[Ohio-talk] BSVI supervisor

Thu Dec 18 04:58:59 UTC 2014

Kaiti, as you begin your career you will quickly learn there are
things you must do because someone else wants them.  It is very
frustrating and I understand what you are saying.  I will advise you
to carefully pick the battles you fight.  Sometimes, if you cooperate
on the stupid unimportant things you will get more cooperation on the
major issues.  If you decide this is your battle then determine what
you want the outcome to be and negotiate with your counselor.

On 12/17/14, Kaiti Shelton via Ohio-talk <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 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
>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053