I didn't ask for an extention

Double-speak in academia is certainly a thing and my latest experience is not my first.  Some institutions are worse than others and I returned to the one in this story and it hadn't changed in 10 years.  


Hi Lecturer,

Thinking ahead to assignment two, the Submission, and the discussion we had around it during the contact course.

You mentioned that you will be speaking more about this and the issues the coming election will have on the processes of the House with submission dates etc.

My concern is with the time frames, as I need to fit my study around my current obligations, and ideally I would start my research and preparation as soon as I have finished assignment one. 

Looking at the current Bills on the NZ Parliament site, there are few accepting submissions and they are closing soon and well before due date, (because the expectation was we were to submit after the academic assignment was marked).

A topic of interest to me and social policy is https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bills-and-laws/bills-proposed-laws/document/BILL_72556/family-and-wh%C4%81nau-violence-legislation-bill

My question is: Although this Bill closes before due date am I able to use this Bill as the basis for Assignment two?


Hello Susan,

It is good to see you are thinking ahead.

The idea around this assignment is that students actually send in their submissions to the select committee and participate in the policy process. If you do want to get a head start and choose this policy the expectation would be that you had the assignment complete prior to the due date with submissions to the select committee closing much earlier. You wouldn’t need to submit until the due date for the assignment giving you time to tweak the submission into an academic assignment format, but I would expect that you wouldn’t need an extension at all.


I never asked for an extension. 


Hi Lecturer,

I understand from the contact course discussion that making the submission was not a mandatory requirement. My undergrad degree is Public Policy/Political Science so I am aware of the policy process. 

Three weeks ago my  close friend's one year old baby drowned in a tragic accident and I am, along with my other duties as a wife and mother and work, supporting the family through this. 

I am not looking for an extension, but a way to complete a well researched and written submission assignment handed in by due date. Under the circumstances I simply can't see how I will be able to do this by any of the current Parliamentary submission dates, or any of the alternatives that may be discussed over the next few weeks or at the contact course.  

I would like to be able to complete the assignment, by the due date, as a written submission based on the Family and Whanau Violence Legislation Bill without making the Parliamentary submission. This would give me all the time from now until the due date to research and write. 


Hello Susan,

Unfortunately the assignment question is very clear and I am unable to approve your request to choose this bill unless you were to submit your assignment by the due date.

While it is not compulsory to submit your assignment to the select committee this assignment is about participating in the policy process and part of that is understanding that there is only a limited window in which to have a say in policy formulation and decision making. The assignment is intentionally focused on those bills that are receiving submission at the time the assignment is due to illustrate this point and to encourage students to research areas they would not otherwise be drawn to.

As per my earlier email: If you do want to get a head start and choose this policy the expectation would be that you had the assignment complete prior to the due date with submissions to the select committee closing much earlier. As if you are going to all the trouble of writing a submission on an area you are concerned with - why would you not want to have that view heard by the select committee.

In terms of the assignment you wouldn’t need to submit until the due date for the assignment giving you time to tweak the submission into an academic assignment format, but I would expect that you wouldn’t need an extension at all unless your provided a medical certificate to support that.


Not once did I ask for an extension.  All I asked for was clarity on what SHE said. 

I sent the double-speak to an academic friend for further clarification - her reply: 


1.  "Please can you tell me I'm not crazy and the Lecturer is extremely unclear and obfuscating and almost seems to be replying to a completely different request?"

Nah, you're not crazy, and yes she is answering the thing that she gets asked about from all the courses that she teaches - may I have an extension - but that is not what you are asking for.

2.  You were pitching this to her:

- Assignment Two is due [XX] date.

- Closing date for the Family and Whānau Violence Legislation Bill Submissions for the Select Committee is 24 May 2017

This means that I will be doing the submission, as my Assignment Two [XX] days early.

3.  She suggested this back to you:  "In terms of the assignment you wouldn’t need to submit until the due date for the assignment giving you time to tweak the submission into an academic assignment format"

I read that as = go ahead and submit on the Bill, and then tweak your submission (that you would've already sent) to be in an academic format and hand that in when assignment two is due.

Yep, really. 

I passed this paper.  But gave up on this institution on the next paper, when, after sending me the wrong course outline with different assignment questions, so when I submitted the work it was wrong.  They accused me of "making up my own essay question".  Then, instead of marking my work according to the course outline they'd sent me (the internal paper, not the external one), I was expected to re-write - which was a doubling of work for me. 

What really grinds my gears in all of this is there's not one "Oops, we fucked up, we can be flexible to fix our error".  It's all twisted and gas-lighted double-speak and I, the student/customer is expected to understand, keep paying and shut-up. 

Comments

  1. Appalling level of communication from lecturer nicely highlighted by your friend.

    ReplyDelete

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