Warner Pacific College

We are limited on information we can share due to student privacy (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974)However, we met with the student who filed this complaint on Monday, March 5, about her concerns regarding her move, the assigned unit, and the room change processA shared plan was developed, and a move plan was finalizedWe want to continue to work with the student to address any additional concerns

This complaint has been closed However, I have since reached out to the student who brought the complaint and we have offered a refund equivalent to the one we likely would have granted had the student submitted a request at the time of the incident The student expressed gratitude for the action, and his account has now been successfully resolved Lori KJ [redacted] Associate Vice President Warner Pacific College Adult Degree Program SE 98th Avenue, StePortland, OR

Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:*** did not just withdraw from the courseHe missed classes due to his father's terminal illness and then passing and was not allowed to finish out the termHis father was diagnosed with a terminal illness and then passed away on April 30, just about six weeks later He was supposed to attend class on April 30, but obviously did not make that class as his father passed away that very day*** obviously would have had to notify the school of the situation and an academic advisor was in contact with him for some time regarding if/when he would return to the program When he was kicked out of the program he was told that he would have to pay a significant amount of money in order to returnI do not know the details regarding the charges and we would actually like some detailed information regarding this*** explained to the academic advisor that there was no way that we could afford to pay the charges given our circumstances at the time *** lost his job months prior in December due to downsizing, hence a big reason that he returned to try to finish his degree In addition, our home that we bought in decreased in value significantly Our financial situation was certainly at it's worst.We certainly felt like our life fell apart in a matter of six months We were at a loss and exhausted and drowning I continued to work full-time with my own business on the side and a small child.*** certainly would have had to notify Warner Pac regarding his father's passing when he explained why he had to miss classWarner Pac only reiterated time and time again that he would have to pay the money owed because he was kicked out of the program due to missing class before he could returnAs I said, we obviously could not afford to pay the amount owed at the time and so we just had to move on and keep trying to keep our heads above the water so that we didn't lose everything.In October we were finally able to sell our house and we relocated across the state to try to start over and raise our children closer to family We are now trying to buy another home for our family and it is this situation that came back to haunt us Warner Pac sent ***'s account to collections which is creating a huge problem with his credit score and qualifying for a home loan.I really do not see how anyone could justify the way this situation was handledWe just want to move on and get out of the never ending black hole that we have been dealing with for the past five years.No, a formal appeal was not filedAccording to the previous response from Warner Pacific College, the academic advisor that *** dealt with should have provided information regarding the appeals processNo information was ever provided
Sincerely,
*** ***

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the issue raised by a spouse of a former student, on behalf of her husband I reviewed the student’s record and his account charges and can provide the following information Note that I must omit some specific details, since FERPA regulations
limit the amount of information I can provide to people other than the student Should more details be required, I would be happy to provide those with a signed release from the student himself.Our records do indicate that the student withdrew from a course during that general time period Our withdrawal policy states that students who withdraw that late into a course are not eligible for a refund However, we do provide for students to appeal in extenuating circumstances, and our Academic Policies Committee routinely hears appeals of this sort According to the 2011-Bulletin, “In all cases, the appeals process begins with the student contacting his or her Academic Counselor, who will direct the student to the appropriate procedure” (p72) I have checked with our Academic Advisors, and they have no record that the student ever requested an exception to the policy As a result, we would not have had an opportunity to consider whether or not the charges were appropriate given the circumstances.I also checked with our Student Accounts team At the time of the course in question, Warner Pacific College partnered with a company called the Institute for Professional Development, who handled our student accounts and managed collections Though we now partner with a different organization (Synergis Education), they have access to these student account files and have reviewed the student’s account There are no indications in those notes that the student requested the opportunity to appeal the charges.In light of the amount of charges indicated in the complaint, I checked the tuition rate at the time of the course in question Tuition at that time was $per credit hour, or $for this particular course So the $billing indicated in the complaint relates to other charges than the course cited.As you can imagine, the time period for appealing a billing of this sort has long passed However, if the student wishes to contact me directly with evidence that an appeal was made at that time to which we did not respond, I would be more than happy to review it.Lori *J***, Ed.D.Associate Vice PresidentWarner Pacific CollegeAdult Degree ProgramSE 98th Avenue, Ste200Portland, OR

Yes, this has been resolved. Thank you very much.

We are limited on information we can share due to student privacy (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974). However, we met with the student who filed this complaint on Monday, March 5, about her concerns regarding her move, the assigned unit, and the room change process. A shared plan...

was developed, and a move plan was finalized. We want to continue to work with the student to address any additional concerns.

This complaint has been closed.  However, I have since reached out to the student who brought the complaint and we have offered a refund equivalent to the one we likely would have granted had the student submitted a request at the time of the incident.  The student expressed gratitude for the action, and his account has now been successfully resolved.   Lori K. J[redacted] Associate Vice President Warner Pacific College Adult Degree Program 2600 SE 98th Avenue, Ste. 200 Portland, OR  97266