On January 25, 2012, 3 days before my Instructor Assessment Session, I abruptly terminated my application with University of Phoenix out of disgust for the lack of apology and more importantly lack of accountability for multiple errors made during my application process. Normally, I am patient and understanding when unintentional, innocent mistakes are made. However, when I have to pay the price for those mistakes and the person who committed them offers no apology and more importantly, has no accountability even when the manager has been contacted, I cannot simply sit back, put on a happy face, and take it on the chin. No way in hell.
Without getting into a long story since the following emails are self-explanatory, it involved the “mystery” of my missing official transcripts that I ordered back on January 10, 2012 but never showed up for Courtney Hopper, the faculty recruiter I was dealing with. Initially, I thought it was the U.S. Postal Service’s fault then I thought it was my alma mater’s fault before I finally discovered and traced the error back to Courtney Hopper herself!
Read for yourself….
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Hello Matthew,
The University of Phoenix will process the background check after you have attended the assessment event and have been selected to move forward to certification. If for some reason you are not selected, we inform HR to terminate the background check.
You should be preparing you 10 minute lesson based off of the course description that I originally sent to you. This presentation should include a PowerPoint and any other material you see fit. You can pick any topic or concept that you would like from the course description to present upon.
The only item missing for your file is your transcripts. They have not yet been received. These will have to be on file in order for you to be eligible to attend so I will tell you that you are tentatively scheduled for the event this Saturday until they arrive. They must be here on or before Thursday. Can you please contact your Universities to see when they were sent and to verify they sent them to the correct address (see my signature block below). Please be sure they included the mail-stop code.
If they do not arrive by Thursday then you will have to wait to attend a later assessment date.
Warm regards,
Courtney Hopper, MSP
Faculty Recruiter, Faculty Services
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Courtney,
You should know that I have just ordered another transcript to be sent directly to you. I even wrote in that it was my 2nd request and it is urgent. Until you actually receive the “official” transcript, I have provided you a scanned version to give you something to work with and to show it to anyone you need to. I promise there has been no alterations whatsoever.
Respectfully, I asked you last week if you had received my transcript as it had been ordered two weeks ago (January 10, 2012). I informed you that I received my copy last Monday and that you should have received yours. You did tell me on Wednesday that it might have been held up but that is all I heard from you since last Wednesday regarding this. Even with the 2 emails you sent me last Thursday, you gave no indication that the transcript had NOT arrived.
I have tried to be proactive, diligent, and accommodating throughout the application process. I ordered two transcripts: one for me, one for you on January 10, 2012. I received mine. You did not. Clearly, this is not what anyone wants but I am concerned that the transcript may not be there by Thursday. Given that I ordered the transcript at the end of Monday, it will not be processed until Tuesday. If we are very lucky, it may be sent out Tuesday and you receive it Thursday. However, that assumes everything runs at its best. It is more likely that the transcript will arrive Friday or Saturday. You likely don’t work on the weekend. So the transcript should be ready for you early next Monday.
I know you have procedures you have to follow but I am asking for a little flexibility and latitude here. As you and I have (along with my UoP supporters) invested so much time already helping me through the application process, it would be unfortunate if everything got detained over this incident. The official transcript will be there for your records albeit a couple of days than preferred. I ask for a little bit of latitude to allow for Webster University to fulfill my 2nd transcript request.
If I were to attend Saturday and be recommended, I surmise you would not get the results until Monday. The transcript would be there by Monday for you. If I were NOT recommended, the point is moot.
In this email, I have attached a scanned copy of the transcript I received with the supporting attachments. I hope this will at least satisfy some of the requirements of information you need until the official transcript arrives.
I ask that you consider what I propose. I think it is workable and reasonable. Believe me, I am not trying to be difficult, I am simply trying to find a workable solution so that we can move forward without delay.
Thank you for your consideration.
Matthew Chan
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Hello Matthew,
Thank you for your email. I apologize for not getting back to in regards to your transcripts until today (Monday only 2 business days since we last spoke) however I had another campus assessment last weekend which occupied much of my time. In addition, we recently moved buildings so I was also attempting to give the benefit of the doubt that the transcripts were in progress. But as of today, I fear that something must of happened and perhaps they were not sent to me or the University did not include my mail stop code, therefore I was contacting you in regards to this matter. (University as in singular not plural as my previous email stated by mistake).
In regards to your request to have an exception made, this is not something I can do nor do we do in these cases. Unfortunately there is no wiggle room in the requirement that the official copies must be on file prior to 1/28. Without them, I cannot get your file approved and therefore you would not be eligible to attend the assessment event.
If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact my manager Sarah Hightower at sarah.hightower@phoenix.edu.
Warm regards,
Courtney Hopper, MSP
Faculty Recruiter, Faculty Services
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Courtney,
I want to let you know that I went back to retrace what went wrong on the Webster University transcript.
After calling Webster University to follow-up on the missing transcript situation, I discovered a major inconsistency in the zip code in the mailing address you are using. In some of the emails, you are using 85034. In others, it is 85040. It appears the most of the “form emails” you are sending contain the 85034 zip code. The emails which you send me “custom emails” contain 85040.
Out of the total 8 emails (to date) that bear your name, 5 emails still have the 85034 zip code. And because I responded promptly for the transcript request on January 10, 2012, the 2 emails I had up to that date had only the 85034 zip code. There was no 85040 to be seen. It only began showing up when you responded to me: the 1st time rescheduling our phone interview. By that time, the transcript order had been submitted.
I called Webster University and they used the 85034 address. I made them re-read the entire address I submitted to them in case they could not read my handwriting. They got everything correct (including the mail stop) EXCEPT the ZIP Code.
I can only assume that 85034 was the zip code to the old office address that you mentioned. One of 2 things will happen, my transcript will eventually show up at your new office once the post office figures out your “new” zip code. Or it will be returned to Webster University. I verbally told the registrar I need another sent out ASAP, this time to the 85040 zip code.
The 2nd request I faxed in also had the 85034 zip code and therefore incorrect. I faxed in a 3rd written request with the 85040 zip code just in case. However, the registrar office said that based on my January 10, 2012 request, it would be printed today and given to the U.S. Postal Service today. I am hopeful that it will arrive by Friday.
However, given that the missing transcript came from my being provided the incorrect zip code, I feel the Columbus GA campus and I would be unduly penalized if I wasn’t given some latitude here to allow to Monday for the transcript to arrive. Also, I feel I should be permitted to attend the instructor assessment session. Despite my best efforts to be proactive, I could not have anticipated dealing with incorrect zip codes as we are dealing now. I hope you see this, agree with it, and help me with the powers that be.
I know this was unintentional and I bear no animosity over this. It is just “one of those things”. However, I can honestly say that I would become displeased if I was penalized by not being allowed into the January 28, 2012 assessment session.
Last thing, you should have copies of all emails you have sent to me.
You can verify everything I am stating. If not, I will forward you all the emails that contain the incorrect 85034 zip code. I think it goes without saying that the zip code on all the form letters need to be corrected ASAP so no other candidate has to experience what I have.
Please advise.
Respectfully,
Matthew Chan
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FOLLOWING THE LAST EMAIL, I EMAILED THE EACH OF THE 5 FORM EMAILS THAT HAD ZIP CODE ERRORS.
At this point was Courtney’s final email response on this matter. No apology, nothing. Barely an acknowledgment of her big error causing the possible rescheduling of the Instructor Assessment Session which only happens once or twice a year (from what I have been told.)
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Hello Matthew,
I have forwarded this email to my manager. She or I will be in contact shortly. Thank you.
Warm regards,
Courtney Hopper, MSP
Faculty Recruiter, Faculty Services
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Although I became a bit dismayed, I hoped her manager Sarah Hightower (Faculty Services Manager) would have a bit more insight, creativity, and authority. She did not. Sarah Hightower also gave me a bimbo response and showed herself to me as a bureaucratic, unempowered bimbo manager.
Read the next post regarding my communication with Sarah Hightower, Bimbo Faculty Services Manager.