advicecommunity college problem (Updates post 16 and 23)

[lovetoscrap]

While I agree with letting the student deal with things at school, I think that this may have reached the point where you should get involved, especially if you are the one paying the tuition. Often they will give the 17 year old that is not trying to make waves the run around and a pat on the head. Sometimes you do need to step up and make some calls.

While kids need to learn how to handle things on their own, he is dealing with people in authority over him and for most well mannered, respectful young adults it can be difficult for them to be as assertive as they need to be to the adults they are dealing with.

There is no way that he should have to take the class again. This is their error and they need to figure out how to fix it ASAP.

 

[agnes!]

I'm surprised they didn't say it was a computer 'snafu' (a time-honored WWII acronym) .

agnes!

 

[mommytoe]

Another Update:

Ds will have to retake the course next semster. He handled everything himself and I am proud of him.

We are looking at this as a growing experience for him.

 

[LilyWDW]

Here is an update:

The college is now saying it was a computer glitch. They claim the computer now shows the my ds dropped the class back in Aug before classes started.

They told him to talk to the instructer again and see if the teacher is willing to reinstate him in the class. They told him at this point they might just make him start the class over next semester instead.

I don't get it. Ds was on the roll, getting emails from the instructer, and receiving grades. This stinks!!!!!!!!!!!

What I bolded means NOTHING. I have lost count of the number of times where the "roll" wasn't correct. At some point this are posted/printed and usually they don't get updated. Then the professor just works off the roll they have.

The issue is, if he's not actually registered in the class, no matter what the roll says, then he can not get credit for the class. At this point in the semester it is really too late to do anything about it most likely.

My guess is the glitch they are admitting to isn't the class being dropped, but the fact he is just now getting notification about it OR him being on the roll.

The big question is, did he receive a refund on the tuition? If so, then somehow he really WAS dropped.

 

[DawnCt1]

Another Update:

Ds will have to retake the course next semster. He handled everything himself and I am proud of him.

We are looking at this as a growing experience for him.

I think that the decision absolutely stinks considering he has been participating and doing the work. Have his save his papers. It is great that he handled things himself. I am not thrilled with the outcome however.

 

[beatlesblonde]

I would think that if he was receiving grades then he was properly in the class up to the point he got the notification. At my school all grading is done online so if a student withdrew they wouldn't be able to receive grades.

 

[Hannathy]

I think that the decision absolutely stinks considering he has been participating and doing the work. Have his save his papers. It is great that he handled things himself. I am not thrilled with the outcome however.

I'm not either and this is one time I think you and he should be taking a trip to the college and speaking to someone in charge. He is only 17 not an adult so they can speak to you.

I am very very big on having kids do things themselves BUT they do need assistance sometimes and need to learn how to handle things that only comes from experience. If the professor has been collecting and grading his work then he has acknowledged you son as being in the class and that is bologna that he has to start over. don't let them walk all over a 17 yr old, show him how to take it to the next step.

Everyone need help sometimes!!! My DH is very up on business and finances I'm not so he handles the investments, pension stuff. Should I insist I do it just because I am an adult? Help him now so he can learn.

 

[bballmom56]

Another Update:

Ds will have to retake the course next semster.

What reason did they give for this? Since they said he dropped it back in August, when did you get your tuition refund?

My DH teaches online classes as well as on ground. There is no way a student not properly registered could participate in an online class. They would not have access to the course materials.

There are too many unanswered questions here. I agree your son did a very good job on his own. Now it's time for you to show him how to pursue it further.

 

[dis-happy]

As a parent to a college student I wouldn't put up with this. What if the class is already full the next time he tries to register? Or the times don't mesh with his schedule of other classes?

 

[luvsJack]

Here the online classes work a little different than traditional classes. There are actually two rolls that a student has to be on. One is through the state virtual community college and one through our registar's office. A student can be on one roll and not the other.

If the instructor is not deligent in checking his/her class roster and the student has been left off, it can certainly cause a problem like your son's. In a traditional class, we can easily solve the problem by adding the student to the class but with online classes there is a bit more to it than that. Especially if the student is left off the MSVCC roll. There are just certain rules that have to be followed in that instance. And those rules are not very flexible.

For these same reasons, the withdrawel procedure is a bit different and the student does it themselves online. We have run into the problem of a student putting in the wrong ID number and dropping another student without realizing it. They have to be careful and read all the pop ups to make sure they are putting in the right information. As a back up we tell them to email their teacher if they are dropping. If a teacher does not get an email from the student, they are supposed to contact the student and make sure they intended to drop.

 

[RitaZ.]

There is no way a student not properly registered could participate in an online class. They would not have access to the course materials.

There are too many unanswered questions here. I agree your son did a very good job on his own. Now it's time for you to show him how to pursue it further.

That's exactly how it is. I did take a few online classes a few years ago. There is no way a student can access an online class unless he/she is a registered student. Then again, if it was a mistake on the school's end, I suppose anything is possible.

Sounds like there is more to this story.

 

[tasha99]

If it really was a computer glitch, shame on the instructor. I would not be satisfied with that outcome, and as a parent, I would be there to try to get things changed for my child. There is no excuse for silently dropping a student, letting him complete work, and then saying so sorry but he isn't in the class afterall.

 

[bballmom56]

If it really was a computer glitch, shame on the instructor.

It sounds like the glitch was on the registrar's end, not the instructor. An instructor cannot just remove a name from his roster if the system is computerized. It has to be generated from the registrar's office.

 

[luvsJack]

That's exactly how it is. I did take a few online classes a few years ago. There is no way a student can access an online class unless he/she is a registered student. Then again, if it was a mistake on the school's end, I suppose anything is possible.

Sounds like there is more to this story.

It can happen if several schools are linked together for online classes the way our college is. Not sure how it is for the OP's son, but here the student goes through the admissions process (becomes a student, but no classes yet), they see a councelor and then go online themselves and sign up for classes through the Virtual Community College (organization of all state comm. colleges with online classes). At that point, they are signed up on the MVCC end so are on one roll. Our online department then has to approve the classes the student signed up for (check ACTs and such) and then put the student's classes in our system, which puts them on the second roll. If, for some reason, the online dept. decided the student was not eligible for the class but failed to drop them from the classes on MVCC, then yes the student would be able to access the course and could order their books online without being properly enrolled in the class through the college.

It is, more than likely, a mistake on someone's part to either properly take him out of the class and alert him to the reason or to put him in the class in the first place. Those are the usual "computer glitchs". I have found that the computer actually mess up very little, more times than not its human error.

 

[luvsJack]

It sounds like the glitch was on the registrar's end, not the instructor. An instructor cannot just remove a name from his roster if the system is computerized. It has to be generated from the registrar's office.

But the instructor should have seen that the student's name was not on his roster. That is the purpose of having one and the reason for having the instructors check them. He/she should have found the name missing and alerted the registar's office. It sounds like a mess up all the way around.

 

[Cindy B]

Here's another perspective:

I took many online community college courses (16)
In some of the courses, the student was dropped from the roll if they did not complete specific assignments or did not log in by a specific date.

Perhaps the student completed "some" of the work, but not "all"-- thinking that they could in fact, "sneak" it in. I've had some specific online professors that have cut students from courses due to lack of participation.

 

[luvsJack]

Here's another perspective:

I took many online community college courses (16)
In some of the courses, the student was dropped from the roll if they did not complete specific assignments or did not log in by a specific date.

Perhaps the student completed "some" of the work, but not "all"-- thinking that they could in fact, "sneak" it in. I've had some specific online professors that have cut students from courses due to lack of participation.

This happens a lot. And sometimes the student is not dropped from MVCC right away so they are still able to access the class.

 

[bballmom56]

But the instructor should have seen that the student's name was not on his roster.

He was on the roster according to the OP:

Ds was on the roll, getting emails from the instructer, and receiving grades. This stinks!!!!!!!!!!!

And obviously he did not fill out the forms to withdraw from the class and if he had, the instructor would have been aware:

To withdraw from a class he must fill out a form and get the teacher, adviser, etc. to sign it. He did not fill out a form or get any signatures.

I hope the OP makes some noise about this. Another poster was right in that maybe the course won't be offered next semester, or it will be full and he won't be able to get in.

 

[DawnCt1]

I'm not either and this is one time I think you and he should be taking a trip to the college and speaking to someone in charge. He is only 17 not an adult so they can speak to you.

I am very very big on having kids do things themselves BUT they do need assistance sometimes and need to learn how to handle things that only comes from experience. If the professor has been collecting and grading his work then he has acknowledged you son as being in the class and that is bologna that he has to start over. don't let them walk all over a 17 yr old, show him how to take it to the next step.

Everyone need help sometimes!!! My DH is very up on business and finances I'm not so he handles the investments, pension stuff. Should I insist I do it just because I am an adult? Help him now so he can learn.

Exactly. I am all for kids learning to handle stuff by themselves but one of the ways they learn to do it is by parents modeling what to do and walking them through it as you said.

 

[luvsJack]

OP, if he was on the roll, receiving grades, turning in hw and everything was done as though he was in the class--by him and the instructor; what is their reason for not just putting him in the class in their system?

I can't imagine it would be that different from our system and its something that takes about 5 seconds. (system for the college itself, not just the online classes)

If I were you, I would call them and see if they can at least explain it "hypothetically". They will not be able to tell you anything that pertains only to your son, but they should be able to answer the general questions.

They should at least be able to answer the question as to why not. It really doesn't make any sense that they can't just put him back in the class.