Couple of stories from my soon-to-be-former job.
This is not the 'hokey pokey'
This one I got wind of as it involved me to a minor extent. Short version: student didn't turn up for their field placement one day and did not bother to tell the hospital what had happened. Further investigation revealed that the student had just simply opted to withdraw from the entire course, deciding that <field> wasn't right for them and they were already studying on top of that (different field). After we talked her through her options, we cancel everything.
Fast forward to today. Now the student contacts us stating that they want to continue with their field placement. Unfortunately, we've already processed their withdrawal in the system, so of course it isn't going to happen. And given that placement takes a lot of effort to even get going, you can imagine my reaction to that!
An alligator ate my laptop!
Another student, different course. This student had opted for one of our short courses which started a few weeks. They had not attempted ANY part of the course until last week however and even then, they'd already gone past the due date for one of the assignments. Her way of handling it? She opted to contact the head lecturer and sent about nine different attachments with a mountain of excuses, which ran the gamut from "they were going overseas to work with a NGO in the Middle East," through to "They've had to leave their job of 20+ years," right down to "I'm almost out of my superannuation." The student did at least acknowledge that she fucked up, but asked if she could then basically "knuckle down and speed-complete the course."
Everyone's reaction was either or . We did allow her a chance to complete with extensions, but no further time will be given.
(For the record, alligator eating her laptop was NOT an excuse she gave)
This is not the 'hokey pokey'
This one I got wind of as it involved me to a minor extent. Short version: student didn't turn up for their field placement one day and did not bother to tell the hospital what had happened. Further investigation revealed that the student had just simply opted to withdraw from the entire course, deciding that <field> wasn't right for them and they were already studying on top of that (different field). After we talked her through her options, we cancel everything.
Fast forward to today. Now the student contacts us stating that they want to continue with their field placement. Unfortunately, we've already processed their withdrawal in the system, so of course it isn't going to happen. And given that placement takes a lot of effort to even get going, you can imagine my reaction to that!
An alligator ate my laptop!
Another student, different course. This student had opted for one of our short courses which started a few weeks. They had not attempted ANY part of the course until last week however and even then, they'd already gone past the due date for one of the assignments. Her way of handling it? She opted to contact the head lecturer and sent about nine different attachments with a mountain of excuses, which ran the gamut from "they were going overseas to work with a NGO in the Middle East," through to "They've had to leave their job of 20+ years," right down to "I'm almost out of my superannuation." The student did at least acknowledge that she fucked up, but asked if she could then basically "knuckle down and speed-complete the course."
Everyone's reaction was either or . We did allow her a chance to complete with extensions, but no further time will be given.
(For the record, alligator eating her laptop was NOT an excuse she gave)
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