Jeeves on Campus
But at High Point University, a small liberal arts college in North Carolina, spoiling the students may be exactly the point of valet. The campus, in addition to boasting a valet service, is home to a free ice cream truck, a concierge desk, and a giant hot tub in the middle of campus. Since the beginning of the administration of High Point President Nido Qubein, the noted businessman and motivational speaker has sought to “wow” students in order to encourage their learning.
Well, as someone who grew up 30 minutes from High Point University, consider me “wowed.” As in, “Wow, that’s absurd.”
The whole article, which also discusses valet service at schools like Florida Atlantic and USC, is here. I was sort of appalled when I found out that some GW students were sending out their laundry to a company called “Soapy Joe’s.” But by the standards of High Point University, GW students are practically roughing it.
Comments
I’ve had the chance to hear Mr. Qubein speak on several occasions. I think this article is incorrect as to his motivations for providing these services. When he arrived at High Point several years ago, the campus was a glorified high school, and the enrollment mirrored that. Mr. Qubein would tell you these things were put in place simply to be competitive and to grow enrollment. And it’s worked. When he arrived at HPU, enrollment was at roughly 900 students. They’re sitting at about 3000 now and have completed a successful $60 million capital campaign. This would have been unheard of for HP 10 years ago.
Posted by: Scott Southerland | June 24, 2009 09:35 AM
In college, we had a phone in the hall (none in rooms). One ring meant a call from somebody on campus, two rings meant a call from off campus and people went running.
Posted by: Doug Hess | June 24, 2009 01:39 PM
Scott: I do know about HPU’s renaissance. But is free ice cream and a hot tub really necessary? And did it even make any difference in this case? Maybe it did. The Soapy Joe’s anecdote suggests that students like their creature comforts. But maybe not. What else has HPU done?
Doug: We had phones in our rooms. But I did laundry in the dorm laundromat, dammit!
Posted by: John Sides | June 24, 2009 02:51 PM
Actually, we had phone [i]jacks[/i] in our rooms. Students had to provide their own phones, sometimes at great expense.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say that John sounds like a guy who was forced into a Soviet-bloc style dorm on the outskirts of campus during his freshman year and is still a little bitter about it.
Posted by: Dan Tarrant | June 24, 2009 04:23 PM
Has it made a difference? Pretty tough to measure if those specific things (ice cream and a hot tub) drove the enrollment and endowment explosion. Perhaps it’s more related to how the university is perceived to its clients (the students and parents). If HPU doesn’t do some of these things in the interest of improving quality of life for its students, will they be willing to pay $30K+ to attend a university with only an “emerging” reputation?
Anecdotally, HPU graduates’ stature as “hireable” has risen dramatically as a result of the rebirth, whereas ten years ago they were less than a blip on the radar. They come out well-prepared and motivated (more so than some other schools of high academic stature).
Posted by: Scott Southerland | June 24, 2009 04:30 PM
Dan: It was my freshman and sophomore years, if you recall. But I’m not bitter. I just think doing your own laundry in a campus laundromat is a rite of passage. Call me a curmudgeon.
Posted by: John Sides | June 24, 2009 09:54 PM