Is it reasonable if I formally report my Course Director?
I am not a karen, i've never written a complaint review or anything in my life but I genuinely want to formally write a complaint to my university about my course director. Am i being overdramatic?
I must have emailed her 7 times in the academic year - and NO responses at all. One of the emails was me explaining why my attendance was so poor - I was writing about really heavy, deep stuff - no reply. Another email I was expressing concern that I was anxious to come back to class after extended absence - no reply. Now, thankfully the lack of responses didnt make me sad, they made me mad - mad because the lack of response from her has the potential to REALLY make the "wrong" student sad. If she ignored the wrong student it could have grave consequences and that made me super mad. Another email was me expressing that I wanted to transfer course - I explained it very gratefully and thoroughly - no response.
Not only that but she never gave my course transfer the green light for it to even be PROCESSED by the people who make those decisions. Its one week before I go back to my uni city and i still dont know if ive got accepted onto my new course because i found out today she never gave it the green light to be processed even tho i requested the transfer 87 days ago.
My attendance was horrific, sure, but as a course director I think she has a role of providing some sort of pastoral care that she didnt provide in regards to my really soul-pouring emails, me expressing concern and then her complete lack of care about me transferring courses. Can I formally complain or is this not serious enough?
I must have emailed her 7 times in the academic year - and NO responses at all. One of the emails was me explaining why my attendance was so poor - I was writing about really heavy, deep stuff - no reply. Another email I was expressing concern that I was anxious to come back to class after extended absence - no reply. Now, thankfully the lack of responses didnt make me sad, they made me mad - mad because the lack of response from her has the potential to REALLY make the "wrong" student sad. If she ignored the wrong student it could have grave consequences and that made me super mad. Another email was me expressing that I wanted to transfer course - I explained it very gratefully and thoroughly - no response.
Not only that but she never gave my course transfer the green light for it to even be PROCESSED by the people who make those decisions. Its one week before I go back to my uni city and i still dont know if ive got accepted onto my new course because i found out today she never gave it the green light to be processed even tho i requested the transfer 87 days ago.
My attendance was horrific, sure, but as a course director I think she has a role of providing some sort of pastoral care that she didnt provide in regards to my really soul-pouring emails, me expressing concern and then her complete lack of care about me transferring courses. Can I formally complain or is this not serious enough?
Original post by HoldThisL
im no expert but those dont sound like the responsibilities of the course director. are they?
Its advised that I tell my course director of my desire to transfer courses.
As for the other stuff she was my teacher for modules on all terms so me alerting her of my absences ideally should have been acknowledged - she conducts attendance checks etc she has a reason to be informed. I guess shes not entitled to reply but I just think thats very poor from her? or am i being crazy? like not one response is RUDE haha
Original post by lolserios
Its advised that I tell my course director of my desire to transfer courses.
As for the other stuff she was my teacher for modules on all terms so me alerting her of my absences ideally should have been acknowledged - she conducts attendance checks etc she has a reason to be informed. I guess shes not entitled to reply but I just think thats very poor from her? or am i being crazy? like not one response is RUDE haha
As for the other stuff she was my teacher for modules on all terms so me alerting her of my absences ideally should have been acknowledged - she conducts attendance checks etc she has a reason to be informed. I guess shes not entitled to reply but I just think thats very poor from her? or am i being crazy? like not one response is RUDE haha
does your university's mail system allow you to check your emails were definitely sent to the correct email address and read?
Original post by lolserios
Its advised that I tell my course director of my desire to transfer courses.
As for the other stuff she was my teacher for modules on all terms so me alerting her of my absences ideally should have been acknowledged - she conducts attendance checks etc she has a reason to be informed. I guess shes not entitled to reply but I just think thats very poor from her? or am i being crazy? like not one response is RUDE haha
As for the other stuff she was my teacher for modules on all terms so me alerting her of my absences ideally should have been acknowledged - she conducts attendance checks etc she has a reason to be informed. I guess shes not entitled to reply but I just think thats very poor from her? or am i being crazy? like not one response is RUDE haha
And it is most definetly her responsibility to give my course transfer the green light to be processed but she didnt bother
Original post by HoldThisL
does your university's mail system allow you to check your emails were definitely sent to the correct email address and read?
we use outlook? is it possible on this?
Tbh I think most of these should have been directed to your personal tutor in the first instance and not the course director. The point of personal tutors being they each have a smaller number of students rather than every student on the course contacting them potentially.
I don't think a formal complaint is realistically going to anywhere in this situation, personally. Even if some of those things were in her purview and not picked up, what would the outcome be? Best case scenario she maybe gets some feedback about it. They aren't going to remove someone from that role or from their post for those matters in all likelihood, you aren't going to vet any financial restitution or anything, and it's unlikely you would even get a formal apology even...all assuming they were indeed failings on her part that were documented and then agreed by the university. And I suspect they will also just say "you should have gone to your personal tutor with these matters not the course director".
I don't think a formal complaint is realistically going to anywhere in this situation, personally. Even if some of those things were in her purview and not picked up, what would the outcome be? Best case scenario she maybe gets some feedback about it. They aren't going to remove someone from that role or from their post for those matters in all likelihood, you aren't going to vet any financial restitution or anything, and it's unlikely you would even get a formal apology even...all assuming they were indeed failings on her part that were documented and then agreed by the university. And I suspect they will also just say "you should have gone to your personal tutor with these matters not the course director".
If this hasn’t been raised previously then going straight to a formal complaint is a bit much. I’d speak to your course rep or SU.
NB. If someone wasn’t responding emails I would’ve copied in my personal tutor and the general admin address for the course.
NB. If someone wasn’t responding emails I would’ve copied in my personal tutor and the general admin address for the course.
Yes I agree with the advice being offered here.
On the course transfer request, remember that due to admissions. clearing, resits boards, and the lack of final idea of the number of places available on any given course etc the lack of a response may be because there is nothing to say at the moment. But as enrolment is opening up soon, you will find out then and can pursue your transfer request. An email to the Programme Administrator would be best here, as they process all the registration data.
As for the other stuff, that really is the responsibity of your Personal Tutor who you haven't mentioned at all.
Frustrating as this is, I would not advise pursuing an official complaint against the course director on these grounds alone.
On the course transfer request, remember that due to admissions. clearing, resits boards, and the lack of final idea of the number of places available on any given course etc the lack of a response may be because there is nothing to say at the moment. But as enrolment is opening up soon, you will find out then and can pursue your transfer request. An email to the Programme Administrator would be best here, as they process all the registration data.
As for the other stuff, that really is the responsibity of your Personal Tutor who you haven't mentioned at all.
Frustrating as this is, I would not advise pursuing an official complaint against the course director on these grounds alone.
(edited 8 months ago)
The main question is "what is the outcome you want from making a complaint?"
Going back to what you've said: it seems that the course director isn't good at responding to emails. But my question would be this: was the course director the right person to contact? It sounds like you were looking for pastoral care; but pastoral care is normally the responsibility of your personal tutor, not your course director (unless, of course, the course director happens to also be your personal tutor).
It strikes me that a course transfer is largely an administrative process, and hence would normally be processed mainly by administrative staff, albeit with some input from the academic side. It would have been appropriate to ask the admin staff dealing with the process to chase the academic. And if there's some reason why the person in question isn't around to deal with the issue, the admin staff may well know who can do it in their stead.
If you're trying to get hold of an academic and they're not replying to email, then you should be able to turn up at their office and talk to them. Academic staff should have "office hours" -- times when they are expected to be in their office to deal with students.
Going back to what you've said: it seems that the course director isn't good at responding to emails. But my question would be this: was the course director the right person to contact? It sounds like you were looking for pastoral care; but pastoral care is normally the responsibility of your personal tutor, not your course director (unless, of course, the course director happens to also be your personal tutor).
It strikes me that a course transfer is largely an administrative process, and hence would normally be processed mainly by administrative staff, albeit with some input from the academic side. It would have been appropriate to ask the admin staff dealing with the process to chase the academic. And if there's some reason why the person in question isn't around to deal with the issue, the admin staff may well know who can do it in their stead.
If you're trying to get hold of an academic and they're not replying to email, then you should be able to turn up at their office and talk to them. Academic staff should have "office hours" -- times when they are expected to be in their office to deal with students.
Original post by martin7
The main question is "what is the outcome you want from making a complaint?"
Going back to what you've said: it seems that the course director isn't good at responding to emails. But my question would be this: was the course director the right person to contact? It sounds like you were looking for pastoral care; but pastoral care is normally the responsibility of your personal tutor, not your course director (unless, of course, the course director happens to also be your personal tutor).
It strikes me that a course transfer is largely an administrative process, and hence would normally be processed mainly by administrative staff, albeit with some input from the academic side. It would have been appropriate to ask the admin staff dealing with the process to chase the academic. And if there's some reason why the person in question isn't around to deal with the issue, the admin staff may well know who can do it in their stead.
If you're trying to get hold of an academic and they're not replying to email, then you should be able to turn up at their office and talk to them. Academic staff should have "office hours" -- times when they are expected to be in their office to deal with students.
Going back to what you've said: it seems that the course director isn't good at responding to emails. But my question would be this: was the course director the right person to contact? It sounds like you were looking for pastoral care; but pastoral care is normally the responsibility of your personal tutor, not your course director (unless, of course, the course director happens to also be your personal tutor).
It strikes me that a course transfer is largely an administrative process, and hence would normally be processed mainly by administrative staff, albeit with some input from the academic side. It would have been appropriate to ask the admin staff dealing with the process to chase the academic. And if there's some reason why the person in question isn't around to deal with the issue, the admin staff may well know who can do it in their stead.
If you're trying to get hold of an academic and they're not replying to email, then you should be able to turn up at their office and talk to them. Academic staff should have "office hours" -- times when they are expected to be in their office to deal with students.
^ This really ^
Email is hands down the most easy to ignore communication there is, after like the 2nd non replied email I would have changed to calling or physically seeking them out. I wouldn't just keep pouring out personal emails to a stranger throughout the year and past a point you need to take some responsibility for the lack of reply when you won't try anything else. As others have aid, was this person ever really the right person to contact? before making any sort of credible complaint you'd need to establish what actually happened.
A programme director will get upwards of 100 email messages per day. This is not their sort of stuff to deal with, and it is really easy for a big message to be seen, mentally filed as 'do that later', and for it to get missed in the deluge from then on, especially when they have competing priorities.
Pastoral stuff should be directed to Academic Advisors/Personal Tutors and the support stuff in the first instance, though I know from experience that this is not always made clear to students.
It sounds to me like a misfiring on all fronts. Sent to the wrong person by an absentee who would have been, all things being equal, being dealt with by other people, even in terms of course transfer (other people do the legwork and the PD simply signs to say 'sure, I don't care' - this is the truth).
The PD's duty of care dos not, with respect, extend to being your counsellor.
I have 160 students under my purview as an AA and this is the sort of stuff I am expected to deal with on behalf of the department. The PD doesn't see this stuff untils oemone withdraws, basically.
In summary I think you have something of a right to be annoyed, but also you've been approaching it the wrong way and not really following it up. We are very, very busy and though your issues are the centre of your world, they are not the centre of ours (sounds harsh but I do not mean it in a nasty way). Sometimes you have to give us a kick up the arse with this stuff. I'm not sure a complaint will yield anything positive for you, but it depends what you want out of it.
Pastoral stuff should be directed to Academic Advisors/Personal Tutors and the support stuff in the first instance, though I know from experience that this is not always made clear to students.
It sounds to me like a misfiring on all fronts. Sent to the wrong person by an absentee who would have been, all things being equal, being dealt with by other people, even in terms of course transfer (other people do the legwork and the PD simply signs to say 'sure, I don't care' - this is the truth).
The PD's duty of care dos not, with respect, extend to being your counsellor.
I have 160 students under my purview as an AA and this is the sort of stuff I am expected to deal with on behalf of the department. The PD doesn't see this stuff untils oemone withdraws, basically.
In summary I think you have something of a right to be annoyed, but also you've been approaching it the wrong way and not really following it up. We are very, very busy and though your issues are the centre of your world, they are not the centre of ours (sounds harsh but I do not mean it in a nasty way). Sometimes you have to give us a kick up the arse with this stuff. I'm not sure a complaint will yield anything positive for you, but it depends what you want out of it.
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