S
sguenard
Guest
I am a student at a private college. I am an elementary education major. Like all other colleges, this college has certain liberal education requirements a student is expected to take in order to graduate from the college. These class requirements are above the courses required to take in your major,and are usually taken during your freshman and sophomore years. All colleges have different required classes and these classes are decided on by the college itself.
Last summer I noticed my college was offering a history course. I am in need of a history course (U.S. history 101 or 102 to be exact) to fulfill my liberal education history requirement. I do know that some classes can be substituted for others, so I called my college advisor and asked him whether or not I could take this summer history class to fulfill my liberal ed history requirement. He said that it would, so I enrolled in the class, with my advisors signature. I completed the class, getting an A-.
This past fall, I added elementary education as a second major (having just finished up a business major). With that change, I received a new advisor. We met on 2 different occasions to map out the remainder of my required courses in order to graduate. On both occasions she asked me if I needed to take a history course and both times I said no. We were able to map out my course schedule for the rest of the year and next year. I'll have 17 credits next fall, but will be able to student teach next winter, then graduate in 6-02.
I received a course audit,in January, 2001, per my request, from the colleges registration office, to make sure I was on track with all my classes. It is then that I discovered that the history I took last summer would not count towards the history liberal education requirement the college has, it also doesn't fulfill any other liberal ed requirement I am needing. I went and talked to the registration office staff and explained to them that my advisor had told me this course would cover the history lib ed requirement. They pretty much told me tough luck, it doesn't, your advisor was wrong, I could petition it, but it probably wouldn't do any good. I chose to petition it, since I enrolled in this class only because my advisor told me it would cover the history requirement. I wrote a letter to the college's academic council telling them what happened. They spoke to my then advisor. He told them he did tell my the class would count. But they still denied my request to let the history class I took in the summer be substituted for the lib ed history requirement, stating that I submitted no evidence that the course I took was equlivent to the required course.
I'm pretty mad about this. I spent time and money on this class. In our student hand book it states:"academic advisors help identify and assess options so that students can make informed decisions about their academic and post graduate, and or career goals." My advisor gave me misinformation on a class, so why am I being penilized? We are on semesters at this school and it is too late to take the required course this year, and I already have 17 credits for next fall. Anything over 17 credits and students have to pay additional tuition costs. I can't take any courses during student teaching, so I am pretty much out of luck.
Isn't a college the same as a business? The way I see it is I bought some education from them for the sole reason that a sales associate/advisor gave me advise about this product/class, which was the deciding factor that made me purchase it. If i buy something at a store because a sales associate said the product would do specific things and I later find outit doesn't, I can take that product back and get my money back, or they can give me a different product that does the things I was promised.
I don't think I should be the one to try and convenience the council why I think the class I took should count towards the requirement. I think my advisor should. I think because the colleges employee gave me misinfomation, they should honor what he had told me, and educate that employee not to make the same mistake again. What rights do I have? I think I should at least be eligible for the class to count or be able to return the credits, they can take them away since they can't count towards anything and I want my money back I spent on the class and time I spent on completing the class.
If a college is viewed as a "business" shouldn't I be entitled to fight for the above things? I'm will to take this as far as I can. I feel I have been wronged and that I am being ignored by the school. I made no mistake here, their employee did.
Last summer I noticed my college was offering a history course. I am in need of a history course (U.S. history 101 or 102 to be exact) to fulfill my liberal education history requirement. I do know that some classes can be substituted for others, so I called my college advisor and asked him whether or not I could take this summer history class to fulfill my liberal ed history requirement. He said that it would, so I enrolled in the class, with my advisors signature. I completed the class, getting an A-.
This past fall, I added elementary education as a second major (having just finished up a business major). With that change, I received a new advisor. We met on 2 different occasions to map out the remainder of my required courses in order to graduate. On both occasions she asked me if I needed to take a history course and both times I said no. We were able to map out my course schedule for the rest of the year and next year. I'll have 17 credits next fall, but will be able to student teach next winter, then graduate in 6-02.
I received a course audit,in January, 2001, per my request, from the colleges registration office, to make sure I was on track with all my classes. It is then that I discovered that the history I took last summer would not count towards the history liberal education requirement the college has, it also doesn't fulfill any other liberal ed requirement I am needing. I went and talked to the registration office staff and explained to them that my advisor had told me this course would cover the history lib ed requirement. They pretty much told me tough luck, it doesn't, your advisor was wrong, I could petition it, but it probably wouldn't do any good. I chose to petition it, since I enrolled in this class only because my advisor told me it would cover the history requirement. I wrote a letter to the college's academic council telling them what happened. They spoke to my then advisor. He told them he did tell my the class would count. But they still denied my request to let the history class I took in the summer be substituted for the lib ed history requirement, stating that I submitted no evidence that the course I took was equlivent to the required course.
I'm pretty mad about this. I spent time and money on this class. In our student hand book it states:"academic advisors help identify and assess options so that students can make informed decisions about their academic and post graduate, and or career goals." My advisor gave me misinformation on a class, so why am I being penilized? We are on semesters at this school and it is too late to take the required course this year, and I already have 17 credits for next fall. Anything over 17 credits and students have to pay additional tuition costs. I can't take any courses during student teaching, so I am pretty much out of luck.
Isn't a college the same as a business? The way I see it is I bought some education from them for the sole reason that a sales associate/advisor gave me advise about this product/class, which was the deciding factor that made me purchase it. If i buy something at a store because a sales associate said the product would do specific things and I later find outit doesn't, I can take that product back and get my money back, or they can give me a different product that does the things I was promised.
I don't think I should be the one to try and convenience the council why I think the class I took should count towards the requirement. I think my advisor should. I think because the colleges employee gave me misinfomation, they should honor what he had told me, and educate that employee not to make the same mistake again. What rights do I have? I think I should at least be eligible for the class to count or be able to return the credits, they can take them away since they can't count towards anything and I want my money back I spent on the class and time I spent on completing the class.
If a college is viewed as a "business" shouldn't I be entitled to fight for the above things? I'm will to take this as far as I can. I feel I have been wronged and that I am being ignored by the school. I made no mistake here, their employee did.