Here I am again.  I'm virtually no farther with Task 3 of the Supply Chain class than I was the last time I checked in here.  It's certainly not for lack of time spent.  I know I need to implement the "work smarter, not harder" methodology, but sulking sure does feel good.

Last night I officially began the Leadership class (yes, before finishing the Supply Chain class).  It is required that everyone in the class attend a mandatory conference call/Adobe meeting thingy.  (Have I mentioned that it is required, i.e. mandatory, i.e. that you cannot miss it?)  I received an email from the course mentor last week in which she gave 3 times to pick from.  I and about 44 other people chose the one that was most convenient for us.  All 45 of us got on the conference call at the required time.  Everyone showed up except the course mentor.  Yep, that's right.  45 of us sat around and IMed for 30 minutes waiting for some person with authority to show up.  Finally after about a half hour of waiting, and several people emailing and calling the course mentor, we all received an email saying that she sent out the wrong times and that there would be no meeting.  Are you blanking kidding me??

I was able to get on the call last night.  It is typical that each course mentor has one of these meetings that s/he has recorded, and it's suggested viewing prior to doing much in the course.  I'm baffled at this point about last night.  Not only did she not acknowledge that she screwed over 45 of us, but there was virtually no interaction between students or the mentor.  Why, then was it mandatory that we be on the call at that particular time?  Oh, and during the call she said that she would be emailing out a recorded version of the call to all of us later in the week.  

As you can tell from this post and my most recent ones, I am frustrated with this school and it's staff.  If someone were to ask me if I would recommend this school right now, I would give an absolute answer of NO!

As I said above, I'm still, yes still struggling with supply chain.  Anyone whom I've been able to ask, has said, "Oh just watch the video and do what he says".  I figured that everyone can't be wrong, right?  I decided to take their advice and re-watch the part about Task 3 (since that's what I'm working on right now).  Once you get past all of his slurps, pregnant pauses (what just happened?  did the audio go out?) followed by, "mmmkaaaay" he, quite literally gives the exact page number and paragraph of where to find the answer to most of the prompts in the task.  At the masters level, I should not need a teacher to tell me exactly where to find the answer.  For one of the prompts, which asks for an organizational chart, the CM says to copy it and put it in your paper.  Really?  Is this really a college, or even a high school-level assignment?  

Maybe I should just take his "gifts" and go with it.  That's just not my style.  Maybe I'm argumentative and just can't accept that he's only trying to help.  Perhaps.  What I do know is that I'm not learning anything in this class.  I've not been given the opportunity to learn anything.  The questions are simply the paragraph headings with a question mark at the end.

Maybe you're thinking, "well go ahead then and do your own research and find your own answers".  YES!  You're right, I could do that but...as the HR course mentor (by far the most professional one that I've encountered) said, "you can't veer too far off course or else the graders won't pass you".  What this tells me is that if I put something in my paper that the graders are not expecting, i.e. that I've actually put some thought in to what I'm writing, they may (or may not) be able to pass me because it wasn't what they were expecting.

I'm now questioning this school and its ethics.  How is it possible that WGU is accredited with these types of questions on an assignment?  I started another MBA a few years ago, and I had to learn and to think and problem solve.  Right now, with WGU, the lesson I'm being taught is to paraphrase what I've read in a book, cite it correctly, and to not be an independent thinker.  Contrary to what WGU espouses, they do not want independent thinkers and folks who will seek out answers.  They just want people who will do exactly as the course mentor advises, without question.

I don't need this MBA.  I'm doing this for me and only me.  My husband doesn't care.  My family and most friends don't even know I'm doing it.  How much value can I place on a piece of paper that cost me $12,000?  How proud of my accomplishment can I be when I don't feel like I've genuinely earned it?  

When I ran 100 miles through the Hill Country of Texas, there were no shortcuts.  I ran/walked/limped every single step.  It was the most difficult thing I've ever done.  When the race director handed me my finisher's belt buckle, I knew I had earned it.  I suffered for 36 hours to earn that buckle.

When I finish an MBA, want to feel like I have earned it.  Right now, with the level of course work that I've been given, if it continues like this, and if I continue, I will feel that I have earned a high school diploma, not a masters degree.  If an employer asks me something about WGU, I can already feel my face get red from embarrassment and shame.  I will be the dumbest MBA they've ever seen because I potentially won't be able to answer their questions that any person with an MBA should breeze through.  Perhaps I won't even put the degree on my resume.  If I can't put it on my resume or feel proud of it, is it really worth $12,000 or even the piece of paper the diploma is printed on?

What do you think?  How do you feel when you get something but don't feel that you've really truly earned it?  How do you respond?

I believe that in my last post, I mentioned something about trying to find out whether or not course mentors are not allowed to give outside resources.  Per Kelly, my student mentor, they are allowed, however they may choose not to.  

When I mentioned that the student mentor for this class either has, or is currently earning a Ph.D. in the subject of supply chain, thus he ought to be able to recommend something, anything.  I gave her the example that if someone asked me for resources on how to run a marathon, without even thinking about it, I'd be able to rattle off a half dozen books/websites/people, etc. for that person to get more information.  Thus, it is perplexing (to be nice, as I grit my teeth) that this course mentor is so reluctant to do so.  I also mentioned that in my experience (extreme sarcasm there) it is usually folks who are unsure of their own knowledge of a subject, are also the most threatened and therefore, they don't wish to share for fear of being found out.  I'm wondering if that's the case here.  If you've been on the forum for this class, you'll notice that the course mentor (CM) never directly answers anyone's questions.  He either gives a page number (which you can find out by watching the video), or calls the person.  I'm all for talking with someone, if that's what works for both people.  In my case, I've spoken with him and it sucks the life out of me.  We just don't speak the same language.  In my view, I'm the customer and he's the service provider.  I don't feel that I'm getting the service that I need or want.  Regardless, I'm finally beginning to see that he will not bend to my will (if you saw my last email to him, you'd see that it was actually blatant begging) thus, I must figure out another way to get through this class.  Hey, I'm still throwin' the pasta at the wall.  Give me points for consistency and determination.

Contrary to what I had originally thought, i.e. that I couldn't begin another class before finishing this one (also known as Supply Chain Purgatory), Kelly has set me up to begin with the next cohort for the Leadership.  It's supposed to be more of a softball class, and I'm hoping that by focusing some energy on something else in addition to Supply Chain, something will finally click in my brain.  Oh and just think of the people that I may be able to bug who've already finished supply chain!  Oh joy!  I'm not sure if having 2 classes at once is totally allowed, or if it is a one-off that Kelly is doing to try and help me move forward.  I have a feeling that it may be at her discretion.  

As for Supply Chain, I've skipped Tasks 1 and 2 for now, and am working on Task 3.  The questions are literally taken from the topic headers from the text book, just with a question mark at the end.  The strategy that I'm currently employing, is to think less and type more.  I'm doing my best to go directly where CM has advised per the video, scanning for the question, and then re-wording the answer.  This is ridiculous since this is supposed to be a professional, college-level course and I shouldn't have to dumb myself down to answer the question so that the grader will be able read my answer.  (I wonder if the graders are as frustrated as I am?)  At this point though, I'm desperate to get this class over and done with so I'll do what I have to.)  The thought of just citing the entire book (Heizer, 2010) did occur to me but then I'd still have to come up with 60% of my own material.  At this point, it's a victory to get one question answered although it's through gritted teeth.  

In full disclosure, I used to work for a large state agency where it was my job to write the questions and the scoring criteria (rubric) when people applied for jobs.  If I'd given my manager the equivalent version of any of the tasks or rubric for Supply Chain, (or some of the other tasks and rubric from previous classes) she would have demoted me or said that I needed "coaching".  This is why it makes me insanely upset when I read poorly written tasks and rubric.  (How difficult is it to use proper grammar and a spell check?)  The means by which you are being graded, should never be a secret.  When the difference between a pass and a fail per the rubric is, "provided adequate detail" versus "did not provide adequate detail", there is a serious problem.  The subjectivity of grading should be removed as much as possible to ensure that each paper is graded consistently across graders.


 With that, I say, I hope your team wins the Super Bowl since mine lost in the playoffs.  Until then...I'll grudgingly get back to Task 3.

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