Debtor's Tower
Underachieving MCAD Instructors
Last updated: June / 14 / 2000

The Bigger Snake told me to "read the syllabus" after he withdrew me from his class and after I missed TWO sessions, only. Apparently, his syllabus is in two parts -- one paper titled "Syllabus" and the Class Description which mentions the "three strikes, you're out" rule. He said I missed one hour more than two sessions... and to top it off, THIS somehow adds up to three days missed? I didn't miss that extra hour. I don't think this makes me a bad student even if I were to miss three days... even by the Bigger Snake's calculations. He told me I was "a bad student" even though he had to ask "who are you?" on the day he dismissed me.

I shouldn't have to pay for a class I never had. I would've tried to get back into the class if I hadn't been given the run-around... not meeting with the Appeals Committee until a month had passed. I wrote to the Appeals Committee to present my case after the Dean of Students helped me with it. In my final draft, I also decided to drop my threat to quit school if my demands were not met. Perhaps I should've kept it in.

I don't agree with a thing Mr. Bigger's follow-up had to say... except maybe that my E-mail is entertaining and I did not show up on the 14th. I could tell Mr. Bigger what happened in class that hour of class he says I missed. I was trying to find materials on the 14th and have a reciept from Nicolet Hardware to prove it. The 28th must have been the day the class went on a field trip and forgot to leave a way of catching up to them. I did try. On the day Mr. Bigger called me a "bad student," I inquired about the lab fee and he told me that it had not been spent.

The Appeals Committee dwelled on this "three strikes, you're out" rule. Mike only submitted the page that had the rule on it as his syllabus--the one that makes reference to the syllabus and is not labeled as such... I guess they didn't catch on. They didn't use the normal room either. The Appeals Committee room they used was damn cold, which is probably why I didn't notice that the committee was trying to say I was ignorant of the rule. I knew the idiotic rule from the first day I set foot in the Snakepit. Since he didn't have enough papers for every student, the Bigger Snake told the rule to the class aloud, in an audible tone, the entire class could hear. He even said, "You can miss one day. You can miss two days. Just make sure you don't miss three." He asked people to leave that thought the rule was unfair... and I did think about leaving right there. I figured, "What the hell... he's encouraging students to miss two days."

The committee told me this OPTIONAL rule was created to protect me from an "F." Since the class only had one assignment due at the time I was withdrawn, getting a "D" on the rest of the assignments would not have given me an "F" for the course. I still find it hard to believe Mr. Bigger told the Appeals Committee, "It's not my problem." No matter what anyone has to say about this, a teacher who uses such a severe attendance rule to kick a student out of his class should have made sure he took attendance properly. It would've cost me a semester's tuition more for me to stay in school because of this man's mistake and lack of professionalism. This, coupled with an upsurge of bad luck and a general feeling that I was no longer learning anything, is why I am a college drop out.

Carole Fisher

Drawing

Simply put, we spent way too much time on gesture drawing. Listening to music in her class was a good idea but, people aren't always in the right mind-set to listen while they work. Thus, I was annoyed at times and it hindered my work during class. Somehow, she always came off as something of a ditz.

Howard Quednau

Drawing

This man gets a passing grade as a teacher as he teaches to all learning styles. However, he is listed here because I was frustrated with him. I never seemed to do anything that he was pleased with. I'm thinking that he was looking for materials & techniques that would better my work. I'm not sure. All I can say is, be material and idea conscious when venturing into one of Quednau's workshops.

My mother is a teacher (Nominated 1998 Teacher of the Year) and I have picked up a couple things from the lessons she teaches and the workshops she's attended. Although I do not wish to have a teacher salary, I could easily do a better job than those listed here.