For everyone who is not familiar with how online education works, I am here to tell you that they are not all created equally. The University of Phoenix offers little more then an over priced chat room for it's students to swap information. They do not have any formal screening program for its students, therefore anyone with the ability to qaulify for a government loan or get there employer to reimburse them, can attend the University of Phoenix online program.
Students are required to post in a Main class thread and also a team thread. You are divided into teams typically after the first week of class.in addition to indvidual assignments you are required to complete team assignments. Here in lyes the problem. Your team mates can sluff off team projects sticking you with the work. There are no repercussions for their lack of participation, therefore if you recieve an "A" for the team paper, because you had to do all the work, so shall they.
After attending numerous classes and enduring months of frustration I had finally reached my limit. While attempting to take a lower division course to satisfy my elective credits, the frustration finally grew to anger and rage.in the Main class thread, the subjects scewed way off base and rarely if ever hit any actual pertinant class subjects.
The facilitator was nowhere to be found and did little, if anything, to keep the class focused on the subject of that week. Also, neither of my other three team mates could form a proper sentence, much less write a research paper in APA or MLA.
Keep in mind that these courses cost on average $1,400.00. I then attempted to contact both my counselor and Instructor to inform them that I would be dropping this course due to the fact that I was not learning anything, and that it was littel more than a glorified chat room for socializing.
I received no respone from either my counselor or instructor. I then wrote a formal letter to the dean of students for the B.S.I. T program. His name is Adam Honea, the letter read as follows:
Dear Mr. Honea,
I am writing you today as an extremely frustrated student of University of Phoenix's B.S.I.T. Program. I have exhausted all other avenues in getting my problem resolved, so I hope that you can help me or at least point me in the right direction.
I have been attending University of Phoenix since last May, and my most recent class SOC101 started 1/15/04. I was far less than satisfied with this course pretty much from the start, but I stuck it out none the less. About mid way through I decided that I had had enough and wanted to drop the class.
This class was little more than just a chat room for students to air all of their personal laundry. I pay a lot of money to attend this school and find it completely unacceptable that I am losing out on an education for which I have paid good money.
I notified both my teacher, James Dartt, and my counselor, Brandon Murphy, on 2/3/04 that I would like to drop the class and receive a credit so that I could take another class in its place.
I was told by Brandon that I would have to talk to my financial advisor, Monieca Cupp, and fill out a credit form. I first contacted Monieca by email and did not receive a response, so I contacted her by phone. I filled out the form and faxed it back to Monieca within the hour on 2/5/04.
Monieca informed me that there would be a 24-72 hour review time and that she would get back to me. Keep in mind during this entire period I have discontinued attending my class. One week later I still had not heard from Monieca, so I contacted her by both email and voice mail. I have found that if I do not reach Monieca by phone she does not return my calls or emails.
I finally received an email on 2/12/04 saying that my request had been denied because I was still attending the class. I immediately contacted Monieca by phone, but again she was not available. I left her a message and also wrote her an email stating that this was not the case.
Two days later I received a reply email stating that it was too late to drop the class and that I was pretty much stuck with the grade that I was getting. The class ended on 2/18 and I received an "F" for the class, which has completely shattered my GPA of 3.9. I have asked to speak to Monieca's manager on several occasions but just got the run-a-round. I have to say that Monieca's lack of attention and matter of fact attitude to my problem made this problem that much more frustrating. So due to the lack of movement and complete and utter incompetence of both Brandon and Monieca I am supposed to accept a grade of "F" and still pay for this class?
Sir, I find this completely unacceptable and I intend to fight this as far as I have to. I have emails from my instructor stating that I carried both the class and my teammates during the first 2 weeks of class. This is not my job, I am attending the University of Phoenix to learn, and by making up for everyone else's inadequacies, I am missing out on just that, an education.
I have contacted the Higher Learning Commission, and I intend to lodge aformal complaint if my problem is not reconciled.in addition I willpromote a Website that discourages anyone from attending the University of Phoenix. All I am asking is that my grade of "F" is changed to a withdrawal and that I receive a pecuniary credit for the course.
The University of Phoenix is a business, and your product is education. I am a very dissatisfied with your product. I tried to explain to Monieca that if I received a credit for the $1,400 that I would continue to attend the University of Phoenix and in the end the University of Phoenix would receive over $25,000 of my money for the entire program. If the University of Phoenix did not stand behind their program and credit my money, I fully intended to look elsewhere for my educational needs. Monieca's actions or lack thereof, have made it brutally clear that my concerns and money are not important to your organization. I thank you for your time and if you wish
to contact me to further discuss this issue, please feel free to phone me at *. Your attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.
My case was then passed onto the manager of financial aid, Dorothy Smith, who told me that she would be looking into this matter and would get back to me in a couple of days. After 1 week of no replies I called and left a message for Dorothy. I then recieved a call two days after my call from a "Conflict Resolution Managemer", Robert Infante, who stated that he would be taking over my case. Upon talking to Robert, I merely reiterated what I had stated in the letter to Mr. Honea. I was unhappy with the education that I was getting and I wanted my money back. Yet another week passed and I was finally contacted my Robert, but to no avail. He informed me that due to the fact that I posted in the class into the 4th week I was not eligible to recieve a credit, even though I was unhappy with there service, but they would allow me to retake the same class to try and offset the grade. So basically due to the incompetence of there staff and instructors I was stuck with an "F" for the course and there was no other resolution.
I have since found respectable online education and have moved forward. My advice to everyone is to research, in depth, what you are seeking in an online learning environment. There are much better, and more comprehensive online learning environments out there. University of Phoenix uses and antiquated system of learning that is based on typical in class learning and relates the same methods to a online environment. It's not the same and it doesn't work!!!
I have since spoken to several former classmates who I felt had the same work ethic as myself and they agree hole heartedly that the University of Phoenix does not offer the education that they are paying for.
Todd
sandiego, California
U.S.A.
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