<p>Hello. I am an undergrad who has posted on CC before, but I am posting under a different username to protect the anonymity of the parties involved in the issue I want to ask you about.</p>
<p>In the last year or two I have done a substantial amount of work for a non-academic department at my university that provides a service to the students. I have done all the legwork in founding new programs to extend the services offered to students, and one program in particular I consider to be a major personal achievement. This was on a voluntary basis and was initiated because I was a major member in a student organization that had the same goals as the department in question and this was a way to do more good for more people. Though I did this work for my own personal satisfaction out of a desire to serve the student body, my professional resume is also largely built on the work that I have done on these projects as this type of service is the kind of work I want to be doing in the future and what I spent most of my time in undergrad focusing on when I was not working on schoolwork. This is relevant experience to my intended field. </p>
<p>It has become apparent to me that it is the university’s intention to take over all of these projects, which is what I had planned and I am very pleased to see it, but it also seems they are severing all ties between me and these programs. They were recently published in a newsletter and my name was not attributed to any of it (and a faculty member’s was), and they are now refusing to answer any of my calls and emails on the subject, and it seems I no longer have any involvement or connection with any of the programs that I single handedly did all the work to start. I had had every intention initially for this to be a private operation run by the student organization I mentioned previously, I didn’t NEED the dept to do anything, but they said they wanted to help “facilitate” this project’s success and so here we are today.</p>
<p>My question is, where to go from here? Do I just pretend like none of this ever happened? If the university isn’t going to back me up on the fact that these programs were in fact my work I suppose I have to take it all off my resume, which would be a major hit since that is the bulk of everything I’ve accomplished thus far that is related to my field. And if I didn’t take it off, I see no way I could explain the discrepancy the university has created without badmouthing my university, which surely will get me nowhere. What am I supposed to do now?</p>
<p>What the university has done with the project since you completed the part that you were responsible for is their business, not yours. Yes it can be heart-breaking to see someone else take your name off a project that you put so much energy into (been there, had that happen to me too), but you had planned to step out of the way and there is every chance that they knew that as well. What you do need to do is identify at least one person who can provide a written reference for your work, if you are ever asked for one. This person need not be from the university department, someone with whom you had direct contact and who can speak to your professionalism will do just fine.</p>
<p>You did the work, so it goes on your resume. Period. Here is one model:</p>
<p>20XX to 20XX Title-you-like-for-your-position, Name-you-like-for-the-project
In coordination with Name-of-University-Department and Name-of-Student-Organization, developed xyz and established zyx. Additional responsibilities included zxy and yxz. Continue with details appropriate for the purpose of the intended reader of this resume.</p>
<p>in real world, as an employee, what you invented in a company stays with the company. you may of course put it on your resume, but you may not reveal the details of the project to another company so they can emulate what you did. you may not repeat the same process again in your new employement because you do not own the project or the pattern.</p>
<p>The intention, as it had been discussed, was never for me to not be involved with the program. It had been agreed upon that I was to submit what I had finished so far in August to get final approval and that I would be participating in the program and helping to run it starting in September-- and that the student organization who assisted me in doing all of the legwork was to have a role in the program-- they insisted they simply wanted to help facilitate us and encouraged me to give them my ideas so that they could help me make them reality. They said when my organization was started that if we had any good ideas to let them know so they could work them into their budget so they could support us-- and this was the director himself. He even offered to have the department officially sponsor our organization. But September came and went and the office cut all contact with me without ever acknowledging the fact that our agreed upon launch date for the program had passed and I found out through the newsletter that they were continuing without me. They either changed their mind without saying anything to me or deliberately mislead me, I don’t know which. Meanwhile, I am trying to build the organization back up from nothing because we invested the entire summer working on this and the opportunity to be involved in the program was what we were banking on for recruiting new students this year, and now we have nothing. Lesson learned I guess about putting all of ones eggs in one basket.</p>
<p>I guess you’re all right that if this were a company and a job it would be someone else taking credit for my work and that is how it goes. In that situation that is what I would have expected. It’s just the fact that this was something I started completely independently with my organization and that the office offered their help only to take the entire project and leave us out of it, it just doesn’t seem right. But I guess that’s how it goes. I’ll see if I can find anyone that would be willing to be reference to my involvement, that seems like it would be suitable. The important thing is that the program will launch and the students will get the service I intended for them. I just considered this project an integral part of my education and how it’s turned out is rather disappointing.</p>