Back to Class

Glenn wrote:

Classes begin for the fall quarter on Wednesday, September 24th. It was a really stressful week for me.

My first class is IT 428, which is at 11. I've had this instructor before and he's a challenge. I have two different TypeWell transcribers alternating days with one another. One of them has some experience and the other has very little experience. So I am wondering how that is going to go. The last time I had this instructor, I had two transcribers who had a lot more experience, and they worked in teams. This provided the most complete transcript possible. Even with this comprehensive coverage, I still had a tough time learning some of the concepts because of the nature of the class--it's very visual with the majority of the material presented on the overhead or the whiteboard. It's tough to follow along with at the same time as it is being demonstrated. So I requested to get a tutor for that class. I got a really good one and he was a great help. So this quarter, I don't get teams, and the solo transcribers have much less experience. I have requested a tutor again, and it is looking like I will get the same guy I had last time. So that part is good for me.

My second class of the day is ADMG 310. I find the room and wait for the CART provider who has been assigned to provide coverage. I wasn't too terribly impressed with the output when I met her earlier in the morning. She doesn't show up! The new coordinator is with me this morning to observe my classes, and he leaves the room to get to the bottom of things while I just wait and read the syllabus, which the professor is going over. Finally, about 20-25 minutes into the class, the transcriber from my IT 428 class comes in and starts transcribing. So I have some coverage for the day and it's not a total loss. Later on, I find out that there was some sort of "communication mix-up" and the CART person would be there Friday. Yippee. Professional work ethic? Apparently not

Thursday comes, and I get to meet the most inexperienced transcriber we have. She seems to do alright in my IT 428 class, but keep in mind that it is just the second day of the quarter. I am pretty sure things are going to become more challenging as the quarter gets underway. The instructor did say that IT 428 is his toughest class.

Friday comes and my only class of the day is ADMG 310. I get to class on time and get a good seat and wait. Class gets underway and no CART person is there. I am wondering if she is going to skip again like Wednesday. But she comes in about 5 minutes late and proceeds to take about ten minuts to set up the equipment. She puts the reader laptop on the floor! I originally thought that it was about 3 to 4 feet away from my eyes, but I measured how far I thought it was just now...and it was probably closer to five feet away from my eyes. I don't know about you, but I cannot read a computer screen from that distance. The font size was no bigger than what you are seeing right here. And what good does it do me to have it on the floor? There is nothing going on down there that I need to be looking at. I told her "This needs to be up here" and pointed at the desktop. She got it up there...but the laptop is so humongous that it takes up the entire work area. There is really no extra room for writing notes or doing any of the other usual things that need doing in classrooms. I couldn't wait for class to be done so I could get the heck out of there...the whole thing was just pissing me off more and more. I had a hard time figuring out what was going on at first. The accomodations were not allowing me to do what I would otherwise be doing--participating in the class activities. It seemed to do a good job of stifling them, if anything. Not only was the setup poorly thought out by the provider, there were garbled words and missing information on the screen. I KNOW she missed stuff...there is no doubt in my mind about this.

I thought back to last winter quarter when I had remote CART in one of my classes and the word "indiscernible" came up 157 times in an hour's transcript. This recent experience just brings back the bad experiences of CART, remote...and now non-remote. It's such a major compromise from experienced (or even non-experienced) TypeWell transcribers. I am about at the point where I am going to refuse it and tell her to go back to the DSS offices or whatever. It is not a good match for me in that classroom.

I fired off an email to the new coordinator re-requesting that the DSS office make every effort to get a TypeWell transcriber in that classroom. I told him that I was tired of compromising my education for NO good reason. I sent that off to him about 1:15 on Friday afternoon, and I haven't heard back yet.

How do I fire my DSS office? That may not be as far-fetched as it would seem...I'm going to see if DVR (Department of Vocational Rehabilitation) will hire the local experienced transcribers to cover that class for the quarter. Since Rob Harden won't or can't provide them, I'm going to do everything that I can to do an end run around his absurdities. TypeWell transcribers are an appropriate accommodation, unlike CART, which seems to be quite shoddy by comparison.

Other stuff going on...we have been in contact with a few different outside state agencies in hopes that they can step in and make some changes for the better. One of them has deferred to another one because they don't want too many different agencies involved in this at the same time. So I wll be focusing on getting in touch with this agency the first thing Monday morning and seeing if I can get some positive results.

I'm kind of thinking that the process is going to take too long if and when the state does take action. The administration seem to be unified in their standpoint that things are "covered" and I am sure they will tell the state the same story. Along these lines, someone asked me a big question recently: "How much patience do you have?" I am thinking very, very little!