We the students of Argosy University Chicago would like to request the following:

1.       The removal of Dr. Tim Brown from the current position of Department Chairperson for Organizational Leadership and College of Education Programs, Argosy Chicago.

2.    The right to choose our own committee for our dissertation process.

3.    A comprehensive exam containing questions pertinent to coursework, exams comparable in textual content to other doctoral programs at Argosy.

4.  More blended courses for the Organizational Leadership Program. Students are forced to wait as long as 2 or more semesters to take a required course.

5.  Students, who had taken comp exams in the past year and filed appeals regarding unfair grading processes, want their exams to be reviewed by a third party and given the same consideration as the College of Educational students who took the exams in fall 2009.

We We question Dr. Brown’s ability to remain fair and impartial during the comps grading process for the following reasons:

·         Several students filed complaints last year regarding their dissatisfaction with the current chairperson’s behavior and feel he is using the comprehensive exams as a form of retaliation.

·         Students were told in the comprehensive informational session, the exam for Organizational Leadership consisted of five questions, when in actuality the exam has five questions with over twenty sub-questions included. Other academic programs’ comp exams contain fewer questions with more time to complete the exam.

·         Several students have received unwarranted failing grades on their comp exams, are expected to retake the seven day exam or be subjected to involuntarily dismissal from the University for what amounts to minor grammatical errors on the comp exams. In previous years, students weren’t subjected to disparate treatment by any former Chairpersons.     

Our Chairperson demonstrates a preference for students in certain academic programs;

·         Dr. Tim Brown permitted a group of students in the College of Education Program, who’d previously failed the comprehensive exams, to take a one question oral exam. He then changed their grades to a pass, enrolled them in block one and allowed them to revise their exams. Students from other programs were given a failing grade, forced to retake the exam, while the remaining students were barred from the university.

·         Students aren’t permitted to select their own dissertation committee and often must choose from a list of unfamiliar committee members.  

We the concerned students at Argosy University believe our tuition payments are accepted for services not rendered. Our educational and academic needs have not been met. Attempts have been made to bring awareness to this sensitive matter.  Dr. Brown continues to be allowed to display unfair and discriminatory behavior towards certain students.  

      As academically qualified students who’ve met our financial obligations, we shouldn’t get to the final phase of our programs only to be subjected to such disparate treatment and uncertainty.  As much as we would prefer to continue our education at Argosy and resolve this issue internally:

We are prepared to take the following actions if these issues are not immediately addressed:             

·         We will no longer enroll or encourage anyone to enroll in future classes at Argosy University.  

·         We will continue to forward this petition in hierarchy levels at Argosy University, including but, not limited to the National level, Northern Accreditation and the News Investigation Team until our voices are heard and our request are honored.