Complaint Review: Ashworth College PCDI

I submit to you all the following email string I recently sent to Ashworth College concerning grading of assignments and timely responses to emails. I was wondering if anyone else out there had these same issues. I just started at Ashworth and am currently finishing the last assignment in the intro course MB600 MBA Orientation.

I am extremely frustrated and concerned and am wondering if I should get out now or if I should just write this off as an anomoly. Any well-reasoned, emotion-free thoughts are welcome. Thanks, in advance for your help!!

Dear Ashworth College,
It has been a week since I sent this email and I still have not heard any response. I find this very unprofessional and unacceptable. This type of behavior only serves to strengthen my decision to possibly withdraw from Ashworth College. I would have been happy with an acknowledgement that you had received this email and were working on the responses to my questions below, yet I have heard nothing. I am quite sure you would take me to task for not making timely payments so I think it is only appropriate that I take you to task for timely grading of my assignments and responses to my email inquiries.

While we are on the subject of grading of assignments, I would like to know what credentials the graders of my assignments have. Do these people hold degrees in business? Are these people graduates of Ashworth's MBA program or are they the teachers that write up the Lecture and Research notes? I have heard and read horror stories about the personnel employed by Ashworth and I would like to give you the opportunity to refute this negative information. In addition, I would like to understand who is grading my assignments so I can contact them directly for further follow-up should the need arise.

I had high hopes when I enrolled at Ashworth College. The curriculum seemed solid and the price was affordable, but perhaps it was too good to be true. I am a fair and patient person, but I think timely responses are just a common courtesy. A courtesy, I am afraid, I don't feel like you have extended to me. I expect a response to this email by the end of the day tomorrow, Tuesday January 23rd.

In addition, I expect an email from the Dean of Graduate Studies, Sherri J Kae, PhD which outlines the expectations I should have for the grading of my assignments, replies to email inquiries and what is being done to fix the online email application which, apparently, does not function correctly.

If I do not receive a reply by the deadline outlined, then I will begin the process to withdraw from Ashworth College, stop all pending payments to Ashworth College and report Ashworth College to my local and the national Better Business Bureau.

Yours,

Matt Hxxx
From: Matt Hxxxxxxxx
To: educationgrad@ashworthcollege.edu;
Subject: Questions for Matt Hxxxxxxxx GA06xxxxx
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2007 13:30:52 -0600

Dear Graduate Education Supervisor,

Here is a synopsis of the four emails I sent last week that, apparently, did not make it to you.
MB600, Assignment 3, Discussion Question 1 (Narrative and Bibliography)

1) I had two points taken off of my corrected Narrative B because I did not cite the block quote correctly. There was no example in the Research and Lecture update of this kind of citation. The directions for the discussion question do refer me to the APA Style Guide included with the lesson, an online resource or the APA Publication Manual; however, more emphasis needs to be made that all of these sources need to be used for this assignment.

Perhaps a better suggestion would be to include this citation style in the Research and Lecture update since this was the only item in the Discussion question that was not specifically outlined. All of the other citation and bibliography items were outlined in the Research and Lecture update and/or the APA Style Guide included in the Assignment.

2) I had one point taken off of my corrected bibliography because I did not double space it; however, the instructions presented on page 21 of this Assignment state the following:

1. Spacing: Only your Stand-Along Project bibliography submissions are to be double-spaced. The Discussion Questions and Activity bibliographies must be single-spaced in accordance with the Format Requirements found in your syllabus. (The spacing is a deviation from pure APA format; however, you must always follow the requirements for submission.)

Since this was a Discussion Question, I feel I should be credited back this point as I followed the correct procedure as outlined above.

3)The grade-sheet I received for this Discussion Question shows that I received 20 points out of a possible 24 points; yet the web-set shows that I only received 19 points. Please update that to reflect my correct score.


MB600, Assignment 3, Discussion Question 2 (Annotated Bibliography)

1)I had eight points taken off my Annotated Bibliography because I apparently did not include all elements of the "Annotated Bibliography Information Worksheet' outlined in the assignment. Specifically, I did not include the Audience, Relation to my Topic, the Author or my Conclusions since those were where I had points taken off.

I would like you to put the example you provided on page 6 of this Research and Lecture update into that Worksheet and send it back to me so I can how that example includes all of those elements. I utilized that example as my template when preparing my annotated bibliographies and so I feel I should have been close to what you were looking for.

2)The grade-sheet I received for this Discussion Question shows that I received 18 points out of a possible 26 points; yet the web-set shows that I only received 17 points. Please update that to reflect my correct score.

I look forward to receiving your responses of the issues I outlined above in a timely manner. In addition, I would like to know what to do if I have any other questions or concerns about my grades or assignments. I no longer have faith in the 'Help Line' email facility provided on your web-site. Can I continue send emails to this email address should the need arise? Thank you for your consideration of this request and for your help with the issues I outlined above.

Sincerely,

Matt Hxxxxxxxx

From: educationgrad@ashworthcollege.edu [mailto:educationgrad@ashworthcollege.edu]
Sent: Fri 1/12/2007 5:28 PM
To: Hxxxxxxxx, Matt
Subject: RE:Email Inquiries for Matt Hxxxxxxxx GA06xxxxx

Dear Matt,
I reviewed all the emails we answered from those dates and there are none from you. We have had some students report that they have sent emails and for some reason they are not materializing at this end. That may be the case with you. We are working with our IT Department to determine what might be happening to cause this.

At any rate please send me your specific concerns about MB600, Lesson 3, Discussion Question 1, and MB600, Lesson 3, Discussion Question 2 and I will make an effort to help you.

Cordially,
Graduate Education Supervisor
Ashworth College

From: "Hxxxxxxxx, Matt"
Sent: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:14:43 -0600
Subject: Email Inquiries for Matt Hxxxxxxxx GA06xxxxx

To whom it may concern,
I recently sent some emails with questions around the grading of a
couple of assignments that I had just completed. I believe I sent those emails on 01/03 or 01/04. There were two emails concerning MB600 Lesson 3 Discussion Question 1 and two emails concerning MB600 Lesson 3
Discussion Question 2. I have not received any response to these email inquiries and am wondering when I will be receiving responses.
According to your website:

We are here to help you every step of the way. This form is the most convenient and fastest way to contact us. After completing the form, click on the submit button. A member of the Ashworth College Graduate Degree Program staff will reply to you very shortly.

I would hope that you do not consider a week's time (that assumes I will receive a reply today) to be an acceptable amount of time to wait for responses to emails we may send to you. This is neither convenient nor customer-friendly. I sent an email even earlier than this which I never received a reply to. I wrote that one off but will be forced to reconsider my decision to attend Ashworth if this continues into the
future. I look forward to receiving responses to this email and the four emails I sent last week very shortly, as you outline on your website. Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Matt Hxxxxxxxxx

Matt
Omaha, Nebraska
U.S.A.