by In our conversation yesterday concerning — Why Do You Hide Your Identity? — we shared a great discussion about owning what you write online by using your Real Name.
That conversation then devolved — as it always does — into a new conversation concerning how the American university system is really a glorified mob family when I said:
Yes, academe is a nasty business of cohorts, collusion, back-stabbing, sexual promiscuity — and that’s all in the faculty and not the student body!You will be asked to join sides and to take up fights that aren’t yours. You will be required to prove your worth. It’s very old-fashioned and mafia-like in many ways. You’ll be your own thug soon enough!
That quote of mine then prompted a request for more detail on how the university system breaks down into a mob family. Now, with some help from Wikipedia, here are the roles of the “mafia” in the university system as I see it followed by my analysis in BOLD:
- Boss
– The head of the family, usually reigning as a dictator, sometimes called the “don,” or “godfather.” The Boss receives a cut of every operation taken on by every member of his family.
The “Boss” of an American university is its president. The president earns the big money and success is tied to how much money is raised and brought in to perpetuate the myth that higher education is really about education and not grabbing federal research funds and private endowments.
- Underboss
– The Underboss, usually appointed by the Boss, is the second in command of the family. The Underboss is considered the Boss that is in charge of all of the other Capos, who is controlled by the Boss. The Underboss is usually first in line to become Acting Boss if the Boss is imprisoned or dies.
The Underboss is the university Vice-President or Chancellor or College Deans and they all play the Scooter Libby role of deflecting criticism and unwanted attention away from the Boss’ guilty deeds. They get their money from the Boss and are beholden to the Boss’ wishes, dreams, and commands.
- Consigliere
– Consigliere is an advisor to the family. They are often low profile gangsters that can be trusted. They are used as a mediator of disputes or representatives or aids in meetings with other Families. They often keep the Family looking as legitimate as possible, and are, themselves, legitimate apart from some minor gambling or loan sharking.
University Consigliere are the politicians that place their friends on the university payroll in exchange for publicly supporting higher tuition rates and increased student fees. You have to pay to play — so you become a part of the university system without becoming an actual employee — because to be on the payroll disallows your under-the-table graft in exchange for employment favors for friends and associates.
- Caporegime (or Capo)- A Capo (sometimes called a Captain) is in charge of a crew. There are usually four to six crews in each family, possibly even seven to nine crews, each one consisting of up to ten Soldiers. Capos run their own small family, but must follow the limitations and guidelines created by the Boss, as well as pay him his cut of their profits.
Capos in the universities are the Department Chairs. They have very little actual power, but because they are a “Chair” their perceived power can be omnipotent if one doesn’t realize any decision made by any Chair anywhere can be changed, dictated and recanted by the whims of any Consigliere or Underboss. Capos are there to manage crises and feelings — they never touch any real money that matters — and to keep the Soldiers in line and behaving.
- Soldier
– Soldiers are members of the family, and can only be of Italian background. Soldiers start as Associates that have proven themselves. When the books are open, meaning that there is an open spot in the family, a Capo (or several Capos) may recommend an up-and-coming Associate to be a new member.
Soldiers are the university faculty and their “Italian background” is their meaningless Ph.D. The faculty actually have great power but do not recognize or understand how to wield it in the system because they are intellectuals and not politicians. The faculty run the university on the ground but do not share in the profits at the top.
The faculty do not realize they are the university because the Boss and the Underbosses have convinced the faculty the students are the university — and without the students and their tuition dollars and extensive student loan devil bargains — the university would not exist. What the faculty fail to recognize is students are fleeting and fluid and the best of them and the worst of them only exist for four years and then they’re gone.
The faculty are forever in tenure and they should be setting the vision of the university with research mandates, but none of the faculty are prescient enough to see that long and powerful end and so they are doomed to consume each other and bite those lower than them on the food chain of deceitful power.
- Associate
– An Associate is not a member of the mob, but more of an errand boy. They’re usually a go-between or sometimes deal in drugs to keep the heat off the actual members. In other cases, an associate might be a corrupt labor union delegate or businessman.
Associates in the university system are the part-time Adjuncts. The Adjuncts are the Fall Guys, the Dirty Pool players and the sacrificial lambs. Adjuncts are expendable and readily available for virginic volcano-tossing if the university needs a convenient scapegoat. If you need someone to get their hands muddy in the muck by enforcing a Grade Inflation Policy or by pressing the agenda that students are actually responsible for their own behavior, the Adjunct is the perfect foil — both willing to please and totally unwitting to the dangers of complying with the damaging desires of others.
Yesterday’s discussion also brought forward several questions I will endeavor to answer now:
What is the most interesting thing that a student would want to know about academe, but didn’t realize they should ever ask?
Students need to realize they really do not matter even though they’re told they do. Students are the rope in the ongoing tug-of-war between the Administration and the Faculty. They are ultimately expendable in any sort of power purge.
If students want to get an education, and not rope burn, they need to remove themselves from the back-and-forth and set their own learning agenda for success by finding a sympathetic and interested Administrator to soothe the red tape process as well as a Faculty member who can point the student into and out of the political morass of finding good teaching versus those who teach on tenure.
Who really has the power at universities? The academic department or athletic department?
This answer depends on the school and it always has to do with money and power. If you have a successful football team, the athletic department sets the goals of the university. If you have a powerful business school or law program, they dictate future maneuvering. English Departments — the necessary intellectual core of the university experience where All Things Converge — never have any power or money and so the department instead concentrates on attacking each other and in devouring Adjuncts for entertainment in the guise of professing power and influence.
What is the key to student success — beyond the basics of reading and studying? How does a student really impress the professors?
The key to student success is to read the assigned work and to participate in course discussions. Students should also always be on time to class and sit in the front row and help lead discussions if they want to impress their instructors. Do not hand in late assignments. Reach above ordinary expectation.
I always tell my students the syllabus describes the minimum requirements for the class and that it is up to each of them to find out how to create passion and magnitude beyond the simple syllabus.
Now I have a few questions for you… What has your experience been in the university system? Did it ever feel like you were part of a mob family or not?
If your experience is beyond the American university system — what similarities and differences have your found with the mob mentality and higher education?
David,
Love this article! Yay!
My University education has been plagued by “breaks;” a semester off here, only going part-time there, and so on. There are several reasons for this, most of which are no one’s fault but my own. However, I do know I would be much more interested in consistently attending school if this Mafia dynamic did not exist.
I know I always loved school…until I got to college.
I know I always felt teachers cared about my education…until I got to college.
Now, even the teachers of my smaller classes in which I actively participate do not recognize me outside of class after an entire semester.
There is one Professor whose classes I have had the unfortunate opportunity to attend twice; his “If you see me outside of class, do not say hello or even act as though you know me because I am your teacher and that is all I am, and therefore I do not care about you” speech is infamous.
Um. What the hell happened? Who are these imposters and what have they done with the real educators?
Hello Emily!
It’s best to knuckle down and push through the university experience as fast as possible. You need to really hold your breath and get it over or else the toxic effects of the experience will linger and start to decompose the real living of your life because you quickly get stuck in perpetual student mode and never grow up and out of that box.
I hated school until I got to college. Then I quickly realized what a ruse and a game it is — grades are not determined by talent or ability but by rather by changeable environments that can always be manipulated and exploited if one has the time and the power. I never had that inclination to exploit holes in the system… to my ultimate detriment. Now I know I should have played that game a bit more instead of being disgusted by it.
There is no investment in student happiness in the university. You are a commodity. You are a giant cow that gets slaughtered for your blood money every semester. If you realize you are a side-o-beef, you begin to disconnect yourself from the process to find joy in the smaller moments.
Universities claim teaching is important but it isn’t. Publishing is important — the university wants their faculty names on books — so new faculty members are encouraged to spend all their free time writing to get published and taking time to prep for class or interact with students gets them nothing in the end and especially not tenure.
They are judged by their peers inside and outside their school — the students’ opinion matters very little. So why should they bother with you when all you want is attention and a “hello” on the pathway to your next class? They’re worried about the department politics eating them alive and to stop and pause to hear a student complaint — and that’s what students do when they talk to faculty – complain… you prefer to avoid the interaction than to have to pretend to begin to care.
Adjuncts are less fussy about roles and distance because they’re there to teach for the fun of it but that enthusiasm can quickly get tamped down by faculty that press them into dishonorable service and by needy students who eat them alive with neediness.
I sort of respect that “I don’t care about you” speech because it doesn’t pretend to play the “I care” game that most universities try to compel between student and faculty. There is little in common between those sets of minds and many students feel they are entitled to the professor’s free time as they see fit. Sometimes a punch in the nose pushes away the unnecessarily needy in favor of those who are more desperate for direct attention.
Many students confuse faculty friendliness with getting an “A” grade. I know many students who feel personally wounded that they get a low grade while “hanging out” with their “faculty friends.” It doesn’t work that way. You get graded on your work in class and not on the greatness of your neat personality. 😀
David,
I understand your points. I see that University faculty are unfairly bound by the expectations of their University which have little or nothing to do with the education of their students. I see that teachers can easily get “eaten alive” by the needs and complaints of overly-needy students.
I, however, am not an overly-needy student. I don’t want my Professor to be my friend. I don’t want my Professor to chat with me for ten minutes if they see me in Barnes & Noble. I’ve never once disputed a grade I received in a class even when I thought I deserved better because, like it or not, my grade in a class is not and should not be decided by me.
I do, however, expect a little more than a confused, “And who are you?” when I ask them a sincere question about their class in which I actively participate and for which I read, study and pay hundreds of dollars I don’t have. Call me old-fashioned and unrealistic, but it is very difficult for me to care about a class if the Professor could not care less about his students.
I think you’re expecting way too much unless you make yourself verifiably known on an ongoing basis, Emily.
Most faculty members teach 3 courses with 30 students per semester. That’s 90 names to learn and memorize and attach to a face in a crowd of faces. 1/3 of those students don’t show up and another third rarely participate so bothering to learn names that don’t care about their grade or participation is a self-defeating prophecy. If you want to stand out from the crowd you need to make a positive and unforgettable noise.
I tried to memorize the names of all my students, but that was always a hard task when you don’t see them all day every single day and you have three sets of 30 names to keep straight for three months. On the second day of one class a student shouted from the back row — “You don’t know our names yet?!!” — when I used the registration sheet to call roll. Sometimes you can’t win.
David,
Yeah…alright. I hear you. It is just very frustrating to feel the lack of reciprocity in any relationship, even one as base and fleeting as that of Student and Teacher. Perhaps I shall say “To hell with that!” while I am a student and be more mindful of it when I am a teacher myself. I suppose it will be easier for me to care about my students than it is for a college professor, as I will be a worthless little high school teacher and The Boss will not have his thumb on me for publication!
David,
Yeah…alright. I hear you. It is just very frustrating to feel the lack of reciprocity in any relationship, even one as base and fleeting as that of Student and Teacher. Perhaps I shall say “To hell with that!” while I am a student and be more mindful of it when I am a teacher myself. I suppose it will be easier for me to care about my students than it is for a college professor, as I will be a worthless little high school teacher and The Boss will not have his thumb on me for publication!
Ems —
All you need to do is say, “Hi, I’m Emily and I’m in your Wednesday morning writing class” a few times each and every time you make contact in person and in email and you’ll be set. Students that make that effort are always immediately remembered after a couple of encounters.
I have to tell my students to identify themselves that way when they send email because “foxxymommacow864532@aol.com” means nothing to me. I have to teach them to use their first and last name and remind me of every detail of who they are because text and an email address alone will not remind me of a face!
Ems —
All you need to do is say, “Hi, I’m Emily and I’m in your Wednesday morning writing class” a few times each and every time you make contact in person and in email and you’ll be set. Students that make that effort are always immediately remembered after a couple of encounters.
I have to tell my students to identify themselves that way when they send email because “foxxymommacow864532@aol.com” means nothing to me. I have to teach them to use their first and last name and remind me of every detail of who they are because text and an email address alone will not remind me of a face!
Some professors want to meet you. They make time to have evaluations in person. Lots of students hate that.
Some professors want to meet you. They make time to have evaluations in person. Lots of students hate that.
Right, arin! That’s a great way to get to know each other. It does take a lot of effort though. If you don’t do those in-person evaluations in class then the student show up rate is around 70%.
Right, arin! That’s a great way to get to know each other. It does take a lot of effort though. If you don’t do those in-person evaluations in class then the student show up rate is around 70%.
It is a scary meeting but it helps to get to know each other better.
It is a scary meeting but it helps to get to know each other better.
It definitely takes extra effort, arin, but the end result does help foster a better understanding between student and instructor.
It definitely takes extra effort, arin, but the end result does help foster a better understanding between student and instructor.
I understand college is not a place for baby sitting and everyone has their own agenda. I also understand ‘teaching’ is not of prime importance; it is only a part of the ‘job’. But why do all the students come and join college? What is the ultimate goal of teaching? What percentage of the total population wants the degree to pursue research/earn a Nobel prize and what percentage just want to earn a decent living? I am not talking about those who just come to college to kill time; they are either too rich or too lazy. Is expecting a teacher who will guide or act as a general mentor or provide direction for life after college too much? In my limited experience I have very few teachers who could connect the real world with the classroom.
It sucks.
Being an excellent scholar doesn’t guarantee of being an excellent teacher – understanding the audience and generating interest is the key.
Or else, the universities should stop ‘teaching’ and concentrate on being a ‘publishing/research hub’ – but what about sustainability then? As long as they need students’ money to survive they should be accountable to their students too.
Katha —
In America’s recent history, if you wanted a good job, you had to have a high school diploma. Now the minimum standard for any sort of stable, good paying job, is at least a B.A. — so kids who may be more technically inclined or trade school induced are forced into a four year degree problem just to “do time” so they can get a piece of paper they need to get hired for their trade job.
If you want to find great teachers who care about their students, the Community College route is likely a better place to find that sort of connection because in that system the students are more important than the wants and requirements found in a large college or university research institution.
You are right about the involvement and connection community colleges with teaching David and I agree with you.
I was trying to address two issues together.
According to this US Census link 70% of US economy comprises of non good producing industries – in other words service industries. Suppose I am teaching something related to this industry. I have a steller academic background, great publications, lots of experience in conference presentation etc. but I haven’t worked long enough to have significant experience in this sector. This will surely reflect in my teaching because I won’t be able relate the theories with outside classroom world. Even if I don’t have this experience, I should do something to connect the real world with my teaching or else the disconnect gets very wide.
Even if my students are ‘doing time’; it’s my responsibility to provide them a relationship between thoery and practice.
Hi Katha!
You make an excellent point but theorists will always have an advantage in academe over practitioners because research and publication is more valued in a university over life experience because research leads to fame and patents and future income while service lives and dies without merit or monetary gain for the university beyond the ivory tower.
There are programs out there that focus on service:
http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/career/hamburger_university.html
http://www.hsainternational.com/
http://home.nau.edu/hrm/
Oops…I forgot to provide the link I was talking about.
http://www.census.gov/econ/www/servmenu.html
I know there are programs that focuses on service but most of the cases the focus becomes research based.
These are not ‘Shakepeare or Chemistry or Statistics’; these are purely vocational curriculum and the teachers need to connect in a very practical way.
I am not undermining the importance of research. In my experience what I have seen is the gap gets very wider and students lose interest. Teachers need to connect with students in their level not in the teachers’ level. Even if I teach chemistry – application is imporatnt as well as the formula.
Hi Katha —
I understand your point, but for a faculty member to meet each student on their own terms can have 30 definitions in a class of 30 students. Shouldn’t the students endeavor up to the instructor’s level of expertise? Isn’t that why they’re there to learn? Aren’t they in class because they don’t know what the instructor knows?
I know there are some programs like Public Health that put tremendous required effort into live Field Work and many of the Arts programs also require proofing in the field of public opinion.
The problem with using stars in the classroom is they aren’t as available to teach as regular faculty. NYU hires famous politicians to teach courses but the tradeoff is they don’t always show up for class to teach because real life gets in the way. That hurts the students.
At one university the chemistry department paid a “star” in real life to come in and teach one course for one semester for $11,000.00 USD while the average adjunct was getting $1,800.00 USD per course.
Universities can pay Adjuncts whatever they wish no matter what they claim. Minimums are usually union mandated but the top end is always open -– remember that.
Actually, I’ve had pretty good experiences at University, but honestly, I was tired of the high school formula by the time I got there. I like figuring things out on my own anyway, so I’ve never really cared if the professor cares or not. Core classes can be really bad though, I had a friend take ‘Astronomy for non-physics majors’ and the guy taught it like an upper level physics course. I think the core class system creates a lot of disinterested students. Sometimes, a really good professor can get you interested in a subject that you wouldn’t normally be interested in, but that mostly doesn’t happen. Or they are taught by TA’s who don’t care at all.
Right now I’m studying abroad in the UK, and its a pretty different system over here. The classes are organized differently and sadly, there is MORE bureaucratic stuff to get through.
For example, I had to change a class because it clashed with another class. At home, I would just go on the internet and do it or go to the registrars office. Here I had to first go to the English department and get an appointment with somebody to change it, then I had to take a form to somebody in the History department (my ‘parent’ school, whatever that means), and that was just to get my Lecture time. After that, I had to email the first guy again to get a Seminar for that course assigned to me. Which took til the second week of classes.
At least in the History department, everything is much more reliant on individual research than my experience in America. Like, there is a TON of reading. All of my classes together amount to about six hours a week, so I’m not in class that much. The seminars for the history classes are every other week.
I’ve only been here about two months, but I imagine the ‘mafia system’ would still be in effect here, if not worse. All of my professors seem very aloof. And if I have a problem with my studies, I’m not suppose to go to the professor about it. I have an Academic Tutor who is suppose to do that. But they don’t help with understanding material, for that you have to go to Student Services and get special tutoring. I’m talking about if I get extremely ill, and can’t do my coursework, I have to go to the Academic Tutor, if I don’t understand something, I go to student services, but if I have questions about the content of a paper or something for a class, I go to the actual professor.
I think.
I think if nothing else, the bureaucracy and the lack of communication between faculties would cause resentments. However, there are four different pubs in the Union, so I guess they know what most students are really after.
Hi Stacy! Your post came through perfectly fine. It wasn’t even caught by Akismet. Sometimes you have to force a reload of the page to see your comment. WordPress.com sometimes needs that push to show your newly posted comment.
Your registration runaround sounds like my experience in college years ago. You race to register and you needed adviser/departmental/college approval to any changes you might try to make in your schedule.
In the California State University system what you describe about using TAs instead of the instructor for study and contact remains true in large classes. One faculty member lectures 300 students and then 6-8 TAs run the discussion groups, do the tutoring and even grade the papers. If there is a dispute over a grade, then the faculty member steps in and determines the grade. All exams are dot marked and graded by computer.
Ha! You’re right students love to drink! I never had a taste for it, but for many young kids the freedom to drink is an empowering expression of independence as they swim in pools of their own vomit.
Love the article, David!
I enjoyed my undergraduate experience, but I might not have had the traditional student experience. We moved to a college town when I was a freshman in high school, so most of my friends and neighbors were connected with the university. We’d hang out at the university when we were in high school — we’d go to all of the student movies, and play pool at the union, etc. I lived in the same town where I went to undergrad, so I visited my parents every day to get food and money, but could go back to my apartment for my own independence afterward. 🙂 My roommate’s parents lived in town also, so if I wasn’t getting free food from my folks, I was at his parents’ house as well.
Having contact with professors outside of the academic world showed me that they were people — just like everyone else. And, having wandered all over the school made it easy when I actually started going there. My academic adviser was my parent’s next-door neighbor.
I also was lucky enough to have taken some college classes for credit while I was in high school, so when it came time to register for classes, I was always a day ahead of everyone else because scheduling was done according to credit hours already earned. I got to pick the best professors and best class times without worrying about closed classes. I always took summer classes to keep ahead of the pack (and so that I wouldn’t have to go into an expensive 5th year).
I enjoyed going to a large school where you could hide out in huge lecture classes and just absorb knowledge without worrying about being called on if you hadn’t read the night before. But, since I was a journalism and political science major, there were plenty of small classes to give me one-on-one interactions in smaller class settings.
Yeah, I didn’t drink much back at home – it seems like such a frat boy thing to go do. Drinking is pretty ubiquitous here. There doesn’t seem to be a stigma against it like in the US. I mean, to me, I was shocked about the pubs, but the I saw that they sell hard liquor in the Union. I mean, if I wanted hard liquor I had to drive 20 minutes out of town. And you’re not even allowed to have alcohol at University functions at home.
But there doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem with binge drinking over here, but they may just have more tolerance. Its something that pretty much every body does to socialize – go to a pub.
Yeah, I blamed that on the bureaucracy, but it could just be that they only recently moved online. Part of the reason it’s easy at home is the entire system is online, and it’s impossible to register for clashing classes.
It’s interesting many universities are “dry” campuses in the USA so they can restrict student drinking — but then they turn around serve alcohol by getting special permits for their private events to raise money and entertain. At many football games you can’t drink alcohol in the stands, but you can get whatever booze you want in the private sky boxes.
You’re right that being online makes it super easy to manage registration and make changes. The advance of technology is a wondrous thing!
😀
Chris! Love your experience. I also had the great opportunity to hang out at the university throughout my life. I was in several university productions as a youngster so the campus was always intimately familiar to me. You could roam the campus, use empty classrooms and just plain wander around all day if you wished. I think that freedom has changed today and access to buildings is much more restricted.
At NYU, post 9/11, you can’t even enter a building without showing ID now. It used to be the entire community would use the NYU’s resources as they wished. It was a very hip and hippie thing to do. My how terrorism changes the core of people and university philosophies…
That’s interesting about NYU, I think it still pretty much works that way at my uni – but then, nobody is going to attack the middle of nowhere. At least, they don’t check for id’s at the library. But you can’t check out books unless you’re a student. I almost want to keep taking classes, so that I can keep using the library. Though, I may like the library here more… maybe I’ll just move somewhere with a really awesome public library.
It seems like a University should be open to all willing to learn though.
Stacy —
I agree universities are the core of a community. Many universities give reading privileges to alumni and to local residents if they purchase a card. ID is important today. You just can’t roam freely now. Verification of who you are is necessary on campuses across the nation.
When you’re done with your degree at NYU you can get an alumni card that gives you access to the university — including the library! Columbia is the same way. I can go to Columbia any time and enter the library and read and work. It’s a delight.
Does anyone see the irony in linking to the Wikipedia with the recent Essjay-incident?
Hi Joe —
Wikipedia is not a scholarly source, you’re right, but they do cover popular culture relatively well for instances and exemplars.
Hi Joe —
Wikipedia is not a scholarly source, you’re right, but they do cover popular culture relatively well for instances and exemplars.
If you want to see real corruption and be totally disgusted come to LAU Beirut – Lebanon. Now here you will learn what a university mafia is all about. They are total money suckers. The most important courses they teach you are in injustice, dishonesty, lying, and manipulating students for money. What is saddening is that students play along unaware of what is happening.
and when you try to ask for you right, the LAU administration calls you immature! They are stealing literraly from students. It happened to me and it definitely has happened to others.
I feel frustrated because I can not do nothing to get my right back. They are a mafia. How can you face a whole university when you are 100% right? What do you do in this situation because we can talk and talk but without action we will stay where we are.
If you want to see real corruption and be totally disgusted come to LAU Beirut – Lebanon. Now here you will learn what a university mafia is all about. They are total money suckers. The most important courses they teach you are in injustice, dishonesty, lying, and manipulating students for money. What is saddening is that students play along unaware of what is happening.
and when you try to ask for you right, the LAU administration calls you immature! They are stealing literraly from students. It happened to me and it definitely has happened to others.
I feel frustrated because I can not do nothing to get my right back. They are a mafia. How can you face a whole university when you are 100% right? What do you do in this situation because we can talk and talk but without action we will stay where we are.
Thank you for your comment, Ingrid. Can you share with us the details of your experience?
Thank you for your comment, Ingrid. Can you share with us the details of your experience?
Yes sure I can. I got admitted to the university, paid $50 for my application which are nonrefundable and they said that because I come from a french university. I have a BA in translation that I should take an english entrance exam. I didn’t mind even though i told them i’m a translator and i publish a newsletter in english. anyways, i went to do the English exam and had all my papers in order. When the Director of University Testing Services and Continuing Education, who was yelling and treating the other students with total disrespect, came towards me yelling asking me what was i doing here. i said i’m here for the english test. so she yelled at me: “GO STAND IN LINE.” I replied: “no i will sit here and wait because i have a knee problem.” she said: “you either stand in line or GET OUT OF HERE.” I said: “Have some respect. Do you think we are in a boarding school?” She continued yelling and telling me to leave the university. I told her it is not her university and that I want someone else to deal since apparently she didn’t take her pills.
Now the administration there agreed after a week of deliberations to give me a second chance but i have to pay $60 because the first $40 are nonrefundable.
I told them i paid till now $90, 50$ for the application and $40 for the English exam which because of their employee I couldn’t do. I also said that she is their responsibility, not mine. and that I’m giving the university a second chance. Getting an MA in International Affairs costs $17.000. Why would I repay the English Entrance exam when it is their mistake? This is when she told me i’m immature.
Yes sure I can. I got admitted to the university, paid $50 for my application which are nonrefundable and they said that because I come from a french university. I have a BA in translation that I should take an english entrance exam. I didn’t mind even though i told them i’m a translator and i publish a newsletter in english. anyways, i went to do the English exam and had all my papers in order. When the Director of University Testing Services and Continuing Education, who was yelling and treating the other students with total disrespect, came towards me yelling asking me what was i doing here. i said i’m here for the english test. so she yelled at me: “GO STAND IN LINE.” I replied: “no i will sit here and wait because i have a knee problem.” she said: “you either stand in line or GET OUT OF HERE.” I said: “Have some respect. Do you think we are in a boarding school?” She continued yelling and telling me to leave the university. I told her it is not her university and that I want someone else to deal since apparently she didn’t take her pills.
Now the administration there agreed after a week of deliberations to give me a second chance but i have to pay $60 because the first $40 are nonrefundable.
I told them i paid till now $90, 50$ for the application and $40 for the English exam which because of their employee I couldn’t do. I also said that she is their responsibility, not mine. and that I’m giving the university a second chance. Getting an MA in International Affairs costs $17.000. Why would I repay the English Entrance exam when it is their mistake? This is when she told me i’m immature.
That is an incredible and sad story of unnecessary harassment. You stood up well for yourself. Did you feel the university supported her behavior against you?
That is an incredible and sad story of unnecessary harassment. You stood up well for yourself. Did you feel the university supported her behavior against you?
Yes they did. Even though the poor employees there told me that she is always like this because she is VIP.
is VIP a new word for Very Ill-mannered Person?
I hope you did not enter that university. Are there any other options for you?
Of course not, this just happened today. I’m still really angry. I told them they are being unfair with their decision and not logical. But they made it clear that my opinion doesnt’ matter and if i want to get into this university i have to be submissive like the rest. There message is clear “Never defy the system”
I would find another school. You aren’t even enrolled yet and you’re miserable.