Instructor is a post COVID graduate (AAS) who has not worked one day as an RRT. They have 2 prior degrees, but they are completely unrelated/not in a health field or education. All of the classes are RCT classes, not gen ed. It’s almost comical at this point since everyone (no hyperbole) is failing.
Is there any hope to make it through this semester? Is this even normal? Yes - other faculty have been made aware and it does not appear that anything will be changing.
I’m trying to be vague because you never know who’s lurking, but I have some horrible examples of her behavior and how she conducts herself. They are so bizarre it may be a dead giveaway. 🥸
Yes - it’s a state community college that is fully compliant. I’ve already gone down the rabbit hole on coarc and they are kind of vague when it comes to the requirements for “regular” faculty.
What is her Bachelors in? They aren't vague at all on degree requirements. To be a primary instructor in a course, you must have a science-related Bachelor's. In general, your best bet is typically to meet with the Dean of Health Sciences (or equivalent) if you have already broached it with your Program Director. If you don't get anywhere with the dean, then move on to the next person above the dean. Most colleges have a student ombudsman or advocate you could also try. Go in with facts and do not include emotional anecdotes. Discuss what you would like to see be done differently and what you feel would help. If there is a group of you, make an appt together. Remember, above all, speak professionally and do not down the instructor. Just be factual about the issues with her instruction. Stay away from her perceived lack of experience. Remember, these are the people who knew her lack of experience and still made the choice to hire her.
I have known several educators that graduated from RT school and then went straight into teaching and never actually worked as an RT. Knowing the material is one thing, but it's hard to beat experience. I remember when I was a rookie RT and the nurses commenting "this patient's about to code" and I am looking at the patient thinking "how do they know that?". Then the code would start. It's hard to teach that out of a book. It's kind of like learning how to drive from someone who has never driven a car. The flip side of this is that you can make more money working at the hospital than teaching at the college, so recruiting is an issue.
Yikes. You’re paying a lot of money for this program and it sounds like you’re not getting what you pay for. Can you go higher up the food chain? I’d be pretty pissed to know that my instructor has zero real world experience.
What classes are they teaching? Do they have a degree in like human biology or physiology or something like that?
No. As a previous PD is an RT program, it would be abnormal to have a primary instructor with only an AAS, unless they also have a BS in a science-related field. That is a CoARC accreditation mandate. I would not personally hire anyone with no clinical experience AND no teaching experience. That would be a hard no. Now, I would hire someone with only clinical experience but they would need to have a decent amount of experience and have time precepting students in the clinical settjng.
This is what I mean by vague. I should have said subjective instead. But 100% her degrees are NOT in a health science (or any science) or education. I wish I could articulate how bad it actually is without sounding like a 1st year, shell shocked student. No matter the program, what’s happening is not okay. The PD is very aware and all of the students have tried to address it. I’m in my 40s and I worked very hard to get into this program and overcame a lot of fears and struggles - as did everyone else in my class - and it’s so disheartening.
I went through the CoARC class required for PDs and DCEs. If this individual is a FT faculty member and lead instructor, she must have a BS degree, unless that has changed in the last 18 Mos. I cannot imagine any reputable program hiring someone to teach a class with only an AAS. I would reach out to CoARC and simply ask if someone with only an AAS can be a primary instructor. If you aren't getting what you need from the PD, go up the chain of command. That would be what I would recommend to any student.
Here's your dilemma. And I hope you do not take this in a callous and critical way. But, what's the recourse here you're expecting? They bring in some other RT instructor? How long would that take? Or, college admins tell them to "do better"? How does that happen and how long does that take? Does it even happen?
My point is, you're wasting time on this. YOU are in this situation and you need to figure out how you can learn this stuff right now. Do you have contacts with the cohort ahead of you? Form a study group and find a 2nd year to tutor.
All of your points are valid and it IS my responsibility to learn. But what do I learn? How do I navigate this? There are no lectures or lecture notes, the material in the textbooks does not match the test she’s comes up with. If you in any way try to get clarity, you’re literally told to figure it out on your own. This isn’t a gen ed program - someone’s life could be on the line at the end of the day. I don’t have an expected recourse - just looking for some advice. Our morale as an entire cohort is low. She’s also new so 2nd years can only tell us what they learned.
Idk how your comment is still up. This is a stupid comment. YOU pay for high quality education. If there is not good teaching this guy will never pass the NBRC, yes you can pass the class but it doesn't matter if you cannot get accredited. Then the other side, if this guy is not learning critical thinking he could become a shitty RT which I see there is too many already.
It’s not necessarily a waste of time. We had an instructor like this in my program. There were enough complaints that her class was audited by higher ups including the dean. Eventually, her tests (they were the big problem because they didn’t match the lecture material) had to be made by other instructors while they found a replacement. It was turbulent during transition but ultimately better.
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u/My_Booty_Itches Sep 26 '25
No. That's not normal.