On January 28, 2013, a survey was sent out concerning the performance of Greg Bish, the Director of Student Programs, which was approved by neither the college nor the Student Government Association.
Ultimately, the technology services determined that the survey was sent out by a student, who has since deleted the survey, according to the maker of the survey. Concerning the availability and approachability of Bish, “The questions themselves didn’t seem . . . biased in any obvious way,” said Dr. Pool, Vice President of Student Life, who thought that the survey was connected to an academic class upon first reading it.
The student did not use a Houghton email address to send out the survey; however the email seemed official and legitimate. Unsuspecting students could easily assume that it was simply another survey concerning any number of programs or offices on campus, which are not at all uncommon, and many probably took the survey without realizing its illegitimacy.
In regard to the content of the survey, Colin Belt, sophomore class president, said, “It seemed like the sort of thing that could really illicit a certain kind of information.” Belt was suspicious upon reading the email as it was sent around 3 A.M. by “Willard J Houghton.”
Belt then notified the VP for Student Life of the unexpected survey, and Dr. Pool soon determined that it was not approved by any college authorities. He then contacted IT services, and they were able to identify the sender of the survey, a student at Houghton College.
When Dr. Pool talked to the sender, the student did not fully realize at first how they were in the wrong for sending the survey.
“Most of the time students don’t realize the implication of their actions until something bad happens,” said Dr. Pool, who went on to advise students to talk to a person directly if they have a problem with someone, or even to go to SGA or Student Life.
Whether or not issues, personal or communal, actually exist concerning Greg Bish, steps are being taken to improve communication between the student body and Student Life. And thus far, administration has no reason to question his capabilities as the Director of Student Programs.
“There have been tensions between Student Programs and SGA, but we are working through those,” said Joel Ernst, president of the SGA. Even before the survey was sent, meetings were conducted with the aim of improving communication and resolving issues.
Students can take some important information from this situation.
As Dr. Pool said, “nothing you do on the web is private.”
No matter how much confidentiality the internet alludes to, the IT department has access to the information accessed over the internet in the Houghton network.
There are also better ways of communicating in this type of situation.
“I think we would just all benefit better if it [communication] was transparent,” said Dr. Pool.
Overall the survey caught Student Life by surprise.
“I had never seen anyone, especially a student, do an anonymous survey about an employee of a college,” said Dr. Pool.
