Where's the Love?

Most people know I am a HUGE ASU fan. I sing the fight song to my kids every year. I have paraphernalia littering my classroom walls. I am a former Devil's Advocate who gave tours for ASU for two years, for free, and recruited students to attend the university on an out of town trip. In addition, I served as the College of Education college council president and senator for the College, each for one year. I was so gang ho about ASU I even appeared in pictures for their catalogs. I say this to you not to brag, but to give you an idea of how much I am for ASU.

Then reality hit.

Jon has had nothing but trouble finding classes he can take as a working adult trying to obtain a master's degree. I chalked that up one poorly run grad program.

If Jon wants to avoid driving down to ASU two times a week in horrendous rush hour traffic he could take an Internet class...at a price nearly double of a class on campus-even a class that isn't being taught by a "real" professor but nearly a tape of a previous semester's course. Lame.

But the biggest blow came as I am pursuing my 2nd master's degree in ESL at ASU. I, too, am a full time working adult and luckily for me the College of Education has some great off campus cohort classes that allow me to take classes much closer to home and at more convenient hours than Jon.

I decided to take off from classes last semester and planned on returning to ASU this fall to complete the degree I am halfway through receiving. When I tried to register, the system wouldn't allow me to. After speaking to no less than five individuals I was finally directed to the correct person who could tell me why I wasn't able to register. Late fees? Nope, I was always on time. Problem with my grades? Nah, I have a 4.0 after fifteen hours. What could it be?

"Since you decided to take off a semester, you need to reregister, mam?"
What does that involve?
"A new application and $50.00 readmission fee."

WHAT? For a taking off a semester?

It's not like I am pursuing an undergrad degree and my sole purpose in life is to go to school. I am a working adult with a family, full time and demanding job, and if I need to take off, I should be able to do so without penalty.

Furthermore, why would ASU want to upset a main source of potential revenue, their future alumni, by making them pay out additional money for no reason but for them to earn a few extra bucks.

I might even understand a fee if they needed to do a lot of work to get me "reinstated" as a student, but since I was told it could be done in under 24 hours it doesn't seem like a whole lot of effort is going to be required in order to get me "ok'd."

After the hours of time I have invested in this university for free, and thousands of dollars I have given them for my undergrad and now my graduate degree, this is a really lousy way to treat a former and current student.

It almost makes me want to cheer for that horrible team down south...almost.