School Response to my Letter

So in order of how the response came in...

Sent: Monday, April 28, 2008 1:47 PM

Dear Ms. Shaw,

I am in receipt of your April 23rd letter. I am forwarding it to Assoc. Dean David Rutschman in the College of Arts and Sciences for review.

Someone will be in touch will you as soon as practicable.

MTK
Dean of Students


Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 4:54 PM

Dear Ms. Shaw,

I talked with Prof. Hageman about your situation and your complaint. We can all work together to find the best solution.

What I would like to propose, and Prof Hageman is in agreement, is for you to complete the course in the Fall (with another professor) or better yet, in Spring 2009 with Prof. Hageman. We will have no problem changing the grade at that point, given the special circumstances you are facing.

I hope you are doing well and that have been able to complete your other courses this term. And that you will be back, fully recovered, in Fall.

Feel free to contact Jon Hageman so together you can figure out the best alternative. And please stay in touch so I can make sure things are working out.

Associate Dean

My response...

4/30/2008 11:26:09 P.M. Central Daylight Time

Dear Mr. Rutschman,

This letter is in response to your letter to me dated April 29, 2008.

I have had a very unfortunate life. When I was 18, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and within a year, she passed away. Her passing left me grief stricken and I fell into a deep depression. At the time school was the only thing that kept me afloat and focused other than the loss of my mother. However, before I completed school, I met a man who became my husband and he convinced me to quit school. A few years later he betrayed, abandoned, and took advantage of my kind heart and financial situation. When we started our divorce proceedings five years ago, I returned to school. Though my divorce has been difficult, through it all my studies at Northeastern have been my guiding light and solace.

Along with my divorce, I have been diagnosed with breast cancer where my original surgeon botched the surgery and had left some of the tumor and cancer cells in my body. As a result, I was forced to have another surgery before I was completely healed from the first surgery. When I awoke from my procedure, I felt the searing pain on the right side of my body and saw the tubes that draped out of my body. My doctors informed me the surgery, which should have taken two hours, took five hours because the cancer had spread so rapidly. My surgical team removed half my right breast and 17 lymph nodes. The first thing I did after my doctors left was to call my friend from school and plead with her to inform my Professors that I would not be attending classes the coming week. With each chemotherapy treatment, my body becomes weaker and weaker and thusly takes longer for me to function in my daily life.

When Dr. Hagemen informed me of his original decision, I was devastated. It affected me so badly that I did not want to carry on with treatment. When he informed me he had made a mistake in calculating before our agreement, which is what pushed me to continue. I have done all I can to keep my part of the agreement that Dr. Hageman and I had made. I have lost time, money, my health and my own peace of mind over this issue. I did not ask to be sick and I did not request or seek special treatment. What I did ask for was some humane compassion for what I am dealing with in my life. During this entire ordeal, I missed three days of school, two one-page assignments, and one exam. With the exception of the exam, all of my absences were due to my illness, and if necessary, I can provide the necessary medical documentation to prove it. Dr. Hageman refused to give me the exam. I have been through enough just in the past year with my life, my health, and my emotional state to last a lifetime. School has been the one and only factor in my life that has provided me the grace and driving force for me to continue to move forward and look to the positive. My educational life at Northeastern is very meaningful and has become a major component in my healing process. Please, I ask of you, do not take this away from me.

I am willing to resolve the situation by being allowed a fair chance at completing the exam with an unbias professor to grade the final exam or that I receive a refund of the funds I have paid for the class (or a credit to my account) and that this course is removed from my permanent record. Furthermore, I ask from this University that when I enroll in the course again for the fall 2008 semester under the tutelage of Dr. Russell Zanca that the tuition be waived. I feel this is a fair and reasonable request because of being discriminated against by Dr. Hagemen. This does not resolve the issue of retaliation and future discrimination by the professor. Due to the intensity of the course, and all of the work I put into the original semester, I feel this experience will set me back mentally for the new semester. I cannot, in good faith, work or learn from someone who I no longer respect, has no compassion for his students, and blatantly lies to them because of his own negligence.

Please Advise.

Yours Sincerely,


Associate Dean's Response...

Sent: Friday, May 09, 2008 5:34 PM

Barbara,

I received the letter you sent by certified mail. As I understand your request, you would like to retake the course in the Fall with Prof. Zanca. That is certainly possible, and it is one of the options I had suggested.

I will talk with Prof. Zanca. I’m sure he will agree to have you take the course (without registering, since this will be to remove the previous incomplete). We will then replace the I grade with the grade assigned to you by Prof. Zanca.

I will let you know if there are any complications with this, otherwise contact Prof. Zanca before school starts in the Fall.

regards,

And then responded once again with...

Date: 5/13/2008 2:18:33 P.M. Central Daylight Time

Barbara,

I have communicated with Prof Zanca, and he will gladly let you retake the course with him. Remember, at the end of the term, to communicate with me or Prof. Hageman to get the grade changed.

regards,



This is my delema...It doesn't change a darn thing about what was said originally when I first started corresponding with the dean. It's irritating and it seems like thier forcing me to talk to Dr. H STILL. It's so discouraging and sad. I have a new letter that is waiting and I'm not 100% sure if I should send it or not...

Advise would be welcomed...