On the surface, this woman should be my hero. She’s a David who has taken on the crass Goliath of the education industry. After all, schools, especially private ones, seem to promise the jobs of one’s dreams. Trina Thompson, however, has failed to procure hers, even after getting a degree and working with Monroe College‘s Career Services. What is a frustrated Oleanna of an alumna to do? Sue the bastards!
What I can’t get over are her claims, as quoted from the CNN article:
As Thompson sees it, any reasonable employer would pounce on an applicant with her academic credentials, which include a 2.7 grade-point average and a solid attendance record. But Monroe’s career-services department has put forth insufficient effort to help her secure employment, she claims.
“They’re supposed to say, ‘I got this student, her attendance is good, her GPA is all right — can you interview this person?’ They’re not doing that,” she said.
She suggested that Monroe’s Office of Career Advancement shows preferential treatment to students with excellent grades. “They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement,” she said.
2.7 is something to pounce on? What planet is this woman from? Oh, this one and on the same planet, we had a president with equally impressive grades ru(i)n our country for eight years. Only, I never, ever voted for him, but apparently most of my friends and neighbors probably did, though they would never admit it. I digress, but 2.7 really isn’t anything to brag about. Then again, neither is a 4.0, which seems to be abundantly common thanks to grade inflation. Too bad she wasn’t savvy enough to shop for the professors who’d know what her real grades were, yet they’d give her the ones that would look better on her transcripts. As for favoring those with higher grades, um… Grades and GPA aren’t protected classes when it comes to discrimination. Grade-based discrimination is how many higher educations run.
As for attendance, being in a class every day may or may not matter. If a student shows up to class, participates, and helps him or herself and others learn, then there’s value to that. However, if a student is present every day, yet does nothing, then perfect attendance is no use. When I was a student at the FIDM, there was one classroom where the mannequins were every day, even when there wasn’t a class. They went way beyond showing up and they never got any points for it.
Don’t get me wrong. I am sympathetic to her situation. After all, there seems to a long-spoken promise in our culture that if we get an education, then we have a ticket to better jobs. I have seen how that is a joke, especially when people who train for years in university get a job with a paltry salary. It’s one thing if they are working at the McDonald’s or Payless, but it’s even worse if they are doing something like teaching or anything else that commensurate with their education pays peanuts. It’s also frustrating to plug away at a job, lead after lead, and not have anyone call you back. If she did gigs to gain experience in her field, even if she had to work for free for a while, then she would have a case. I have a feeling she didn’t. All I’d have to say to her is, “Get in line, sister,” because there are a whole lot of people who did everything right and they can’t find a job. Perhaps they should be ahead of her in pursuing a grievance with the education system.
Hat tip to Ted, via Facebook for link to CNN article.
Tags: Monroe College, recession, stupid people
My first thought was the 2.7 GPA. I’ve been out of academia for a while, but I was pretty sure I recalled anything below a 3.0 wasn’t really heralded as an achievement. “Perfect attendance” just made me laugh.
For the most part, this sets up a horrible precedent that reminds me of helicopter parenting. I have my own issues with the college system, especially when I look around at the number of people actually working in a job or field that matches up with their 4-8 (or more) years of study. But to think that a college degree entitles you to a job is just laughable and I hope that’s the same verb that’s used with the phrase “out of court” if and when this makes trial.
urban bohemian´s last blog ..numbers: 27 with 2.7 wants $72k
Wow– and to think I spen two, no wait, three years after earning a Master’s Degree (with good grades) before I got a job in my field. I commend this lady. I should’ve sued for one after undergrad. Are you f**king kidding me?
I think the woman has a right to what the university promised her, but I think it’s odd how she has the time and money to sue, but can’t spend both on finding work. Also, lawsuits are a great way to waste time and money and are usually a sign that you’ve taken things too far.
Just my ¥2, of course.
thepete´s last blog ..Things are even worse than the Wallstreet Journal Says…
@Brian: College is such a big industry, even the state schools. They are diploma mills, if nothing else. Couple that with entitled students – ugh!
@Ryan: from one English major and MFA to another — seriously, were you even thinking about a job at all with either of those degrees? Yeah, I know we all planned to become professors after the MFA program, but did we really want to do that? I didn’t and I’ve been on the adjunct teaching boat since then (and trying to get the hell off). I’m glad you found your gig.
@ThePete: Good point about lawsuit. I went on the school’s website and there wasn’t any statement about guaranteeing a job or interviews upon graduation. Perhaps they altered the language on the site after the lawsuit got served. CYA, you know. Of course, they had links to Monster, Career Builder, etc – ugh! Talk about sites that should have a massive class action lawsuit against them. Lack of jobs perhaps, but that users’ information doesn’t seem to be secure is a bigger reason. Another post for sure.
I wonder what her citizenship grade was (hahahahaha).
Could it be that the real problem is the economic downturn and subsequent difficulties everyone is having getting jobs now.
Another thing to consider, attitude is everything. I would not want to hire an obnoxious (you owe me..) personality into my company. It makes for too many problems.
andrew´s last blog ..Wednesday, August 05, 2009