University of the People, Joseph Szewczyk ,Instructor, Worst Educational Experience Ever Pasadena California

Dear colleague,

Thank you very much for voicing your concern and for putting in words what you are going through. I am sorry to hear about your misfortune. I feel your pain. I sense your frustration. I understand your anger. 

I have been a student at the University of the People since April 2015 and I am not going to sugar-coat my experience or only shed the light on the positive things that I went through… There are definitely problems at the University of the People but there are also problems elsewhere. Bureaucracy is taking over but I am sure other institutions are also facing similar problems. The University of the People was created in 2009, and we are all learning… 

I am pursuing the bachelor degree in business administration and I haven’t taken Globalization and therefore I can’t talk much about this course. But I can tell you the following: Life hands us what we need and not merely what we want.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) there are no shortcuts in life and life would keep sending us the same lesson until we learn it. Once we do, we are directed to another lesson and so on. If you didn’t go through the course on globalization, you wouldn’t have written this post, I wouldn’t have read it, I wouldn’t have responded, and readers wouldn’t be reading it now… You see, everything happens for a reason. We may not see it clearly when we are going through the whole process, but with time, things become clearer… I hope one day you will look at this whole event and laugh wholeheartedly… I hope you will see it as a stepping stone leading you to a better future, a better life, and a better you… 

May I ask you some questions? How badly do you want the degree in Computer Science? How far are you going to go to make this dream of obtaining this degree a reality? 

What happened with UNIV 1001? How did you miss the final exam? The final exam period extends for 4 days on the 9th week of each semester. Students are sent a reminder about the final exam period. The exam period is clearly indicated in the student calendar. The student orientation which is for 3 weeks sheds the light on the student calendar, the final exams, the study duration, and other topics. What happened? Didn’t you receive any email regarding the final exams period? 

I am sorry to hear that your program advisor took 5 days to answer your email. Program advisors joined the University of the People 5 or 6 months ago. I have heard there aren’t many program advisors to tackle the needs of all students. I have also heard that they are overworked and abused. I am not taking any position here, I am only stating what I have heard. The University might need to create an automated system that sends an automated answer acknowledging the reception of an email and specifying that a response is to be expected within 3 or 4 working days and that a reminder would be needed if no response is given after 4 days. A live chat to tackle the concerns of students and to answer their questions could also be helpful to solve problems on the spot. 

I am sorry to hear what you have been going through in the globalization course. You know something; writing is a very important component at the University of the People. We write everywhere and whenever we get the chance. We produce weekly written assignments, learning journals, and discussion forum assignments. We need to get the rules, and the sooner we do, the easier the whole thing becomes. This course is setting the foundation for all other courses. I have come to understand something: we learn best from challenging strict instructors who push us to perform better, raise our standards, and question where we are and what we want to become. Nice instructors get us to like them but unfortunately we don’t learn much from them. Instructors who take the time to point out mistakes, push us to perform better, do so because they care and because they want to see us reach our full potential. Did you ask your course instructor for help? Please do so. Write him a nice email asking for help. I am sure he will help you. 

At the University of the People, in a large number of courses, written assignments count for 10% of the final grades, the same goes for learning journals and discussion forum posts. There are basically 8 written assignments. So for each written assignment the grade is: 10/8 = 1.25 of the total grade. If you receive 9/10 for one written assignment, your grade for that written assignment is therefore 1.125. You are only 0.125 short of getting 1.25… Is it worth it to worry so much or invest energy and time in a tiny fraction? 

I know that returning to school after a long career is challenging and I also know about the what if questions that haunt us: “what if I don’t like my studies? What if I don’t get along with my colleagues? What if they find me too old? What if I find the topics boring or challenging or so so…” It is ok Susan, we all have those questions, we all want to blend in and be part of the group. Just go with the flow, you will be fine… You are scared, and everyone else is. 

We are half way through the semester. We have just started the 5th week. 3 more to go and the semester is over. I can’t advise you on what to do. I am sure you will find the answer to your dilemma. I would say give the whole thing a second chance. Give this University and this course the benefit of the doubt. Listen to the remarks given by the instructor and try to apply them. You never know, you might learn something new… 

In conclusion, Rumi once wrote: “Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” The University of the People has Yammer as a virtual student lawn where students hang out and chat with each other. Join us there. We would be happy to have a chat and talk about your concern. 

One last thing, I once read about the butterfly effect. Putting it simply, it goes like that: When a butterfly claps its wings in one part of the world, it moves particles, which in turn move other particles, and the whole thing leads to a hurricane in another part of the world. What I want to say is: everything we do matter, we matter, our lives matter, our works matter, our efforts matter. We reap what we sow. We are worthy. We are important. Take care.
Z
Student
University of the People