Sunshine Meets Rain Half Way to Hearing Aids

Every year SPU cancels class for a day so that faculty, staff and students can come together to learn about a certain topic. They call this day the Day of Common Learning and it consists of a keynote speaker in the morning and then seminars in the afternoon.

This year’s topic was Abraham Lincoln so naturally I was excited. Excited to learn about Abe, but maybe a little more excited to enter in the $300 bookstore gift certificate raffle. Last year I was unaware of this raffle, but won!  You can read about my excitement here. Being one of maybe three graduate students who attend the DoCL I knew my chances of victory were high again this year. So I went to the seminars, entered my name into the drawing, and waited. Monday afternoon at 12:12pm I received this e-mail:

Congratulations, Nicole!

You won! Your name was drawn in the Day of Common Learning raffle. As a winner, you will receive $300 to be used at the SPU bookstore for textbook purchases. Please contact Elizabeth Reed, manager of the bookstore, with any questions you might have regarding your gift card.

Please reply to this e-mail or call 281-2481 to verify receipt of this winner notification.

Thank you for participating in the Day of Common Learning!
-Stacey

You cannot imagine my excitement. I did a few pump fists and then proceeded to tell everyone in my office that I won two years in a row. This was indeed a special day….

That is until 2:18pm rolled around and I received this follow up e-mail:

Hi Nicole,

It has come to my attention that you are a full time employee.  I am very sorry, but you are ineligible for the gift certificate as a .8 employee.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

My apologies for the confusion,
Stacey

I then got a follow-up phone call from Stacy to make sure I read the e-mail and that I understood everything. I said I did, but that was a lie.

Start rant

I don’t understand why full-time employees who are also full-time students are not eligible. I pay more you in tuition (even with my 10% discount) in two quarters than you pay me in a whole year. Also, you raised my tuition this year, but did not raise my (or any staff member’s) pay this year. As a university you are making the claim that my employment trumps my education (a stretch I know, but go with it because I’m ranting). Isn’t this the exact opposite of what a university should strive for? Stacy, I know this policy isn’t your decision, but do some fact checking before you send out a congratulations e-mail okay?

End rant.

End post.