[Ohio-talk] BSVI supervisor

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all,

I'm writing with a concern that has just come to my attention.  I have
had the same counselor since last year, when the VRP3 program died
out.  He's been very reasonable with me this entire time, and is the
second person in the system that I've met who has said, "These monthly
trainee forms, semesterly interviews, etc are repetitive).  We had the
agreement that I wouldn't need to do the monthly trainee forms because
my grades would show my progress anyway, and I turn in transcripts so
it is obvious if I drop or add classes.

However, now my counselor wants this form.  He said that he needs it
because his supervisor will not sign off on the authorization for next
semester's bill until there is some way, in her mind, that she can see
my progress.  There are a few problems here; first, UD is still in
session so grades are not due yet, and they are not due until after
the deadline for the bill.  Second, I emailed my billing statement to
my counselor about a month ago when I first got it, and he's just now
telling me that this form needs to be done because she said so.

This is the same woman who messed up the Summer Youth Work Experience
program at Clovernook.  After Emily and I did it this summer as
college students, she told Clovernook's staff that the state would no
longer support College students in this program.  Even though the
program is for high school as well as college students and Clovernook
makes that clear, and there were only 2 high school students and 3 of
us at college age in the program.  It doesn't really matter because
Clovernook has said they may take up the bill and extend internship
opportunities to Emily and I anyway because they liked us this past
summer, but I don't think that made BSVI happy to see Clovernook go
above their heads.

This woman also has a personal issue with my case, which I found out
about this summer.  From what I understand, my financial calculations
are different because, with my major being so obscure, I do not have
the choice of even going to my closest low-cost college because the
program isn't offered there.  Michael calculated my cost by pulling
the schools in Ohio that offer music therapy degrees together, and
finding which one of those had the lowest tuition cost.  It wouldn't
fully cover UD by any means, but this woman was just furious that I
had different circumstances.  UD also charges one lump sum and doesn't
break down costs individually on their bill, so when my housing
changed in July, I tried to call my counselor to ask what I should do
about the slight difference.  It ended up not even being an issue, but
I had to speak to the supervisor because my counselor was out of the
office.  She said in no uncertain terms that she did not agree with my
counselor, and I was "Lucky to have someone who would bend the rules
for me."  Legally, when you look at it, my counselor did what he was
supposed to do.  This woman also had no idea what I was even studying,
or that it was such a rare major.  She told me I should be at UC, and
didn't seem to believe me when I said that my major wasn't offered
there.  It is true that I don't get the same as everyone else, but I
also don't have the choices in schools that everyone else does or the
versatility to just go where I want for my training.

Maybe all this finals studying has made me a bit cynical, but from the
past several months and my dealings with her, it seems like she's got
something against the college students she's only in the past year had
to deal with.  I see her as a supervisor that is out of touch with the
needs of this particular consumer group, and one of the toughest
people in the system I've personally had to work with.  So, I'm not
even quite sure what I can do.  I've filled out the trainee form and
plan on sending it to Michael, but I also do not think it will be
well-received when she sees almost all of my courses say, "Not yet
released" under the grade column, and I have no answer for the updated
GPA.  I'm really worried their going to pay this bill late, and I've
already had issues last year where BSVI dropped the ball and didn't
pay for my tuition.  It's a lot of hassle for me while I'm in classes,
and a lot of hassle for the bursar, just because this woman doesn't
know what she's talking about and is running amuck at least as far as
I can tell.
-- 
Kaiti Shelton
University of Dayton 2016.
Music Therapy, Psychology, Philosophy
President, Ohio Association of Blind Students
Sigma Alpha Iota-Delta Sigma