Kirkwood Community College Review

I first attended Kirkwood in 2005, about a year after I graduated from high school. I took their anytime/anywhere classes during the summer and did not do very well at first, due to not having my own computer at that time and depending on library access to get me through. If you want to take online classes it is necessary to have access at your own home to keep up with everything that goes on. For this reason, I chose to take on-campus courses the following semester. I started out half-time due to working a full time job and having other time commitments as well.  I really enjoyed my evening class (American Literature: American Dreams) as there were more adults there and our teacher was very good. A lot of other students complained about his methods but I thought he did great because he actually got you to think for yourself and come up with answers on your own and he made you do the work. His assignments were challenging and not easy to b-s your way through. The other teacher I had that semester was a little drier and while the information was interesting (Introduction to Religions of The East) there was a lot of reading that was hard to keep up with.

I also signed up for a web-based class that I was never able to access. Everytime I would log in I was told page could not be found, from many different computers, including some on the Kirkwood Campus.I called tech support many times and for the most part they never answered or returned calls. I ended up having to take an F in the class because of technical problems that from what I could tell must be on their end.

After this experience I chose to leave Kirkwood for awhile. I went back in the spring of 09 for Composition I and Basic Anatomy and Physiology, which were both online. I now have two children and my own computer at home so this seemed to be the best way to go. For the most part I enjoyed both classes and got very good grades. I had to go into campus one day for a lab in the biology class, which our instructor flew in for (she lives in Maryland). We had a human cadaver available and did a fetal pig dissection, as well as observed various body organs both normal and those with problems. For non-science majors this probably does not sound like much fun but I though the class was incredibly informative and the teacher very knowledgeable and friendly. As for my Composition class, I was a little disappointed because I wanted to take it for the ability to write and read a lot. I have very much missed that aspect of academics. However, the instructor for that class decided to theme everything around a technology since it was an online class. Most of what we read about and wrote in response to was not of interest to me and rather boring, but I still did well in the class.

My largest problem with Kirkwood has not been with the classes, however. I filled out a FAFSA for financial aid for the spring 09 semester. I was sent a letter stating that they needed some extra tax papers and such, which is pretty standard for that process. I am a very busy mom and it is often difficult to get into town to do such things. I went in towards the end of the semester because I had all ready paid for my classes in cash and figured my grant would just reimburse me for that. When I spoke to the financial aid department, the woman told me that I had waited too long and nothing could be done. I informed her that nowhere on the paperwork they sent me did it say there was any time frame in which it needed to be attended to or I would have been sure to take care of it sooner. She simply told me there was nothing she could do and sent me on my way.

After dealing with the rudeness of the woman in financial aid, I decided to transfer to another school in Iowa. I went onto the Kirkwood student website and tried to pull my transcript to find that there were no grades reported for the fall 2005 classes I had taken. I called to inquire why that was, and was told that I had been de-registered for non-payment. At that time I had an educational trust that was to be paying my expenses for schooling and was quite sure they had paid. I had to talk to the bank in charge of the trust, and they found the cancelled check to Kirkwood for that semester, which was actually a larger amount than the tuition was supposed to have cost. Not only did Kirkwood take me out of classes, without ever informing me that they did so, while I continued to attend them, but they kept my money plus about $700 additional that wasn't even theirs to keep. After this was all figured out they reimbursed me the difference and gave me my grades but it was very irritating to have to do all that work to fix their mistakes. My trust manager also mentioned that they were very unorganized and did not return or answer calls efficiently while he was trying to fix these problems. It took over a month to get everything straightened out.

Being from the area where this college is located I have known many others who have also taken classes at Kirkwood. Almost everyone has had problems of some sort with them. Many of us feel that the instructors are poor, the classes very basic and the management severely lacking. Most of the people in the offices that we have dealt with have been rude and try harder to get you through the line and out the door than to actually fix the problems you came in to discuss. I felt much of the time that I was back in high school because the classes did not seem to me to be "college level" courses. About the only time I felt challenged in anything was in trying to keep track of the errors they made and go about fixing them. 

Also worth mentioning is the confusing and often-under-construction campus at their Cedar Rapids, IA location. Having taken a few tours in high school as well as attending classes there and going in for tests and other things over the years I still have a hard time finding my way around their campus. It is very hilly and most of the buildings are not connected so one must go outside to maneuver from one building to another. Our Iowa winters are sure a lot of fun on their steep hills in the open wind and snow. Nothing seems to be organized as far as where classes are located, either. There are specific buildings for Agriculture classes and animal sciences but all the liberal arts classes are scattered throughout numerous buildings with seemingly no rhyme or reason behind how they do so. For some of my friends who actually attained degrees from Kirkwood, they did over time learn to navigate things pretty well but agree that while it can be learned, it never makes sense.