Firm feet led by cracked maps; student options for finding their way around campus are in their own hands.
Opinion by Joseph Acuña, Staff Writer
Valley College directories are in a poor state. Offset by the modernized buildings being constructed, students are left to use their phones to find their classes.
There are three directories surrounding Monarch Square, and only two have maps intact while the other was smashed. Valley has seemingly forgotten about this relic, and in doing so, passed this mentality to its students.
“I didn’t even know [Valley College] had a directory,” said second semester nursing major José Torres. “I just use my phone.”
QR code postings printed on sheets of paper advertising the digital map are now above most standees. The once helpful obelisk between the Humanities and Foreign Language buildings is empty, defined by etched title but not by purpose.
This oversight was not overnight either. Campus maps have not been part of the focus for some time. The Valley Academic and Cultural Centers completion date is still listed September 2016 to February 2019, and the Multicultural Center is not even listed. Students have already subconsciously, whether for this reason or another, moved on from the maps and hardly register their benefit.
“I think I’ve seen them,” said second year sociology major Suzy Simonyan. “But I’m always with my phone so it’s more convenient.”
Convenience is what moves most things to digital: mail to email, landlines to cell phones, in-person to remote. Infrastructure changes like these bring a renewal and a refreshing take on existing technology. So the question is “what should Valley replace their maps with?” An app.
Students are already given unsecured QR codes to scan that are, fingers crossed, posted by the school themselves. The now defunct Valley app, LAVC SAFE, once gave campus resources along with a map. The app is no longer available to download. Even if students were to have it installed, the links no longer work. Continued support is obviously not there, so Monarchs are brought back to needing an alternative.
From a staff directory, class search, calendar and library resources, all of this is available on a desktop and mobile phone. Students are able to ask questions to the new chatbot to help find information buried through links and tabs. Once again, it seems to be a secondary thought when it comes to being a resource; a step in the right direction even though directions are not an immediate concern.
Digital development is needed, like anything being modernized. In the Star’s coverage for last year’s district-wide bond, Measure LA, “infrastructure, technology, sustainability and general college needs will see $85.5 million, $33.5 million, $94.3 million and $62.32 million.” Developing an app for students and faculty to use falls in all three of these categories. Having renewed interest in the buildings is nice, but so would being able to find them.
When I went to LAVC back in the late 2000s and in the early to mid 2010s, these legend boards or campus maps were there. These legend boards need to be updated and/or scrapped. These days people look at campus maps on their phones or ask around for where certain buildings are.