Introduction
In the recent past, managing college affairs through college leaders has become an uphill task. Leaders are facing challenges that range from one field to another. They have been long considered as the voice of the entire student group. Their main function is to make the wants or needs of the students clear for the college administration. A common sight that is known to appear when this chain of command and information flow are not followed is riots.
Students have a tendency of rioting to express their grievances. These lead to losses of great levels to both the students and the campus administration as some property may be destroyed or looted. To resolve the aggravating issues, a lot of time is wasted at the expense of an impending syllabus that has not been completed (Stearns, 2009).
Riots have made student leaders to be expelled or suspended. Moreover, some of them face charges in court of laws due to incitements. Therefore, college leaders encounter a lot of challenges in their respective roles as the heads of their fellow students. Some of the problems affecting them seem to be common in many colleges all over the world.
Outdated and irrelevant syllabus
Although this should be a problem that should fall under the administrative unit of a college or campus, college leaders find themselves in a difficult and complicated situation when addressing this issue. A college degree may be ambiguous and outdated in terms of technological relevance and application. This is the most common problem facing students in every college. Some of the course works that are covered in class are established a decade ago and have never been updated (Trivette, Wilson-Kearse, Dunst, & Hamby, 2009).
In the world that we currently live in, technology is virtually changing every moment; a technique taught today may not be applied in a year to come. Students have the relevant papers when they graduate from the college, but they lack for the expertise or skills to handle the changing industrial requirements. Another major setback in the current education is ambiguity of the syllabus. A syllabus is bulky and covers other fields that are not related to the course in question. For example, a syllabus on mechanical engineering will be connected with electrical engineering and geography. The latter is not related to mechanical engineering. Students, therefore, deal with a hefty workload that leads to the waste of time that could rather be spent on more relevant activities.
According to these, the students demand changes of the syllabus and course work from the lectures and administration via the college leaders. When this is not stipulated within the expected period, students demonstrate their dissatisfaction in various ways that are either disastrous or violent (Strayhorn and Terrell 2010)
Recommendations
A clear ‘path to survival’ on this issue is to implement a few steps that will be advantageous to the student body. The first major step in solving this issue is to have an education system overhaul of each college. This means that a body of professionals should be selected to check on each course and ask students and experts about the required changes.
The second step is to hold regular forums among different colleges. These forums should aim at discussing the different problems the students face. An independent body should also be formed to listen to all the grievances presented by the students.
For colleges to survive, there must be regular checking of the syllabus by qualified professionals who have been working in the related fields. This presents a good chance to eradicate what is unnecessary and add what is new and helpful to the students. Thus, the students will be able to comfortably compete in the relevant markets.
References
Trivette, C. M., Wilson-Kearse, J., Dunst, C.J., & Hamby, D, W. (2009). Access To Higher Education among High School Students: Challenges and Solutions. Journal of Social Sciences, 8(2), 252-257. Web.
Stearns, P.N. (2009). Educating global citizens in colleges and universities: Challenges and opportunities. USA: Taylor & Francis.
Strayhorn, T. L., & Terrell, M. C. (2010). The evolving challenges of black college students: New insights for policy, practice, and research. Virginia: Stylus Publishing.