Well, last week I arrived in class on Tuesday night, on time. No one was in the class! Then, I realized with the help of my old supervisor in Student Recruitment and Enrollment, I was there a week early and the class was the following Tuesday. The next day, my current employer was angry with me for taking two hours off in two weeks. I truly wanted to drop the class; but the taxpayers of King County have given me the money to take these courses and deserve better from me.
Once in class, I tried to get my computer to work, since we were asked to bring them. I soon learned I would not be able to log on and would have needed to go to N250 to get the necessary permissions to do so. I cannot do this since I work and cannot get the time off. So much for helping online students if they have day jobs and cannot get to the campus during the day. I did not feel like I was on the same page with the instructor. I did not understand the course presented in power point by her; and I felt I never got the answers to my questions about some of the things posted on Blackboard.
After the class, I found a $25.00 dollar ticket on my car. I drove up to a campus officer and felt my anger well up inside me. First of all, he was dropping his ashes on the ground while smoke billowed over his head, looking like a rent-a-cop out of some cheap magazine. When I asked him with clenched teeth why I got the ticket, he acted like I had just murdered a cop, run over the body with my car and spit on him. He lacked even the most basic of manners. I found myself wondering if he was ever given any customer service or human relations training. I may be a student; but because I am…I help pay his wages. I guess he forgot about that fact. As a state taxpayer, my tax dollars go to paying his wages as well.
This experience with Bellevue College made me wonder why the college thinks the students are getting a quality education. They hire about two-thirds of their instructors as non-tenured intermittent adjunct faculty without benefits. The college expects the students to get a quality education from these instructors who have so little invested in the learning system and are paid far less than tenured faculty. I realize they must be very dedicated; but I wonder if they are the best our taxpayer money can buy? There is an old saying,”…you get what you pay for.” I am not certain how they have reached the conclusion that they have not lowered the quality of student education with the latest budget cuts. In spite of all this, so far I have had a wonderful learning experience at this college and even worked for them as a campus switchboard operator.
I emailed my last instructor tonight totally out of sorts. As always, she gave me jewels of advice and a hug. The college does hire excellent people to work for the students. However, my last instructor did go to another university to get a job. So much for hanging on to excellent teachers. It seems to me if you promise students quality, you should offer them the best instructors. I am certain, I will find a way to communicate with the assessment instructor. But for now, I am not certain how well this quarter will go and cannot drop the class.
JOYSTECHTOOL 