The only way to remediate the situation is to administer the exam to the student body as a pilot. All students will be required to sit for the exam, however, graduation should not be contingent on the exam.
The student body believes this is in everyone's best interest for the following reasons:
1) We were not informed until well into our second year that our graduation would be based on successful completion of this exam.
2) This comprehensive exam, which is supposed to be an assessment of how well students are being prepared for licensure, is being given before all course work is completed. This leaves students ill-prepared to take such an exam and does not fulfill the exam's proposed goals. The student body should not be responsible for preparing itself for a comprehensive exam.
3) The school is not required to make graduation contingent on this exam. As TCS has stated the exam is not for accreditation purposes but is instead a tool to assess how well professors are preparing students for licensure. It is not appropriate to potentially penalize students while attempting to assess the faculty.
With the confusion and miscommunication surrounding this issue, and the inability of students to complete their coursework before the proposed exam dates, it is obvious that conditions surrounding this exam will not favorably reflect this program, its faculty and its students.
The MACC student body calls for this 2011 exam to be made into a pilot, so that TCS has an opportunity to make needed adjustments for a future comprehensive exam that will accurately reflect the abilities of Chicago School students.
Updates
October 25, 2010
The stories shared in the comments section reveal a deep frustration regarding the lack of transparency in our academic requirements. I am currently working to catalog these concerns to present them as a formal request for a meeting with the administration.
October 25, 2010
Seeing the growing consensus among my peers reminds me why we started this conversation in the first place. This momentum shows that our concerns regarding the exam process are shared by many who care deeply about the integrity of our program.
6 Comments
TOTAL BS. Let us take it as a pilot test but dont hold our degrees over our heads for an exam we werent prepared for.
How can they expect us to pass an exam on stuff we havent even covered in class yet?? Makes zero sense.
This is completely unfair. We were never told this was a requirement when we started the program. Do right by the students.
This exam is supposed to be for our feedback not for blocking us from graduating. Change the policy immediately.
The school needs to fix this. My tuition is way too expensive to be treated like an experiment.
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The only way to remediate the situation is to administer the exam to the student body as a pilot. All students will be required to sit for the exam, however, graduation should not be contingent on the exam.
The student body believes this is in everyone's best interest for the following reasons:
1) We were not informed until well into our second year that our graduation would be based on successful completion of this exam.
2) This comprehensive exam, which is supposed to be an assessment of how well students are being prepared for licensure, is being given before all course work is completed. This leaves students ill-prepared to take such an exam and does not fulfill the exam's proposed goals. The student body should not be responsible for preparing itself for a comprehensive exam.
3) The school is not required to make graduation contingent on this exam. As TCS has stated the exam is not for accreditation purposes but is instead a tool to assess how well professors are preparing students for licensure. It is not appropriate to potentially penalize students while attempting to assess the faculty.
With the confusion and miscommunication surrounding this issue, and the inability of students to complete their coursework before the proposed exam dates, it is obvious that conditions surrounding this exam will not favorably reflect this program, its faculty and its students.
The MACC student body calls for this 2011 exam to be made into a pilot, so that TCS has an opportunity to make needed adjustments for a future comprehensive exam that will accurately reflect the abilities of Chicago School students.
Updates
October 25, 2010
The stories shared in the comments section reveal a deep frustration regarding the lack of transparency in our academic requirements. I am currently working to catalog these concerns to present them as a formal request for a meeting with the administration.
October 25, 2010
Seeing the growing consensus among my peers reminds me why we started this conversation in the first place. This momentum shows that our concerns regarding the exam process are shared by many who care deeply about the integrity of our program.
6 Comments
Listen to the students. We worked too hard to have our graduation threatened by a surprise test.
TOTAL BS. Let us take it as a pilot test but dont hold our degrees over our heads for an exam we werent prepared for.
How can they expect us to pass an exam on stuff we havent even covered in class yet?? Makes zero sense.
This is completely unfair. We were never told this was a requirement when we started the program. Do right by the students.
This exam is supposed to be for our feedback not for blocking us from graduating. Change the policy immediately.
The school needs to fix this. My tuition is way too expensive to be treated like an experiment.
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Listen to the students. We worked too hard to have our graduation threatened by a surprise test.