Student Films as Advisor Accuses Him of Harassment for Seeking Advice
[There was a video here]
A Kennesaw State University student posted a video Thursday of an attempt to meet with his academic advisor about his major and graduation requirements. He never got the meeting, because the school’s director of advising called security on him for “harassing” her by “sitting here until someone is available.”
Kevin Bruce, an exercise science major, has apparently been trying since at least last year to get answers from the woman in the video, Abby Dawson, about which classes he should take—as evidenced by the email exchanges he posted on Twitter—and his efforts to meet with her in person this week weren’t any more successful.
Since Bruce’s video started spreading, turning #ItsBiggerThanKSU into a trending topic and making the local news, other students have come forward with stories about their advisor’s failure to actually advise.
Bruce, who is black, has made it clear that he doesn’t feel there’s a racial issue at play here, just an across-the-board failure to meet students’ needs:
Guys It's not a racial issue . Every Race has this problem .
May 14, 2015
Vocativ points out that only 15 percent of students at Kennesaw State graduate in four years, citing U.S. News & World Report. It’s probably an oversimplification to pin that statistic on poor academic advising, but students are less likely to graduate on time when they can’t get answers about which classes count toward your major.
Kennesaw State responded on Twitter, acknowledging they’d seen the video and received Bruce’s formal complaint:
We are aware of the video and situation. Thanks for sharing your concern with us. A formal complaint process has begun.
May 14, 2015