Required to sign statements or be ejected from program

[howl]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

My wife was a student at a technical college near Atlanta, GA. To get into the nursing program she was required to sign various statements. One was an agreement to not record or videotape instructors. They did this, we assume, because if any such videos were made public they wouldn't get any new students and medical malpractice suits would fly left and right. She signed the statement because she already knew how crazy tech school nursing programs are. (Seriously, don't ever let a student nurse touch you or anyone you care about. Don't ever enter a tech school nursing program without understating how the scam works and being prepared to deal with the horrible experience.)

Later, she was told that to continue in the program she would have to sign a statement acknowledging that making negative comments about instructors would result in being ejected from the program. They said they did this because some other students told a teacher my wife had complained that the teacher was chronically late. The statement was true and similar to statements made by all of the students, including anyone who could have made them known to teachers. She declined to sign the statement. (She had already made arrangements to slide into a similar program at a different school without losing credits.)

What is the legality of having students sign such statements? I am asking about such statements specifically in an educational environment where we are buying educational services. We are not considering legal action.

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

My wife was a student at a technical college near Atlanta, GA. To get into the nursing program she was required to sign various statements. One was an agreement to not record or videotape instructors. They did this, we assume, because if any such videos were made public they wouldn't get any new students and medical malpractice suits would fly left and right. She signed the statement because she already knew how crazy tech school nursing programs are. (Seriously, don't ever let a student nurse touch you or anyone you care about. Don't ever enter a tech school nursing program without understating how the scam works and being prepared to deal with the horrible experience.)

Later, she was told that to continue in the program she would have to sign a statement acknowledging that making negative comments about instructors would result in being ejected from the program. They said they did this because some other students told a teacher my wife had complained that the teacher was chronically late. The statement was true and similar to statements made by all of the students, including anyone who could have made them known to teachers. She declined to sign the statement. (She had already made arrangements to slide into a similar program at a different school without losing credits.)

What is the legality of having students sign such statements? I am asking about such statements specifically in an educational environment where we are buying educational services. We are not considering legal action.

Perfectly legal.

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

My wife was a student at a technical college near Atlanta, GA. To get into the nursing program she was required to sign various statements. One was an agreement to not record or videotape instructors. They did this, we assume, because if any such videos were made public they wouldn't get any new students and medical malpractice suits would fly left and right. She signed the statement because she already knew how crazy tech school nursing programs are. (Seriously, don't ever let a student nurse touch you or anyone you care about. Don't ever enter a tech school nursing program without understating how the scam works and being prepared to deal with the horrible experience.)

Later, she was told that to continue in the program she would have to sign a statement acknowledging that making negative comments about instructors would result in being ejected from the program. They said they did this because some other students told a teacher my wife had complained that the teacher was chronically late. The statement was true and similar to statements made by all of the students, including anyone who could have made them known to teachers. She declined to sign the statement. (She had already made arrangements to slide into a similar program at a different school without losing credits.)

What is the legality of having students sign such statements? I am asking about such statements specifically in an educational environment where we are buying educational services. We are not considering legal action.

It's all perfectly legal.

Of course, if your wife is so displeased and unhappy with her educational experience at this school, and since as you seem to believe it's a scam anyway, she might want to consider enrolling in a more traditional nursing school that better meets her needs.

 

[commentator]

I worked with student nursing programs in technical schools for a long time. They were not horrible scams, nor was it dangerous to allow a student anywhere near you, all the wild generalized statements you are making. These lead me to believe that your wife may very well have been a disruptive and disgruntled student from the very beginning.

Sorry she had a bad experience, but most of these programs do reserve the right to terminate a disruptive student from the class. Having her sign something is perfectly legal, was just a big signal that they are very displeased with her behavior and that she is in danger of being terminated from the class. Good that, as you say, she is transferring to somewhere that suits you better.

Having her sign statements may not have been the best way to go about what they were trying to achieve. Did all the students have to sign this, or just her? They could have called her in and given her a written warning, which she would also have been asked to sign, that her behavior was about to lead to her termination. As far as which program you pick, it's sort of caveat emptor, isn't it? You should have done more research and gotten her into another program before she invested a lot of time in this one that the two of you think is so poor.

 

[xylene]

I have never been in an educational environment where students were allowed to secretly tape the instructors.

 

[stealth2]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? (Seriously, don't ever let my wife touch you or anyone you care about. Don't ever enter a tech school nursing program without understating how unwilling you are to follow their requirements.)

There, I fixed it for you.