Hi again,
solid_confusion is right about his/her orientation...from what I understand, it was very hard-edged, blunt kind of orientation with an emphasis of "study and don't fail". This affected clubs across the board because there was little participation/membership from the MS-I's. However, I spoke to the Dean about this issue, and we discussed ways to change orientation. I know that they are taking steps to change it in a more positive direction (I just submitted a funny orientation video filmed with several of your classmates on policy and procedures which will be used next year).
I also wanted to comment on a few things solid brought up. Let's start with the "scantron incident". You are leaving a lot out of the incident. I discussed this particular incident with your 1st semester president (who by the way is a great person...I think he did a great job and it was a pleasure working with him) and he relayed to me that the professor wanted a form of penalization, but asked your class for the input. Remember, professors have the "academic freedom" to run the course the way they want it. Some are lenient, and some are strict; it comes with both positives and negatives. From what I understand, the penalty was not a harsh one, and no one was in danger of being dismissed (this is particularly important to note, because you wrote this in your post). Also, I talked to many of the students in your class about what occured during this exam, and many said that all of you were given numerous warnings to place the correct version on your scantron. Yet, 2 people failed to follow the directions. I suppose the point was a lesson in following directions. Something to think about.
The second comment is about the cheating that occured in your class. Now, I was not asked to sit in the review process (thank goodness because it was a very long process), but one of our officers did. One thing to note is that nothing was caught on tape. I spoke to the class officer about how it was going and according to him/her, (who didn't give many details), things are not "clear-cut" but there was some form of academic dishonesty going on. The point is that there are reasons why and how administration decides to punish students that we are not allowed to know (which is a private matter, not only for the administration, but for the students involved). By law, no one is supposed to know the academic record of an individual (except for school officials...I believe it's the Furper (sp?) law). As far as those students dismissed for anatomy, there have to be reasons for doing so.
Things have been tough for you MS-I's, but it's been just as hard for us as well. Our officers have had many "meetings" ranging from classroom disputes to academic dismissals. But almost all of these meetings came out in a positive direction. So for the person who stated that letting people know who I am is safe, let me assure you that I relayed the opinions and the issues of the class openly. In other words, I put my a$$ on the line for my class. That was my job. But, I have to be sure that both sides of the story are told and to not get my emotions involved in it. My job was to be a representative and to discuss issues with administration on a professional level. And the results were overall positive and fair.
Though I am leaving in about a month, I want to offer any assistance to you or your officers of how you can improve communications between yourselves and COMP. I offered this before to your current president, but was never asked for assistance. This goes to all of the incoming MS-I's as well. If you have any questions, whether it be policy, academics, or just social stuff, just email me at either
[email protected] or
[email protected].
Things are not perfect at COMP, and I know that solid is just trying to help you see some of the faults of COMP. I'll be happy to share with you the positives of COMP so that you get another perspective.
Keep an open mind and enjoy your summer. You're all going to need it.
Arnold Cuenca
MS-III
Western University of Health Sciences/COMP
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