A Few Thoughts on Student Behavior
Steve Boord, MBA2 & Dan Langer, MBA2
Issue date: 10/29/01 Section: Perspectives
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One of the key reasons many of us chose to study at Stanford was the opportunity to learn from world-renown academics and successful practitioners alike. Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about what is appropriate behavior when we have visitors to the GSB. Jason Elk, MBA1, started a dialog over email after becoming frustrated when several students left early during a recent VFTT event. To summarize, he wrote, “It was somewhat disconcerting for me to sit at the View From the Top session today and watch people streaking for the exits before the Q&A session started. However, I just about lost it when a number of people decided with only five minutes left that they just had to be somewhere.
“The View From the Top is one of the more unique opportunities we get here at the GSB, and the behavior of the students during these presentations speaks loudly about who we are as a class and as a school. If you haven't figured it out for yourself, I'm here to tell you. When you leave early, you disrespect the speaker, you disrespect your classmates (including me), and you disrespect both present and future GSB alumni who have to deal with the consequences of your actions.”
Bravo. We not only whole-heartedly agree with Jason’s comments but also applaud this type of proactive behavior. It is important that we have a community where students feel comfortable in expressing their concerns and where students are receptive to suggestions of improvement. In fact, several classmates responded by claiming responsibility and acknowledging the potential repercussions.
We suspect that most students believe that they can sit on the side and slip out unnoticed. However, we can say from experience that when people walk out, it is very apparent to the person at the front. It is distracting and is inconsiderate to the guest and to the classmate who worked hard to bring that person to the school. So how do we address this?
First and foremost, we believe the best rule of thumb is common sense. For the two years that we attend business school, Stanford is our home. Bishop Auditorium, the classrooms, and all other GSB venues are our living room. When we have a speaker come visit the school, we should treat them as such. We would not get up and walk out on a visitor in our house, nor should we when someone comes to the GSB.
“The View From the Top is one of the more unique opportunities we get here at the GSB, and the behavior of the students during these presentations speaks loudly about who we are as a class and as a school. If you haven't figured it out for yourself, I'm here to tell you. When you leave early, you disrespect the speaker, you disrespect your classmates (including me), and you disrespect both present and future GSB alumni who have to deal with the consequences of your actions.”
Bravo. We not only whole-heartedly agree with Jason’s comments but also applaud this type of proactive behavior. It is important that we have a community where students feel comfortable in expressing their concerns and where students are receptive to suggestions of improvement. In fact, several classmates responded by claiming responsibility and acknowledging the potential repercussions.
We suspect that most students believe that they can sit on the side and slip out unnoticed. However, we can say from experience that when people walk out, it is very apparent to the person at the front. It is distracting and is inconsiderate to the guest and to the classmate who worked hard to bring that person to the school. So how do we address this?
First and foremost, we believe the best rule of thumb is common sense. For the two years that we attend business school, Stanford is our home. Bishop Auditorium, the classrooms, and all other GSB venues are our living room. When we have a speaker come visit the school, we should treat them as such. We would not get up and walk out on a visitor in our house, nor should we when someone comes to the GSB.