Argosy University - DC Campus

The experience this student describes is not the
kind of experience we would wish for any student inquiring about Argosy
University.
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Clearly there has been both miscommunication and
misunderstanding. I’ll try to clarify
the concerns expressed in the student’s complaint:
“Argosy
University has falsely portrayed their school as a military friendly school.”
We have many students enrolled
who are military service members. Our goal is to help them succeed in their
programs from enrollment through graduation to the best of our ability. We
encourage these students to express their concerns to us through their faculty or academic
progress advisors and we work hard to resolve them.
“Have
falsely portrayed their school as being in Virginia, when they were elsewhere,
such as Arizona, Chicago or other states. “
Argosy University is a university
system, with 20 ground campuses in twelve states, including Virginia, where
Argosy University, Washington DC is located at 1550 Wilson Boulevard in
Arlington. The university system also includes an online division separate from
the ground campuses, with administrative headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona.
“They
have stretched out my enrollment process for over 4 months, while continually
requesting the same documents over and over.”
Without knowing when this
student began the process of inquiring about Argosy University, we
do know that he called the front desk of Argosy University’s Washington DC
campus on January 15, 2015.  One of our admissions representatives
recognized that he was calling about Argosy’s online division and had his file transferred
to our DC campus so we could assist him. Within one week we had enrolled him
in a class. We recognize that this
student did not seem to understand that he was communicating with two
different branches of the Argosy University system.
“I
was placed in blended classes [a combination of on ground classroom and online
learning activities], when I specifically asked for online courses. They have
yet to acknowledge my military affiliation. I have requested over and over
confirmation of enrollment in classes, with no response for over two weeks. I
have asked for withdrawal from the school, and have had no response on this
either. This makes my enrollment at other universities impossible. I have left
voicemails and emails for weeks with no responses.”
 
By Friday January 15, and after
working with our DC campus admissions representative, this
student was enrolled in classes for
Spring term, including a blended course (of which he was made aware via email).
He posted assignments over the weekend and generally interacted with his
classmates in a pleasant manner. He did question the blended format and stated
that he was unaware that there were classroom sessions he was required to
attend.
On January 21, the student emailed
his professor inquiring about the class meetings, and expressed the desire to
switch to an all online class. He was transferred to an online section of the
same class, allowing him to take the work he had completed with him. After less
than 24 hours in the new online class, the student sent an email to the
admissions representative stating that he had had bad experiences over the course
of five (5) years being in a class where he was the only male, including the
instructor. He said that he wanted to go back to his original (blended) class, where he enjoyed a good
blend of male and female classmates. He also said that he may have to change his work schedule a
bit but "hey…that’s better than being in a class of all females.”
The campus chair of our forensic psychology
masters program phoned the student to explain that he had already missed the
first class meeting of the blended class he wished to return to, and to find out
if a male-female balance would be an issue for him in all his courses (the
program is majority female). The student
became agitated during the conversation and stated that he had to go and would
talk to the program chair later. When the chair stated that, unfortunately, the
decision of what to do had to be made soon since the official deadline for
switching classes had passed, the student stated that in that case, we should just take him out of
the school.
To summarize, the student applied
to the DC campus on January 15, was accepted January 16, was enrolled as an active student January
20, and was withdrawn (removed as an active student) January 22. He was not
billed for any tuition. So according to our records, the student should have
been free to enroll in another university without any obstacle related to his
brief enrollment as a student at Argosy University.
Since our account differs so widely
from the student’s, I can only conclude that we failed to
communicate effectively. I would be happy to talk to him personally to address
his concerns and to apologize for our part in making his experience so
frustrating. My contact information is: [redacted]@argosy.edu,
###-###-####.
David E[redacted], PhD
Campus President
Argosy University, Washington DC
1550 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600
Arlington, VA 22209