CART Booted

Glenn wrote:

I'm in my 11:00 class and trying to follow along with this complex stuff the instructor is going over in class and an email lands in my inbox. I wanted to take a quick look at it to see if it was anything interesting.

It was from the new coordinator saying that he had arranged to have TypeWell in my next class starting on Friday. He didn't say who it was though, which makes me think that he thinks they are all the same--experienced or inexperienced. That is far from reality in my opinion, and I would know. He went on to state that the CART person would come on Friday but sit in the back. This would provide them with a transcript from both TypeWell and CART of the same lecture. Except that most Fridays are "web-days" and we have no class. But he didn't know that when he made those plans.

When I got to that class in another 20 minutes or so, the new coordinator was there to talk with me for a minute. He told me that the new TypeWell transcriber would be one of the ones from my 11:00 class. That just means that they have shuffled things around some more to make it work, and the experienced transcribers are not back to work just yet. It is kind of a partial solution to this situation, but better than continuing with the CART.

The CART person said that she was sorry that I didn't like CART. I wonder who told her that I didn't like CART? It wasn't me. I answered that it wasn't working out the best in this situation. I really hope that the new coordinator will look at the reasons this happened. Why did the CART person miss things, get things wrong, or have them in the wrong context (according to the instructor)? If this is happening often or even some of the time, the students are not getting the material that they need to. Success in the classroom is definitely affected.

I heard on the grapevine that one of the higher-ups from Olympia (state capital) is coming to CWU tomorrow along with a DVR supervisor from Yakima. They are to meet with the DSS director to discuss the new "guidelines." I wonder if they are going to talk with any students? I somewhat doubt it, at least not on this trip. I think that it is about a three-hour drive each way, and it would seem that such things would need to be planned in advance. Maybe I will get to meet with the Yakima supervisor at some point because she is a lot closer than the other person is. I just think that it is really important that these folks get more than just the DSS director's side of things. He will put a certain spin on things and make it seem like nothing is really wrong. Of course I have a different opinion on the matter, and think that there is a LOT wrong with DSS office at present. I have no idea when or if any one will tell me what transpired during the meetings. I am certainly very interested!

One of the people advocating for the deaf students here at CWU has emailed one of the people who are coming tomorrow, and she told me that she would call her on Friday. So maybe some information will come out of this. Maybe I will learn something through this connection. I just don't like being on the outside of this thing when it affects me so much.

I don't expect a solution tomorrow, but it would be nice if some of the problems were addressed this quarter, so that I could actually count on having the best accommodations next quarter. Like all things, time will reveal the eventual outcome.