Good day all Did you know that Australia is a country? I did, but it seems that a professor with Southern New Hampshire University didn’t, and failed a remote student for saying it was.
First, a few details. Anger Central, as I’ve mentioned in the past, is located in New Hampshire. I know, or knew people who work there. I have not taken any of their classes. Thanks to this story, I may continue not taking any of their classes. Here are the details on what happened from BuzzFeed:
Ashley Arnold, is a 27-year-old resident of Idaho Falls, Idaho. She’s a stay-at-home mom completing an online sociology degree with Southern New Hampshire University. As part of her final class, for which she paid almost $1,000, students were required to complete a project outline last month in which they would compare a social norm in the US and another country. For her “norm” Arnold picked social media use, and for her country she chose Australia.
Ok, so far, so good. This looks like a fairly straightforward class assignment. So what happened?
But when Arnold got her grade back on Feb. 1, she was shocked to see her professor had failed her. Why? Because, according to the teacher, “Australia is a continent; not a country.”
“At first I thought it was a joke; This can’t be real. Then as I continued to read I realized she was for real,” she told BuzzFeed News.
The professor, who has a PhD in philosophy, according to her LinkedIn, had given Arnold zero points in multiple sections of the assignment because she believed that Australia wasn’t a real country.
I noticed, when researching this post, that none of the sites that carried this story named the professor.
“With her education levels, her expertise, who wouldn’t know Australia is a country?” asked Arnold. “If she’s hesitating or questioning that, why wouldn’t she just google that herself?”
Why? I think I can answer that. I suspect that this “Professor” has very little actual experience in the real world. My guess is she’s one of those ivory tower intellectuals who have multiple degrees and no actual real world experience. I ran into one of those when I was interviewing for a job at another school nearby last year.
Unlike most collage students, Ms. Arnold is older and has a lot of real world experience. Unlike an ignorant 20 year old, she fought back.
So, Arnold wrote a lengthy email to the professor, trying to convince her Australia, the country, does indeed exist. She even provided references:
I believe I got zero or partial credit because the instructor said, ‘Australia is a continent; not a country. However, I believe that Australia is a country. The research starter on the SNHU’s Shapiro library written by John Pearson (2013) states, that Australia is the ‘sixth-largest country in the world’ (n.p.). The full name of the country is the Commonwealth of Australia, meaning Australia is both a continent and a country. Therefore, these sections of the rubric should be amended.
Of course, the overeducated idiot wasn’t about to be told she was an igorant idiot by some rube out in flyover country.
But the professor still wasn’t convinced. In her lecturing reply, which Arnold provided to BuzzFeed News, the professor doubled down on her Australia-denialism:
I will gladly re-examine your week 2 milestone project report.
But before I do I want you to understand that any error in a project can invalidate the entire research project.
Research is like dominoes, if you accidentally knock over one piece the entire set will also fall.
Australia is a continent; it is not a country. That error made it nearly impossible for you to accurately complete your week 2 research outline correctly.
As I mentioned above I will look over your week two paper once again and see if you earned more credits than I gave you.
Ms. Arnold wasn’t about to lie down and surrender to this moron. She decided to provide a little proof to this incompetent idiot.
So, Arnold responded again, even including a link to the “About Australia” section of the Australian government’s website:
Australia is both a country and a continent. It’s the only country that is both. I provided a resource in the first email that clarifies that for you. If you need further clarification google or the SNHU Shapiro Library has that information you.
Again I mean no disrespect but my grade is affected by your assumption that Australia is not a country when it in fact is.
Thank you and let me know if I need to provide further resources proving Australia is a country.
The dipstick with the PhD, (which in her case, truly does stand for “Piled higher and Deeper”), deigned to actually consider the possibility, however minuscule, that this impertinent person might, possibly, be correct.
Thank you for this web-address
After I do some independent research on the continent/country issue I will review your paper.
BuzzFeed provided some confirmation that Australia is, in fact, an independent nation, supplying pictures of their current prime minister, foreign minister and their women’s soccer team. (Why the latter I don’t know, unless the author likes pictures of Australian women in shorts) As for Ms. Arnold, she was like a dog with a bone and had no intention of giving up.
Arnold said she was determined to have the professor realize her mistake, so she filed a report with the university. “I’m not going to fail because I chose a country that is a country,” she said.
Finally, after the professor had finished conducting her “independent research,” Arnold received a new grade this week: a B+.
She should have gotten an A+ just due to having to explain to this arrogant twit that Australia is a country, something she should have known. Instead, this knothead doubled down on her stupidity.
The professor never apologized for the error, but did acknowledge she had a “misunderstanding about the difference between Australia as a country and a continent.”
Still, the professor had another warning for Arnold as she prepares to write her final assignment: “Please make sure the date, the facts, and the information you provide in your report is about Australia the country and not Australia the continent.”
BuzzFeed contacted SNHU regarding this professor, both to allow them a chance to respond and to find out just what the heck is going on. SNHU provided the standard boilerplate response:
“At SNHU, we hold our professors to a high standard of excellence and strive to provide high-quality degree programs for all students,” the spokesperson said. “On this question, the student is right. We take this concern seriously and our academic team is working to resolve the matter.”
In other words, they won’t do a damn thing. BuzzFeed was curious as to what Ms. Arnold thought might be the reason Professor DipStick didn’t know Australia was an independent country.
When asked why she thought her professor might have been confused, Arnold said her older age might have been a factor.
“When did Australia become a country? Maybe she thinks it’s still part of England,” she said.
After being told by BuzzFeed News that happened some 117 years ago, Arnold said, “Oh, she’s not that old, so there’s no excuse.”
There was an addition to the story from BuzzFeed. It looks like SNHU realized they had a major problem, both academically, and more importantly, with their Public Relations. This really looked bad for them, and they did right by Ms. Arnold.
On Friday, SNHU announced via Twitter that they had apologized to Arnold and had replaced her professor. Arnold was also set to receive a refund for the course.
“We deeply regret the interaction between our professor & our student,” SNHU said. “We have apologized to Ashley, replaced the instructor, & are reimbursing her tuition for the course. To our friends in Australia, we know that you are a country & a continent, best of luck in the Olympic games!”
Arnold told BuzzFeed News the SNHU staff were “very nice and apologized for the Australia issue.”
“So I am happy with the results,” she said.
Over the last 30 years, the quality of a college/university education has dropped significantly. Outside of the hard sciences and engineering, where real logic and mathematics applies, the politically correct professors with degrees in the modern equivalent of underwater basket weaving, have basically ruined higher education. Personally, I don’t think it can be reformed until 95 percent of these “Educators” are transitioned into positions for which I feel they are better suited.
Thatisall
~The Angry Webmaster~
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