Capella University I was wrongfully kicked out of a course due to "non-engagement" after being in constant contact with FlexPath coaches every week about the course in which each submission was labeled "not detailed enough" Minneapolis Minnesota

 I started to attend Capella University in February of 2016 in hopes to finish my Bachelor's degree online since I am working full time. I decided to take the FlexPath courses since that would work better with my schedule, as I could create my own deadlines and change them if needed. The problem arose with the weekly engagement that was needed as a requirement for the course. In the beginning of the course, as requested, I started submitting my engagements without any issues or barely any detail, such as "I read this chapter to understand the assignment better" and received credit for it without any hassle. A few weeks later I began to submit more detailed updates about my progress with assignments since I was digging deeper into the material and received an email that they weren't detailed enough with a template to follow to respond back with, fill out and then I would receive the credit for that week. At this point there are days between the emails so a week adds up quickly. Once again I receive an email that it's not detailed enough, so I try a different approach. According to Capella and the numerous emails I received, there are other ways to engage in the course as well which include: submitting an assessment, filling out the detailed course activity within the courseroom, or having a conversation with a coach about the course content.

I now decide to respond with the given template and detail it even more and ask questions about the assignment and content to which I receive another reply that it cannot be counted unless I send back a more detailed answer. Now I've tried 2 out of the 3 items on the checklist and I still cannot get this to be counted as an engagement. In the email the Peer Support Lead states "Course Activity summaries are needed if you have not submitted an assessment in 10 days and think it will be about 4 plus days." This email is vague and leaves me to believe I have at least 4 days to submit an assessment to be reviewed, which I planned to do within that time frame.

Two days later I receive an email from Capella that I've been removed from the course. I emailed a FlexPath Coach about being removed and based on the emails between me and the Peer Support Lead, she tried to get me back into the course. The request was denied by the school and this coach even tried to call and tried to advocate for me because she also believes that I was wrongfully removed from the course. I asked if there was any other way for this request to be escalated and she said she can put it through to the faculty chair. The request to be put back into the course was also denied by the faculty chair within the registrar's office. I did not want to pay to retake this course let alone pay for this course at all since I was removed from this course wrongfully. Capella is now requesting that I pay the tuition that is due immediately since financial aid took their money back since the University has withdrawn me from the course themselves, putting me in a stressful financial situation for an education that I was not even able to receive.