Letter to the Editor

Many DU students might be unfamiliar with the University College program, which operates in their classrooms each evening. The program is designed to allow adult and nontraditional students the opportunity to obtain their degree.

When I was first admitted to the University College program at DU, I couldn’t have been prouder. Cindy Anderson, the admission coordinator at the time, recommended the BACP program and spoke passionately of its success stories. I wished to fulfill a goal in my life that had sat dormant on the shelf. Being an entrepreneur, a degree isn’t a career need that I require, but it is a personal need that I believed would be an important step along my life path.

A good friend offered to help support my schooling as I couldn’t personally afford it and my parents have never been financially able to help with my education. He and his husband have supported me every step of the way.

Despite the school’s best intentions. The classes at DU did not provide the academic rigor I expected. Many of the classes simply ran together and it became hard to differentiate one class from the next. My writing skills declined as I found that many of the papers I submitted were not even being read. Many teachers were using their adjunct position to acquire consulting gigs and network. Our writing workshop class was taught, at best, at an 8th grade level. In a literature class I attended I was asked to re-read a book I had read in high school.

What the program did provide was community among other adult students that had, for whatever reason, been unable to complete their degree. The stories they shared provided more education than anything the classroom offered. Many have become close friends and one such student my wife. These students all kept their mouths shut about the program’s shortcomings, as they simply wanted to get their degree and get on with their lives.

I worked incredibly hard on each assignment I submitted. Meanwhile, many BACP students began to lose faith in the program. They recycled papers, missed assignment due dates and generally languished.

The BACP program and its leadership need to be badly overhauled if they wish to provide the educational benefits they tout on their website.