<p>My wife is in a mid-level masters program in archaeology. As part of the program, she is required to complete a 6-credit “field school” in order to graduate. In the summer before she started the program, she applied and was accepted to a couple of very nice field schools, none of them at her enrolled school. She spoke to her advisor and the archaeology head, and got from them statements that she would be able to use that field school to fulfill her graduation requirements. She selected a great field school, paid $6000 to attend, and had a great experience.</p>
<p>However.</p>
<p>When she returned from the field school, she was told that her advisor and the archaeology head had discussed things in her absence, and that she would NOT be able to use those credits to graduate - she would have to attend one of THEIR field schools. Then, to make matters even better, this summer she found out that a couple of new students were doing field schools elsewhere and were being allowed to use those credits to graduate, apparently in contradiction of the denial that had just been applied to her.</p>
<p>So, she had permission, spent a ton of money, had that permission retracted after the fact, and now other people are being allowed to do what she was not. In short, she was screwed over big time.</p>
<p>Can anyone see any recourse to this? If we had known that the credits would not be permitted, we would probably not have sent her to that program, and if we did we at least would not have had to pay the $3300 in tuition they charged her for college credits - she could have saved half the money and gotten the exact same experience without the useless credits.</p>
<p>On one hand, I am very angry with the department and am very tempted to take them to court for breaking an oral contract. On the other hand, these are people she will need LOR’s from if she decides to pursue a PhD (ELSEWHERE!!!).</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>The title of your thread caught my eye because that is the way I have often felt with some of my own and my children’s experiences at university (although the biggest amount we were ever out was $3000 and we managed to get that in the end). I sympathize with the very awkward position you are in: we have dealt constantly with ill-informed, mistake-making and rude bureaucrats but have had to be civil because we know the power they ultimately have.</p>
<p>Has your wife talked to the advisor about the whole situation recently (i.e. since she discovered the permission being given to the other students)? I certainly wouldn’t threaten any law suits and would stay very polite at this stage, but I would encourage her to explain the situation again to her advisor. Is it possible that the field program she attended is quite different from the ones that the other students were attending this summer?</p>
<p>If she cannot resolve this situation with her advisor, then I would suggest that she consider going up higher in the chain of command. Of course, there is the risk of alienating her advisor and getting lukewarm LOR’s (so that is why I only suggest that she consider it). As you describe the situation, there is a clear and very large injustice here; I would hope that the head of graduate studies or dean or whomever is in charge would see it that way and would either find a tactful way to resolve it or if that weren’t possible, then would be astute and political enough to not let the underlings know that your wife had talked to him/her.</p>
<p>Some universities have student advocates (or something like that). If your wife’s has one, I would definitely suggest that she seek some advice there. However, I think she needs to first have a long calm talk with her advisor to see if there is any way that she can be given credit for her field experience. If he can’t find a way, then he is as big a nut case as the archeology prof that I had years ago.</p>
<p>You may want to look at talking to a university ombudsman, which will give you a chance to speak informally to someone who should be familiar with the issues and personalities involved. But violindad is completely right that a long, calm talk with the advisor may sort things out. Without being accusatory or defensive, your wife can ask things like: Are there aspects of the field school experience that I missed out on by doing that specific one? If so, is there anyway to do a shorter (cheaper!) supplementary experience to fulfill those? I think focusing on the program, not things like “why did you say it would be ok and change your mind,” is the best way to get a satisfactory resolution out of this. Your wife seems totally in the right here, but that doesn’t mean she can or should bring a bunch of righteous indignation to the table!</p>
<p>I need to add a little more detail here: she already did THEIR field school this summer - she was told that she WOULD be attending. Because she had an assistantship the tuition and fees were covered, so we only dropped about $1000 for her assorted other expenses. It was while she was at this field school that she discovered that other students were being allowed to do their field schools elsewhere prior to starting the program.</p>
<p>I should also note that she is reluctant to talk to her advisor on this because she has a reputation for blackballing problem students. While she is relatively reasonable most of the time, she has actively gone after the couple of students who have defied her or crossed her in the past. My wife is concerned that addressing this with her advisor may make things so much worse that she might even have trouble completing her degree, much less getting an LOR afterward.</p>
<p>Given that your wife has completed the field school at her own university, I do not see what could be gained by raising the issue at this point. I would be inclined to either drop it permanently or to raise it only after your wife has her degree.</p>
<p>Now with your additional details, I think that your wife needs to just let this issue go until after she has her degree and gotten in elsewhere for the PhD. She can’t afford to burn bridges with her adviser this early in her academic career. After all this is only $1,000 compared to $6,000 that she spent last summer.</p>
<p>Also, you mention that this was done verbally, not on paper, which will only weaken her case…</p>