General feedback on the visioin and institional plan.

[vmarcella]

First and foremost, all feedback given in this PR is my opinion and doesn't reflect the thoughts and opinions that the rest of Student council may have. With that said, here is my feedback on each section.

Mission and objectives.

Feedback

I love the long term 3-5 year objective, however, with caution. I want Make School to become the largest and sustainable computer science bachelors program so long as it doesn't mean Make School doesn't have to sacrifice it's core values. While I assume growth is necessary for larger outreach and more sustainability, I believe that a solid foundation that's constantly improving will support to some extent this growth naturally.

For 2020 key metrics, I think every stat at face value appears good aside from the 250 incoming students one. I think more context as to where this number is coming from and how it was determined would be good for the rest of the students. (The target percentages don't need any explanation, as it's pretty obvious we need and could always use more representation in tech :fist_raised:)

Overall, really solid outline that I think realistically portrays what is planned to be done based off of what we currently know. :)

Questions

• For the Our 2020 key metrics, would it be possible to phrase it as "Desired 2020 key metrics"?
• Would it be possible to explicitly express that growth beyond 2020 will be constantly reassessed as data and constraints change over time? I am able to interpret it implicitly, but feel like that is due to more context that I have.

Academics

Feedback

I agree that students should be able to take up to 5 courses if they are succeeding in them and like the removal of this restriction.

I also like the decision to revert the junior fall curriculum to start with all of the tracks. I think that the placement exams we took at the beginning of last year really helped determine which classes students should be placed in.

For coaching and mentorship, I feel like setting students up with local alumni for remote coaching/mentorship could be feasible as we get more alumni with jobs and would be super relevant to students for not only how to navigate through their career, but through Make school.

Questions

• Would it be possible for the SNL courses to be more project oriented like Make school courses? It would be really cool to integrate optional coding into these courses for students to integrate what these courses teach through technology. Obviously this would need to be made more concretely described, but I think that this would increase engagement and follow suite with Make Schools curriculum style.

Student services

Feedback

I would love for Demo night to be an opt in competitive event in which Make school students create projects that are to be evaluated by their peers/instructors to determine which students get to present. I think this will not only increase the quality of all of the projects that are to be demoed, but also increase the passion behind the projects. As for the smaller events, I think you could create rotation schedule in which students and instructors are rotated. The instructors would serve as advisors for the projects being hosted at these events and obviously the students would be the ones presenting.

As Make School grows, I would love to see more underrepresented communities being brought into tech. As someone who comes from a relatively privileged family and community, I never witnessed the adversity that these communities and the people within them have experienced until moving to such a diverse place like San Francisco. I would love to know if there is any role in which myself or other students could take to help these communities out so that they're not only supported, but thriving here at Make School.

Questions

There are no questions for this section.

Facilities plan

Feedback

I think this section is really clearly defined and like the fact that both the ideal and contingency plans are listed for students. The only thing I can't really envision is the shoe storage scaling well with the number of students we plan to take in. Not saying that this isn't possible, but, it would be interesting to know the max amount of students that will be concurrently in the building at once in order to better gauge what kind of solution would be needed for handling the shoe storage.

Questions

• I think housing will remain an interesting problem as the school scales up. Given that finding affordable renting is already problematic in San Francisco and most likely beyond the scope of Make School, would it be possible to collaborate with some sort of agency that deals with relocation/housing that could aid students in finding long term housing while at school? Do these types of agencies even exist?

Community

Feedback

I think everything listed is a really awesome approach to creating an awesome community. I like the fact that the main focus is about connecting the community together and making all groups of people, regardless of their background, feel whole.

Questions

• What have been the biggest struggles so far in building/maintaining the community from your perspective? I would love for students to be able to be aware of these issues and potentially help Make School in tackling these problems together!

Overall

This is such an amazing start to open sourcing Make School's plans and intentions. Reading through all of the key points, I felt like I learned more about Make School as I progressed through each section and understood more of the rational to both actions that were previously taken and ones that will be taken in the future. It is so awesome to finally have something like in writing and I can't wait to see this document evolve as Make School does. I hope my feedback is useful and gives you a students perspective into how I perceived everything as I read through it. Again, really appreciate everyone for getting this document established and also in done in such a timely manner.

[TasfiaAddrita]

Hey Anne, Ashu, and Jeremy, thank you so much for writing out this extensive document and covering most points Student Council has asked for.

I pretty much agree with what Vincenzo said in his comment, but I'll add a few of my own questions and concerns below.

Academics

• While we won't have any additional tracks for the upcoming school year, I think it's still important to recognize interests outside of software engineering, like UI/UX and Product Management. I know long-term-ideas.md kind of covers future specializations, but just to cater to incoming and current students, I encourage creating a list of classes Make School currently offers that can guide students with particular interests in what classes to take. This can also be supported by Student Resource Groups.
• To expand on student interests, it'd be really cool to have both juniors and seniors be able to take SUP 2.1 (Intensive Study), especially as groups. This would be a perfect way for students to work together and create a syllabus emphasizing on topics they want to learn and for staff to test-run new courses without the pressure of student satisfaction.
• How do you decide which courses will be offered in each term?

Facilities

• Many students have complained about the hardware room being used as a conference room. Are there any plans on creating more conference rooms/private spaces for phone calls?
• As our space expands and more students come into campus, are there plans to hire more custodians/cleaning staff?
• "Although San Francisco carries a high cost of living (among other challenges), we believe remaining in the city center increases access to economic opportunity for our students, along with opportunity to engage civically in a meaningful way. The improved career outcomes associated with being in San Francisco outweigh the costs."
  • I'm a bit wary about this line. Is there any data backing that staying in SF "increases access to economic opportunity" or that "career outcomes... outweigh the costs"? If you can link to anything that proves this, I think students would be a bit more accepting about having to live in SF. I know there's not much you can change about our current situation, but if there's a chance in the future to establish a main campus outside of SF, I think it's important to consider that option.

Student Services

Security

• On top of everything that was mentioned, I think implementing drills should be another priority. Closing campus down for three weeks as a drill in response to the coronavirus epidemic is a great start. On top of epidemics, everyone should also know how to respond when there's a fire, earthquake, and god forbid, an active shooter. I know there was one fire drill performed earlier in the school year, but it was conducted during a poor time where majority of the student population wasn't there (it was held in the morning on a Tuesday or Thursday, where only seniors were around for SPD and barely any juniors were on campus).

Notes

• I would like to see a section on Marketing (What is currently being marketed towards prospective students?)
• I would like to see a section on Student Experience and how it plans on scaling as the school grows. By this I mean, what will be done to improve student experience, budgeting for student activities, ensuring clubs are active, etc.
• I would like to see a section on Finances and how Make School plans on allocating its money in the upcoming years, but I understand if there's hesitation around this. If possible, a general overview would be nice.
• Are there any plans in building a strong alumni network? Is there someone in staff who handles this? I think our alumni are an invaluable resource that we're not utilizing effectively.

Reiterating Vincenzo's Points

• +1 Ensuring Make School doesn't sacrifice its values while growing
• +1 Bringing back placement exams
• +1 Project-oriented S&Ls
• +1 Compete to present in Demo Night
• +1 to how the Facilities document was organized
  • Other documents should follow this format of "contingencies" and acknowledging things may not go according to plan. It would also be helpful to add info about our current situation as a baseline to compare with future plans.

Thank you guys again for writing all of this out. I really appreciate the dedication you put into this and I'm excited to see how this documentation will grow overtime.

[javiermms]

Facilities

I also can't really envision shoe storage scaling well with the number of students we plan to take in. Accounting for space to house shoes and then slippers needed for an emergency I really would like staff members who are behind this decision to really evaluate its benefits and consider if they really align with their long term goals for the school.

General Feedback

There are small sections of writing regarding underrepresented minorities spread throughout this repo. I can see there are plans to help foster and build up and empower underrepresented communities through new staff hires in the future. But what can MS actively be doing now to help current students?

I would suggest reaching out to communities like Techqueria to see if they would be willing to partner with the school to help mentor or give guidance to students navigating tech who are underrepresented. So far the only specific support I've really seen besides events to help support women is during preview weekend when Buay Tut does a check-in with prospectives and invites current MS staff and students to join in a discussion surrounding diversity and background.

Reiterating Tasfia's & Vincenzo's Points

• +1 Ensuring Make School doesn't sacrifice its values while growing
• +1 Bringing back placement exams
• +1 Project-oriented S&Ls
• +1 Compete to present in Demo Night
• +1 to how the Facilities document was organized
• +1 I would like to see a section on Student Experience
• +1 Data to support "increases access to economic opportunity" SF vs moving somewhere within the Bay Area

Overall

Thank you again for taking the time and effort to produce this repo. I'm excited to see its progression in the future :)

[omarsagoo]

Hello All, I agree with both Tasfia and Vincenzo on many of the points. I appreciate all the time everyone has spent on creating and organizing this plan. It is very thorough and well thought out.

Facilities

Firstly, I see that Stonehenge is going to turn into an extended staff section, because it is distracting. Will this area be sectioned off completely with a wall? or will it remain open?

Secondly, With the implementation of classrooms in the mezzanine., I saw that it is still planned on being used as a quiet space. How will that work with the noise from the classes? Also with more rooms in that space, will there be a sizeable area for a quiet space up there, or will it be more like group study rooms?

Regarding the lounge space and moving the shoe cubbies into the ballroom, Would moving the shoes become redundant, because now that the all the students will have to walk over to that area to remove their shoes, what is being planned on keeping the main lobby area clean? Especially because many students have classes in Golden Gate, as well as the main stairs being located there. Not many people would feel comfortable walking through there if it becomes excessively dirty due to people tracking in dirt and other gross SF related stuff into that area.

Now as much as I love seeing a hundred fur balls running around the building because dogs (and cats) are awesome! What will happen when there is an excessive number of service and support animals in the school? I know that you might not be allowed to deny them, however as more pets start to come into the campus, more students with allergies will as well. Not to mention the cleanliness level of the building will start to become strained. Will there be anything in place to accommodate allergies students may have, as well as making sure that the campus stays clean?

Student Services

I see that you guys are looking into health insurance options for students, However, either on top of that or as a temporary alternative, Have you guys looked into the possibility of hiring a part time school nurse to handle health issues that students may want addressed? This is something that some students have asked me about, and something that I see students greatly benefiting from.

On another note regarding mental health. As more students apply, there will be a greater need for a mental health counselor with a dedicated space. Many students had concerns over where the current mental health appointments were taking place due to them having to walk by classes that are in session. If there is a dedicated room for mental health and students have to walk by their peers it might (mostly would) make them uncomfortable. Are there any plans for alternative mental health counseling rooms?

Security

I believe more drills are important for as more students start to come to Make School. I am in the process of setting up a presentation with SFPD to come and talk to the students about safety procedures. Does Make School plan on starting to have regular Fire/Earthquake/Active Shooter drills? (I know the last one is touchy, but it is something that needs to be discussed as it is a problem in our current society) As well as having notices around the building with evacuation plans, or other information that is needed to prepare students in the events of situations like those.

Financial

As great as the living ISA is for many of the students. Many other students are not able to fully support themselves without external financial support through getting a job. As more Students continue to enter the school, will there be an increase in the number of student jobs to reflect that? If not, Is Make School planning on adding support for students that might need to find a job?

Reiterating Tasfia's, Vincenzo's, and Javier's Points

• +1 Ensuring Make School doesn't sacrifice its values while growing
• +1 Bringing back placement exams
• +1 Project-oriented S&Ls
• +1 to how the Facilities document was organized
• +1 I would like to see a section on Student Experience
• +1 Data to support "increases access to economic opportunity" SF vs moving somewhere within the Bay Area
• +1 Reaching out to other mentoring communities

[sidneyarcidiacono]

Closing this issue as many of these discussions are no longer relevant or in the works, and new discussions have taken place with the new online or hybrid online/in-person environment as a consideration.