Hunters Business School

Review: I enrolled in a newly established program at this school back in 2010-Diagnostic Medical Sonography. I enrolled and met all requirements based on their standards and requirements to be accepted into the program. I have since then graduated late last year. My overall complaint is my dissatisfaction with the school in regards to: -the overall education I recieved - the way issues were handled when brought to their attention -current employers telling me that training/education I recieved was inadequate/ not enough The program was very shakey from the start and therefore unorganized and made the 2 year expierence challanging. I was aware it was a brand new program, but in my opinion, if issues with teachers and scheduling were apparent from day one, they should have never launched a program at that point in time. Teachers that were hired never returned or were not knowledgable in what they were teaching. Lab time was often unsupervised and testing was not apporpriate. All these factors combined I feel has affected my education and training, therefore affecting my chances for hire at any facility. The school is aware of how dissatistfied I am and I am still in constant contact with their "placement services" trying to find employment. They did give all the books, handouts, information etc. that they could towards the curriculum; however, there was not enough emphasis on certain parts that are most important to this field and thats hands on training. We had lots of clinical time, but apparently that was not enough. Clinical time varies on the site in which you are placed (you have no choice on where you are placed) and lab time in school was again, not condusive or useful. I decided to file this compliant because of the number of compliants and issues I have heard from seasoned professionals in my field regarding the kind of education/training I recieved.Desired Settlement: I would like a credit or some sort of reinburshment towards by loans for the time I spent at that school. Considering I felt most of my education was recieved off-site from clinical, half my money should be returned.

Business

Response:

This letter is in response to a complaint your organization received from [redacted], a graduate of our Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS) program, assigned ID [redacted].

In an effort to resolve this complaint in a fair, fast and equitable way, we have provided the following information to help clarify and correct the many mischaracterizations, inconsistencies and contradictions submitted in the “Customer’s Statement of the Problem.”

1. First let me begin by stating, as [redacted] has, that she successfully completed and graduated from our rigorous 2442 hour DMS program. What [redacted] does not mention is that she did so with a 3.42 Grade Point Average out of a possible 4.0 and that subsequently, she has gone on to pass both the national Physics and Abdominal Registry exams on her first try earning her the credential of Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (RDMS) by the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS). [redacted] is now a fully Registered Sonographer with the credentials needed for successful employment in this profession. I should mention that this is no easy feat. Also, several of her classmates have successfully passed registry exams and are presently employed as sonographers as a result of the education they received at Hunter.

The final outcome, and probably the most significant measure of an educational institution’s effectiveness, is whether or not a student successfully completes and graduates from his or her program of choice and has been adequately prepared to meet the eligibility requirements for taking, and then passing, their certification, registry or licensing examinations. Based on just this alone, I feel comfortable in saying our Institution’s DMS program upheld its promises and commitments and renders [redacted]’s complaints regarding her “dissatisfaction with the school in regards to: -the overall education she received,” invalid.

2. [redacted] was in fact enrolled as one of the first eleven students in our new program. As she mentions, we did, as any school that begins its first run-through of a newly approved program, have some issues arise including scheduling and faculty. But precisely because it was a new program, my administration and I went far and above what we have to and would normally do to address various issues in order to make things work for this first group. I think, in spite of there being some typical new program start-up issues, the fact that not one student dropped out of [redacted]’s class (100% retention) during the almost two years in school is a testament to our efforts to work with and try our best to resolve our students’ concerns.

3. “Teachers often hired never returned or were not knowledgeable in what they were teaching.”

The DMS program consists of 27 individual courses in different specialty areas. Unlike other schools that administer this program, and basically hire one instructor to teach all areas of the curriculum, we hire content experts to teach didactic courses and conduct labs in their specialties. This means that over the course of our program a student will have been exposed to many different DMS program instructors. During [redacted]'s tenure there was one instructor, who for personal reasons, left near the completion of the course and was immediately replaced with another qualified instructor.

Other than that, all faculty who were hired have returned to teach when their respective courses were scheduled over the 20 month period. It should also be noted that some DMS program instructors teach a course only once within the 20 month program.

4. “Lab time was often unsupervised and testing was not appropriate.”

This is not true. All [redacted]’s lab courses had a fully registered General (RDMS) or Echo (RDCS) Sonography instructor attending all hours of lab. There were four ultrasound machines at that time, with a 1-11 faculty-to-student ratio which is better than the norm.

For a novice student who ultimately went on to successfully graduate and pass both physics and abdomen registry exams on her first try to make a judgment about the appropriateness of our program’s testing process is questionable. As a rule, all our students, in every program, have the opportunity to express their opinions and feelings through our Student Survey process where all aspects of their courses including faculty, course content, objectives, testing, workloads, resources, etc. are surveyed. This feedback is reviewed carefully by Management and when it is felt action is needed, the appropriate steps are taken.

5. In her letter, [redacted] mentions that she is still in touch with our Placement Department Counselors who have continued working with her to find a job. I would like to make it clear that we do not have to continue offering our services once a student successfully graduates from our school. Yet, a year has passed since [redacted] has graduated, and we still remain committed to assisting her to find employment.

No school can guarantee employment. It is illegal. Yet as a school dedicated to our graduate’s success, we try very hard to help. [redacted] has all the credentials necessary to become gainfully employed as a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer but the responsibility of whether she actually does or not lies solely with her.

In checking her employment status with our Placement Department, I have learned that thus far [redacted] was offered two job interview opportunities. She refused one and took the other one. It is our understanding that she was hired after her interview but unfortunately was let go after about twenty (20) days. In order to gain and retain employment, it is up to [redacted] to maintain her ultrasound knowledge and skill base now that it has been a year since she graduated.

Also please note that our DMS program has successfully met its required satisfactory thresholds for both Placement Rates and Registry Pass Rates.

6. “They did give us all the books, handouts, information, etc. that they could towards the curriculum; however, there was not enough emphasis on certain parts that are most important to this field and that’s hands on training. We had lots of clinical time but apparently that was not enough.”

During her time in school [redacted] spent a total of 1462 hours out of 2442 hours divided among five different clinical sites as part of her off-site clinical externship work. That ratio of clinical externship to in-class lecture and lab hours meets all necessary requirements. In addition, there were on-site lab classes where students were taught and practiced various competencies required for each course, and for graduation. That is a very substantial amount of hands-on training time. For [redacted] to state that “we had lots of clinical time but apparently that was not enough” seems inconsistent with the actual amount of documented required hours spent in both lab and clinic (more than 50% of the curriculum).

[redacted]’s idea of settling this matter is for us to reimburse monies towards her student loans for the time she spent on campus, complaining that “most of her education was received off-site from clinical.”

The DMS program consists of almost 1000 hrs. of on-site didactic classroom and lab training. This didactic work certainly provided [redacted] with a strong enough foundation for her to excel in five clinical externship courses (in which she received four A’s and a B) and to earn her registry credential.

Conclusion:

After careful review of [redacted]’s complaint, and consideration of the facts, particularly that [redacted] successfully graduated from our DMS program with a 3.42 GPA, has become a fully Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer, --- the main, stated goal of our program, and continues to work with our Placement Department seeking employment as a sonographer, I see no rational reason or feel any moral obligation to reimburse [redacted] any money for the education she received at Hunter. Hunter Business School fulfilled all its responsibilities by educating, training, and placing her in a related career path position.

If you should require further information concerning this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

[redacted], MSW

President

· I read the above statement

Consumer

Response:

[redacted]:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because: