…is how I read the title. In which case I came here to say, “I’m with ya, buddy!” 
Suddenly I understand why the registrar’s office was so damn needy when I was in school.
I have to tell you I’m really dumbfounded they wouldn’t waive the requirements. (I say this on the assumption you’ve related the story accurately etc etc of course.) We all say it’s the student’s responsibility to keep track of their own requirements of course–but if we ourselves inform the student incorrectly about those requirements, how else was s/he supposed to know? We know this. It happens, and we waive things.
Probably not your style but personally I would have started talking about news cameras…
I’m confused too. You have to pay $16,000 a year to take one course? I’m sorry but that is all kinds of wrong. What if you wanted to return and just take one night course to fulfill the requirements to graduate?
And I too am surprised you can get them to waive the requirements, and you can graduate. What degree is this for? Schools in the US must be very different than here in Canada.
Are you saying 14years ago an advisor said you could get a waiver, but now they are saying no?
I’m also confused why you just don’t make an appointment to see the Dean of your faculty? Tell him the tale and see what he says. At least you’ll be able to rely on what he tells you, good or bad! I can’t imagine, after that, any advisers or profs would go contrary to his wishes, whether they agree or not.
Apologies if I have it all mixed up.
$6000.
He said this was already elevated up to the president of the University–the relevant dean actually approved the waiver.
And that, btw, is really weird. It is difficult for me to understand why the president would override the dean on something like this. I can only suppose some kind of politics must have been involved or something, but that’s a complete WAG.
I can promise you that politics were involved for a President to override the Dean. You got caught in some crossfire. Might be worth pursuing again, if enough time has passed and the Dean or President have left.
Also, if you’ve been working in a related field, you might look into who is responsible for “credit by life experience”. Generally you put together a portfolio demonstrating competence in the subject area and request credit for the class. Your University may or may not have such a program.
Well, actually, I said he “endorsed” it. That is, he wrote a letter saying that I ought to qualify for a waiver, but he didn’t actually enter that as a formal ruling, with any kind of weight of officialdom. It was just a letter, saying that he thought I had done all I could and ought to get the waiver.
I also waited a few years, and applied again, arguing that, in my real life employment, I had used enough of the skills from the various curricula to qualify in lieu of classroom teaching. They said no, and I have never revisited it.
(Every so often, they send me fund-raising packages from the alumni association. I can but sigh…)
Anyway, and seriously, I do believe that learning how to work with bureaucracies is one of the most valuable things that one can learn in college. Dealing with the Department of Motor Vehicles is a SNAP after having dealt with the Admissions Office and some of their Catches 22.
Too true. I have spreadsheets to keep track of my modules, and the different rules for departments etc., and that is no joke.
I recently had to send off an email to inform some bigwig that if he wanted to exclude me from an exam I have paid good money for he had better be able to show me that his ridiculous bs rule was written down somewhere and not made up on the spot. I got the most grudging reply imaginable, to say that I could sit the exam because there was indeed no such rule written anywhere.
If I ever manage to get this piece of paper it will mainly serve to prove that I can effectively sort departmental rules into spreadsheets and that I can send threatening emails when I am being scammed by embittered bureaucrat-cum-professors. :mad:
I had similiar experience. Thought for awhile that I needed about 1-1/2 semesters worth of classes (according to boss of advising). Found someone who knew what they were talking about, I only need 2 classes.