You see, I have been trying to get certified in Religious Studies. I’ve been working very hard to achieve this, only to discover that the school does not offer three of the classes required to get this certitification.
Upon discovering this, about three months ago, I tried to contact the dean of the department. Much to my dismay, not only was he never in his office, nor answer his phones, the division secretary treated me like I was the plague come walking in. I saw her twice a week. For 6 six weeks in a row. Everytime I saw her, she merely got more and more rude. At first I was told “Call him and make an appointment” (As if I could becaise he NEVER answered his phones or returned phone calls) and it soon became “He’s not here. You should know!” and then it became “He’s not here, go away!”.
Well, eventually I got a hold of him and got permission, PERMISSION, to do independant study to get the required classes. After much fighting, I’ve got one of the teachers to agree… but I’m still working on the other. (Again, apparently professors do not get compensated for independant studies..) However, noone seemed to know what paperwork I needed to fill out to make me happen. This, eventually, took me back to the dean’s office, where I had.. a show down. I was treated so rude I cannot even begin to express it.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because my institute of learning claims to be for the students and, essentially, student “owned”. Yet, as my consultancy project and personal experiences both proved, THIS IS NOT TRUE.
And I am going to become very vocal about this. Because of this project, I have been introduced to many people who are very high up and I plan to take their ears.
If you see things like this… do something about it. You do not need to be harrassing about it, but use your voice. And if you run a team or organization… know your goals and values and live them.
Don’t just say them.