Another true nightmare regarding American education.
Our foster son, Sammie, enrolls in Chippewa Valley Technical Institute in carpentry. He has a hard time getting a job because he is black, and Wisconsin has just been named the worst state in the country for African-Americans to live.
He enrolls. Without a counselor, he doesn't know how to fill out the paperwork. "Permanent address" is a tough question for anyone, much less for 24 year olds who have had several addresses in the last few years. He gives his permanent address as his mother's address in Kansas. So while he has lived in Wisconsin for 6 years, the school slaps out-of-state tuition on him. The school then disenrolls him.
We call and email. We get answering machines saying no one can answer the phone about registration because the school is in the middle of registration (let me know if that makes sense to you). The main phone number on the web site is actually for disabled students only, the woman answering the phone says. The phone hours are 7-7, but no one answers at 6:30 pm. People we talk to are in five different cities, only they don't ask what city we are in, or tell us what city they are in (e.g. "Just come down to the office. We're open another 10 minutes.") Mostly the staff tell us it's not their job, and we have to understand their job and bureaucracy, and.......
Being educators, knowing how to use email, and knowing how to make a fuss, we get Sammie "reinstated." There's thousands of other kids who aren't so lucky.
1. Society needs to get more people IN education, not turn them away. (Especially African-Americans)
2. Every student should have a counselor, an advocate, a helper, someone to call instead of a number to call. Check out the confusion on their web site.
My son Andrew had equally difficult time enrolling in college. Trying to meet with a counselor that didn't have an office or a phone, worked between 3 campuses and no one ever knew where she was when. Enrollment was impossible without her signature. most of what we heard in our 1 month journey to college enrolment was: The class is full, the class is not going to make, it's too early you have to wait, it's too late, we can't change the schedule now or without the signature, come back at 7:30am, no not now come back at 12pm, no not yet come back at 3pm, no not yet come back at 5:30pm, no not yet come back in the morning at 7:30am, sorry we do not open until 8.
I actually work for the college.
I began to think, if it is this difficult for someone that actually works for the college what must it be like for students that do not have parental involvement or support and do not know the system.
What happens to those students that give up? Are we successful at our jobs or have we missed why we are here?
Posted by: Gemi Powell | August 31, 2005 at 09:19 AM
Yesterday someone dropped your book on my desk while I was out of the office. I returned, took a quick look and set it aside. Later at a meeting I heard from the person who had left the book and he told me this was worth reading. I have since read a few chapters and find that I indeed should not have judged the book by its cover. My recommendation to you would be to change the cover when it is time to reprint. I think it could be more attractive to people who see it cold for the first time
Posted by: Vance Neudorf | August 17, 2005 at 10:30 PM
Sammie may want to read these papers by some of my colleagues. These are peer-reviewed and this year's is in the running for #1 out of 1,500 peer-rev. papers!
2005
http://home.comcast.net/~llv5/2005-ASEE-Uganda-1397_Final.pdf
2004
http://home.comcast.net/~llv5/ASEE_DudaLauffer.pdf
Interesting insights by Africans and Americans
Posted by: Cram Touple | August 16, 2005 at 08:26 PM