The petition
We, the undersigned, respectfully request a more equitable policy regarding the curriculum for some of CUA’s most vulnerable student population, Metropolitan College students who concentrate in social work.
The existing policy causes discouragement and confusion amongst Metropolitan students, leading to the necessity for appropriate uniform changes to be made. Therefore, we urge CUA decision-makers to revise the partnership between Metropolitan College and National Catholic School of Social Service (NCSSS) to reflect equity, integrity, and Catholic values.
There are three major examples of the lack of equity and integrity in this policy: First, Metropolitan College students are charged more than CUA Arts and Science students as well as other Metropolitan College students at the most expensive rate for social work classes at $1000.00 per credit hour. Second, Metropolitan College students are forbidden from making informed decisions about a concentration in social work. For example, students are not told upfront that they will have to pay for two senior seminar classes, work equivalent to a master’s degree, although the courses have the same outcomes and do not provide any additional value to students. Third, the Dean continues to deny the fact that she can accept the senior seminar offered by NCSSS as the capstone course for Metropolitan College students concentrating in social work. She claims that this is because of accreditation requirements by the Middle States Association. However, NCSSS’s accreditation by the Middle States Association is made possible through Metropolitan College. And just like the Dean of the School of Arts and Science, the Dean of Metropolitan College has authority to accept the senior seminar offered by NCSSS as the capstone course for Metropolitan College students who concentrate in social work.
On April 17, 2008, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI visited the Catholic University of America and challenged Catholic educators to uphold their responsibility to the Catholic Church, their students, (especially those most vulnerable), society, and the world. He discussed the critical need for Catholic educators to “ensure that they (Catholic institutions) are accessible to people of all social and economic strata” (http://publicaffairs.cua.edu/Releases/2008//PopeBenedictSpeech.cfm). The Pope said that Catholic “teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice.” The Pope declared, “Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual or spiritual.” The Pope’s declaration is evident in the extremely low numbers of Metropolitan College students who are successful in this concentration, resulting from an inequitable, out-dated and barrier-loaded policy which lacks integrity and has not been revised in years.
In fact within the last five years, not even four students have overcome all of the barriers to completing this curriculum. Sadly, this low number does not reflect the many students who choose Metropolitan College to pursue this degree. Instead, most of these students are forced to quit the social work curriculum and switch to another concentration like sociology, after investing so much time and money and when it is too late to transfer out. For someone whose dream is to become a licensed social worker, switching from a social work concentration to another degree can make a difference of at least $30,000.00, because they would be required to complete two years versus one year of graduate school in social work.
Some of Metropolitan’s most deserving students are being denied degrees because of this inequitable curriculum which lacks integrity. Montrella Cowan, for example, is the only full-time Metropolitan College student currently pursing a general studies degree with a concentration in social work, on the Dean’s list, and is one of the most active students and leaders among CUA Metropolitan College students; yet, she is being denied a degree. Because, Montrella was not informed that she is required to take two senior seminars until her senior year. Although Montrella, an African-American single mother of two children who is living below the poverty line (http://www.usccb.org/cchd/povertyusa/povfact11.shtml), has overcome the many obvious barriers for adult learners, such as a 480-hour unpaid internship and school days starting as early as 10:10am and ending at 9:45pm between the classes of Metropolitan College and NCSSS, she is still being denied her hard-earned opportunity to be the first in her family to graduate from college and receive a diploma on May 17, 2008, which would be a degree in general studies and would not read anything regarding social work.
During January, the month which the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) has designated as Poverty in America Awareness Month, Montrella Cowan, after six months of having her phone calls, messages, and requests ignored, finally was granted an appointment to meet with the Dean of Metropolitan College. The Dean admitted to Montrella, “you have good points, but it is highly unlikely that we will honor your request with re-accreditation coming up next year.” The Dean responded one day before the add/drop period that Montrella’s request was denied, Furthermore, the Dean never addressed Montrella’s many concerns, such as not having the money to enroll in the class.
We beg the decision-makers at CUA and Metropolitan College to stop hiding behind some pretended accreditation standards and use their power to act responsibly to uphold the mission of Catholic Social Teachings and the social work profession. Please do not take the Pope’s pleas that were made on the grounds of CUA for granted and “act in good faith as other “towering figures” such as Saint Katherine Drexel who devoted their lives to educating those whom others had neglected – in her case, African Americans and Native Americans.”
We call for a more responsive strategy that allows this curriculum to be equitable and to uphold the missions’ of CUA, Metropolitan College, NCSSS, and Catholic Social Teachings. Furthermore, we demand that you let deserving students, starting with Montrella, obtain their hard-earned degrees without having to take two senior seminar classes and being penalized for choosing a concentration in social work.
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