Steve Milley

Campus Observations

I decided to observe students at Squires Student Center at Virginia Tech. Squires

is a large, three story, multi-use building that includes the following: a food court (Au bon
Pan and 37 Burger), The Breakzone (bowling alley, ping pong tables, pool tables and
video games), The Multicultural Center, The Black Student Center, a credit union, three
ATM machines, Ticket office for functions on campus, an Art Gallery, classrooms, ball
rooms and meeting rooms. The first two floors are the main thoroughfares for students, so
I sat in the middle of the first floor between the food court and the ticket office, with
views from and atrium to the second floor and an entrance to a large classroom. I
observed students early in the morning, From this vantage point I could see Au bon Pan,
the credit union, ATMs, multicultural and Black student centers, the ticket office and my
view to the landing on the second floor that I have already mentioned.

It was quite interesting to get to Squires early and watch as it came alive and the
way that it changed throughout the day. The entire time that I was observing I was
thinking that I should be witnessing something extraordinary or something that would
scream, Developmental Theory, but that obviously never happened. What I did witness
was probably very common in any large area that has many types of people utilizing the
services.

My first shift of observation was from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM in the morning. As

one would expect, the express coffee bar of Au bon Pan was the busiest part of the

building. People were getting their coffee and moving on, almost ignoring all around
them and not taking advantage of the seating areas scattered throughout the first floor.
There was a very little hum coming from that side of the building but only because of
the workers, as the patrons would quietly place their orders and wait. Since I did not
arrive until 8:00, I missed the start of the class that I could see the door to on the second
floor, but the class let out a little before 9:00 and because the classroom holds
approximately 200 students, the noise level went up for just a few minutes. I equate what
I observed to Chickerings managing emotions vector of development. I spend a lot of
time going into high schools and talking with high school students and I could see a
marked difference in what I encounter at high schools as opposed to what I observed in
the student center. The students were much more composed and seemed to be much more
considerate of their surroundings. This may have something to do with the selectivity of
the admissions standards or they type of student that is attracted to this university.

My second shift saw a lot more activity and I was a little surprised at the range of
people taking advantage of all that the building has to offer. From 11:00 AM to 1:30 PM
things picked up quite a bit from the activity observed in an earlier shift. I also noticed a
difference in the population. During the earlier shift I observed students who were
probably 18-22 years old. During this shift witness all age groups that included families,
professors, staff members as well as college students. I think this was interesting to me
because at my previous school you only saw college students in the student union, along
with the occasional staff member. Since Virginia Tech is located in a college town it
functions as a hub for the community, and not just the students and staff of the university.

When I first arrived at 11:00 AM there was some activity going on such as people in the
food court, student waiting for classes, clusters of people in the designated seating areas
studying, talking, interviewing and even one elderly lady knitting and she remained until
I left at 1:30. While there was activity at 11:00, it was relatively quiet, but as the noon
hour approached, everyone got louder. More people in the food court along with more
people outside of the classroom talking made it louder and that required all of the people
in the seating areas to talk louder to be heard. I know this is a common phenomenon, but
it was very interesting to witness the interaction. This entire observation shift seems to
evolve because of Human Aggregate and Organizational Environment Models of
development. The Virginia Tech student body is comprised of mostly of middle to uppermiddle class students mostly from Virginia and most of those students are from northern
Virginia or the Richmond area. These areas of the state or more urban and the students
typically have different experiences they are bringing to college. Virginia Tech also
attracts students from the rest of the state, the rest of the country and the rest of the world.
With this diversity of people and experiences, it was interesting to observe how they all
seemed the same. The human characteristics they develop are a result of what they have
brought with them to college as well as what they have experienced since stepping on
campus. This can also be explained by Chickerings developing mature interpersonal
relationships vector. The interactions I observed between students, between students and
families and between students and faculty members were much more advanced than what
I experience when I visit high schools.

The third shift that I visited was from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM and while there were
fewer people overall, the ones that were there were louder than they had been during the
other times I visited. It seemed like it was after 5:00, so they no longer had to carry on
like they were in class or at work and they could do whatever they wanted. The busiest
sections were once again the food court and seating areas, but the seating areas were
being utilized less for studying and more from groups to congregate. Also, the
multicultural and Black student centers were much busier at night. The families and older
adults were not present as they were in the middle of the afternoon and there seemed to
only be college students utilizing the services during this time frame. The main thing that
stood out to me on this shift was racial and ethnic Identity Development. While there is
no way to determine all three components to racial identity or how a person of color
being observed feels about him or herself, I did notice an ascribed identity to the specific
groups. Unfortunately, Virginia Tech is not very diverse racially and while there were
black students talking in the groups in seating areas that consisted mainly of white
students, the Black Cultural Center was very busy and you could tell that the black
students who were taking advantage of the services were very comfortable in the center
and identified with what that organization. The same cannot be said about the
multicultural center. While they were busier at night, there was a function going on in the
center that was led by Career Services, so I could not get an accurate feel for how active
the center would be during a time when there was not a scheduled event.

Based solely on my experiences at less selective institutions, and my work here at

a more selective institution, I thought that it would be very interesting to actually observe

the different types of environments instead of pulling from memory. I do feel that the
developmental levels are different at institutions depending on the type of student they
attract and feel that actually observing students in the same environment, student centers,
along with interviewing a sample of students, would shed more light on how students
progress through developmental stages.