs, but I offer a warning. Activities are seriously lacking on campus, and drinking is excessive on and off campus. If you don?t drink, you may find yourself hard-pressed for activities to do.

Consider your options carefully, I didn?t really consider what the surrounding area had to offer in my decisions, and I regret that now. I?m going back to community college in NOVA, and am transferring in the spring. My classes in community college seem to, at times, be more challenging than many of my classes at Radford. However, this is just my opinion, and I needed to leave Radford for numerous reasons before getting sucked into the "black hole".