University of North Alabama - Florence, Alabama

Keri S.

UNA has progressed since I started and is a college I might have actually enjoyed starting if I weren't finishing. They do have an outdoor center that allows the students to check out kayaks and a Friends of International Students outreach as well now.

When I first started, I was paying monthly and the time came when I finished my basics but was an undecided major because I didn't know what I wanted to do and my advisor told me in my meeting with her that I really needed to have a major and that I should know what I wanted to do by then (I was only 22) and if I didn't then there wasn't really much she could help me with. My most recent advisor for my career was much better at advising me.

The staff was 50/50. Most of the professors are really good at explaining their material and passionate about what they do. Sadly, my favorite history professor was an adjunct so was only around for that semester. Unfortunately, the majority of the basics professors are the ones that really lacked in making me want to stay there. We had one professor that would count us absent even if a few minutes tardy, which makes first year students feel like they might as well not even be in the class if they're unable to find parking and running late.

Graduation, though exciting after so many years was also really irritating. After thousands of dollars and twelve years of working towards my Bachelor's while working full-time, my graduation ceremony had a 6-person maximum. My mom, dad, partner, and three grandparents were able to attend. My three siblings, one of which just started this same college, my step dad, my step grandmother, and all the other people that had supported me were unable to see me walk in person because they're so strict about attendance. Their only response was that they could watch it via live stream as if 1) everyone happened to have access to the internet (which we didn't at my parent's house) and 2) that it was the same thing as seeing the first in three generations achieve a college degree. With as much money as I had spent on getting the degree, I really wanted to be able to have everyone that helped me (mentally and financially) watch me recieve it. To top it all off, the graduation ceremony was delayed by 2 hours, which we didn't find out until we got there so my partner who had only been able to get the morning off work for, had the leave halfway through because of the delay.

Less recent, yet, equally irritating: The cost. The fees are ridiculous: mandatory transportation fee for a bus that never came anywhere near my apartment, recreation facility fee for a pool and gym I was unable to use, technology fee though I used my own laptop, camera, Internet, etc.

Most obvious: the parking. Absolutely atrocious. Freshmen can't even park on campus, they have to use a parking deck downtown. Everyone else that is allowed on campus or near the university needs to come an hour or two early to circle the parking lot(s)/deck(s) like a vulture to find anything within 5 minutes of their class starting as there's definitely twice as many students as there are parking spots.

Not so much a problem for everyone: online classes. For a university that states to have to capability of getting a completely online degree, there are an awful lot of classes unable to be taken online and an equally disappointing amount of classes that are only offered once every two years that make timely degrees a bit hard. This was a selling point for me coming back for my degree while working and ended up being a hassle to actually take classes.

The nicest thing about this University is the aesthetics (even though it is too spread out to efficiently get to classes across campus) and they do offer the IDS degree that makes it easier to graduate for someone that swapped majors too many times while still getting a customized program of study that focuses on the things that would actually be needed for their career.

Chris M.

Great school and campus with beautiful scenery!

Christian

I wish a thousand times over that I would have transferred out of this university instead of completing a degree there

Brian C.

Beautiful campus. The lion habitat was really cool.

Arey O.

Excellent experience doing my masters online. Awesome cohort with student from around the world. Great professors. Tremendous value or the tuition they charge.

Ashley C.

UNA is an amazing university!!! Aside from it being the oldest public university in Alabama & a beautiful historic campus, it's a place anyone can become an alumnus!!!
It DOES take work, but no matter how old you are, they welcome you with open arms!!! Don't give up on your dreams, I never thought I could, but I made it across that stage 5 years after I began. UNA offers so many degrees online, making it so easy & flexible to get your degree. The professors who teach online are awesome & very understanding.

Chef D. C.

Culinary school will help development the fundamental kitchen safety and food preparation skills necessary to succeed in the food industry. Here are some International cuisines taught by the Executive Chef professors at the School of North Alabama.

Tia O.

There's both positive and negatives to going to school here, mostly negatives. I’ve not had a good experience at this school.

They protect predators.

They don't always have a good selection of teachers in every department. For example, classes in the computer/business departments are all taught by just a handful of teachers. If that teacher is horrible at teaching, you're out of luck. Some teachers miss class regularly to the point that it's ridiculous. Why am I here if you don’t want to be here?

There’s one teacher who is egotistical and has the worst attitude out of all the teachers I’ve taken. He regularly bad mouths other teachers in front of students when they’re discussing their coursework for other classes. That is absolutely appalling and unprofessional.

Other teachers only do the bare minimum. They want you to teach yourself. Half of them never respond to emails. Advisors and those in other advisory roles across campus are completely unhelpful. There’s been some teachers who inappropriately go on and on about their political views when it has nothing to do with the class itself. He was regularly sexist towards female students, but he held a high position outside of teaching with the school.

There's literally only about two teachers in this department specifically that I would consider good teachers. One of those teachers was only there for a year before taking a job overseas. James Pope was the best teacher this department ever had and the other teachers could have learned from him. He was too good for this school. In total, I've only had a few amount of great teachers who really cared about my wellbeing and success at this school.

We complain about parking every semester, every single year. They do nothing about it. This has been going on for years. They will however boast how many more students are coming to the school each year. Those students have nowhere to park, and the school constantly blocks off a major amount of parking. I even heard two of the school staff talking about how students were trying to find a place to park one morning, the campus police had blocked parking spots and were laughing in the students' faces. I've also been harassed without cause by campus police before.

They get a ton of money, both from students (ever increasing tuition and fees) and the state. They're building expensive new department buildings and stadium, but you also need to put that money into what students are needing, aside from new buildings. The number one need is parking.

Every year, they survey us on dining options and nothing comes of it. Apart from chick fil a, mane market and grab and go locations, the on campus dining options are very expensive. You can expect to go through your dining dollars within a month, maybe two and a half if you don't eat often.

Every single semester, the school sends out evaluations for the students to essentially grade the teacher. We know the teachers get the feedback, because a few of them have complained about receiving negative feedback every year. I don't know about you, but if I was given negative feedback every single semester, I would fix what I was doing wrong like what would be expected at any normal business. In a normal business, there would be consequences. There is even one teacher in the music department that even other teachers know how bad he is, because students complain and can't get any help because his wife is the department head.

He’s been arrested for assault!

UNA sends evaluations out and they receive the feedback, but they obviously don't care. They don't go out of their way to find good teachers that care about their students. They will instead reward bad behavior with tenures.

The few positives that I have briefly touched on: I do have a small support system at this school. There are a few teachers who truly care about the students. The best thing about this school is Leo and the departed Una. At least the lion is well taken care of and given the best.

This school would do better to actually listen to their students and not just pretend to.