need Straighterline advice

[emichele20]

aww what the hell?? why is everyone quitting? i hope that they dont know something that we dont know. this is not a good sign. she wasnt even there 6 months.

[TheCommuter]

Oh man... yet another person leaving? I hate to say this because I really liked SL, but it must be a crappy place to work. Yikes.. hopefully it's just coincidence. Who knows? Maybe they're just growing too fast and the staff can't keep up and everyone's overworked.

I have also enjoyed my SL experience so far. It is a convenient, affordable, and flexible way for adult learners to accrue college credits and earn a degree on their own time. However, I must say that this recent turnover rate of course advisers concerns me because they all seem to be highly variable on their response times, promptness, courtesy, and ability to do their jobs effectively. New course advisers are naturally going to need time to get up to speed with their duties and responsibilities. Unfortunately, this is time that I do not have when I am being charged $99 every 28 days.

[cookderosa]

UPDATE: I received an email from Vanessa less than one hour ago in response to an email that I had sent her earlier today. Apparently she has very recently left Straighterline to pursue other opportunities. Her email indicates that she has forwarded my information to another course adviser for follow-up.

lol, no comment. Why? .....eeya: Hi Burck!

What I WILL comment on are my general observations with SL so far. Collectively, this forum dominates in DL class/test/indy study/artificial intelligence software experience, so we are a tough crowd, but I can assure you that I'd bet my LAST DOLLAR, Mr. Burck Smith (CEO) has never completed one of his own courses. This, makes him lack the intuition necessary to make SL rock. (and SL can rock, it should rock) His answer to a simple question I asked him revealed that he didn't understand the Smarthinking process of using a 2 drop box system (which is awful btw, this should be a single box) but this could be difficult to remember if you were simply memorizing policy- obvious if you completed a few modules. You guys instantly knew exactly the mistake my son made, he should have too, it was a rookie mistake. (FTR, when I told him an assignment came back ungraded and I wanted to know if I should contact SL or Smarthinking, he told me to resubmit an assignment that wasn't graded and if I had add'l problems to contact Smarthinking. He asked me to be patient, that it can take time to get a grade. I reminded him I paid by the month and he laughed. <BUZZ> wrong answer. FACT: they use 2 drop boxes, one for drafts and one for grades. So, you can submit your assignment 100 times, and unless you use the 2nd drop box it will NEVER be graded. So, want to waste a month or two? I almost did.)

While I can't say for sure, it "feels" to me as if this is a company that doesn't have experience as a user of alternative credit methods. So, my million dollar suggestion is to hire an advisor who has:
earned credit via ACE methods outside of SL
completed no less than 1 of the SL writing or lab science courses
earned credit via distance learning, their degree through a parter school even better still
taken distance learning courses from more than 1 company/school

Additionally, there should be more than 1 advisor so you can get assistance 24/7. There is no excuse for running a web-based service with business hours. I couldn't get tech support on a Sunday, I'd bet my other last dollar that nontrads are doing most of their school work OUTSIDE OF TRADITIONAL business hours (which is kinda the point), so I think that's going to have to evolve.


*sorry, slightly edited due to a loss of internet earlier

[emichele20]

lol, no comment. Why? .....eeya: Hi Burck!

What I WILL comment on are my general observations with SL so far. Collectively, this forum dominates in DL class/test/indy study/artificial intelligence software experience, so we are a tough crowd, but I can assure you that I'd bet my LAST DOLLAR, Mr. Burck Smith (CEO) has never completed one of his own courses. This, makes him lack the intuition necessary to make SL rock. (and SL can rock, it should rock) His answer to a simple question I asked him revealed that he didn't understand the Smarthinking process of using a 2 drop box system (which is awful btw, this should be a single box) but this could be difficult to remember if you were simply memorizing policy- obvious if you completed a few modules. You guys instantly knew exactly the mistake my son made, he should have too, it was a rookie mistake.

While I can't say for sure, it "feels" to me as if this is a company that doesn't have experience as a user of alternative credit methods. So, my million dollar suggestion is to hire an advisor who has:
earned credit via ACE methods outside of SL
completed no less than 1 of the SL writing or lab science courses
earned credit via distance learning, their degree through a parter school even better still
taken distance learning courses from more than 1 company/school

Additionally, there should be more than 1 advisor so you can get assistance 24/7. There is no excuse for running a web-based service with business hours. I couldn't get tech support on a Sunday, I'd bet my other last dollar that nontrads are doing most of their school work OUTSIDE OF TRADITIONAL business hours (which is kinda the point), so I think that's going to have to evolve.

Could not agree more. They should have 24/7 advisors, and tech support. In turn though I could see them marking up the price for this. I mean for what you are paying at the $99 a month and $39 a class is not a bad deal.