Graduate School Denying Me a Degree As Retaliation

My question involves education law in the State of: Illinois

I apologize in advance for the length of my post but it is a complicated situation. I finished my MBA requirements in May 2011 but the school is denying me my formal degree and I am not sure why. I feel that it was because I was a squeaky wheel with the program. I complained to the MBA program twice during my two years in the program. The first involved a dispute with a professor. The professor in question was a hypocrite and played favoritism in class and with grading. For instance, the professor was frequently late to class by 20+ minutes because of traffic but would fail students on their assignments if they showed up to class one minute late (on the days that he decided to get to class on time). I just reported the issues that I had with the professor, using examples, to the program itself. My second claim was with career services department. As a MBA student, I was required to talk with a career counselor on a regular basis. The career services department was very condescending to me and provided me with poor advice that was contradicted by outside professionals and recruiters. I pointed out to the department that the service provided by the department was more geared toward undergraduates than graduate students with work experience.

As a result of my dispute with the graduate school, I thought that it was best that I spent my last semester of the graduate school abroad. The MBA program offered a few study abroad programs to students and I felt that it was best to put some distance between the school and me. Plus, I had always wanted to study abroad at the time. The one caveat was that mainly undergrads study abroad and the other students going abroad were all undergrads. However, the business schools in Europe are generally masters programs, so the program was improved. I was a bit concerned about the issue and asked about it. I was told that this wasn't any issue and all my classes were approved by the graduate dean. I was naive about the situation, but I obviously saved the signed documentation. I was expecting to graduate in August, not May due to this situation.

Fast forward to July of this year, my grades arrive from the study abroad university and the study abroad office says that I received the credits necessary to graduate. I ask if there was anything that I needed to do and filled out my paperwork. However, due to vacation and personal issues in the MBA department, the necessary paperwork wasn't filed by the department until July 25th. The degree petition was denied because the paperwork needed to be filed on July 22nd. I was told that I needed to appeal and personally explain the situation, which I did. I was told that the administration just needed to see personal initiative from the students in the situation.

After I filed my appeal, the MBA program stopped answering my emails about the situation and ignored my requests for follow-up. I think that they were never planning to give me my degree and were just hoping that I'd go away. I finally got an answer when I told them straight what I thought was happening rather than tap dancing around the situation. I was denied graduation again and was told that I could apply for graduation again in December because of the paperwork snafu. After getting denied again, I learned that they were required to give me a straight answer under FERPA. I didn't know that at the time and think that was the only reason why I was given a straight answer. I've been emailing and calling daily about the situation and have been referred to different people again and again. I think the real reason might be retaliation for expressing my concerns about the program. My fear is that the classes that I took overseas will suddenly become unacceptable in December. I think that they are trying to wear me down and hope that I won't appeal.

My questions are - does the department have the right to deny me my degree when I've completed the degree requirements? Also, do I have any recourse with the school about the situation? I am requesting a letter stating that I am guaranteed to graduate in December; this is so that I can initiate legal action if denied again. I'd also like a note put in my file stating that I fulfilled my degree requirements in May and the hold up in my degree conferral is due to a paperwork snafu in the department. I'm concerned that the school won't give me letters without caveats to protect them from lawsuits and fully exploit the loopholes come December.

The snafu has already cost me two professional opportunities. I put August on my application because I was led to believe that this was when my degree would be conferred and was accused of lying about my credentials on job interviews. It was an honest miscommunication, but the employers didn't care. I am currently working at a temp job for less than I was making before I went to grad. school because there is a two year hole in my resume.

sounds like they are denying you a degree but it will be delayed due to the inability to get the paperwork in time. sounds like the school has its deadlines & their serious deadlines...

You're not going to get your letter. Even if you did, it would not be legally enforceable.

Speak with a local attorney who is familiar with education law; however on the surface at least, I don't see a case.

(As a side question, do you think you are the only student who complained a couple of times during any given 2-year period? I guarantee you, you're not ;) )

That doesn't really answer my question. Can a graduate program deny someone a degree just because they feel like it? I know that people can be fired at will for any reason that the employer feels like, but I thought that as long as I completed the program requirements they had to give me a degree. Or is it like work where because they didn't like that I complained about certain aspects of the program they can just decide that they don't want me to receive a degree? My fear is that certain concerns about my classes are going to come up each semester until it becomes too late for me to graduate.

As for my belief that there might be retaliation involved. The professor who I reported to the department has some powerful backers in the department and is on the program's promotional materials. In fact, it was "inferred" that I didn't like the professor because he was black instead of the reasons that I outlined - including the lack of professional standards and bullying certain students. I gave the school specific examples about why I felt the way that I did - including the tardiness and some choice outbursts in class where he threatened to fail everyone.

A graduate program can deny someone a degree because they did not file the paperwork on time.

If you'll read my initial post, you'll see that the department itself is the one that didn't file the paperwork on time. (And here I thought that lawyers were detail oriented.) The department needed to review everything and send my transcript to the graduate school because I was abroad. I filled out all my forms the minute I needed to do so. I'd like some acknowledgement that the school made an administrative error and that I finished my degree requirements in May, but that is a secondary battle. I'd first like the official degree. My fear is that I'll be blindsided with another "issue" with my degree in December. I'd like something in writing from the school that I have completed all my degree requirements and paid the school all my tuition and filled out all the paperwork and that there is 100% certainty that I will be graduating in December. Since the school is unwilling to give me a straight answer on this - I keep being transferred from department to department or ignored completely, I think that something else is going on. Due to my rocky relationship with the program in the past, I think that this is retaliation.

What I'm wondering is that can a program deny someone a degree solely because they don't like that person or that person complained about a specific professor? Because after this blew up in my face in August, I went over everything with a fine tooth comb to make sure there was no fees outstanding, etc. So there is no reason why I shouldn't get my degree in December, but my fear is that since there is definitely something going on in the department that I might not.

It is by no means clear, the way you worded the statement, who did not file the paperwork on time. You want to talk about detail oriented? Make sure your writing is unambiguous.

It is only your opinion that you are being "denied a degree solely because they don't like that perosn or that person complained about a specific professor". How do you propose to prove that in a court of law?

How do you know that the problem processing your paperwork resulted from their not liking you, rather than their simply making a clerical error? What actual evidence do you have to support that contention?

[QUOTE=cbg;565310]It is by no means clear, the way you worded the statement, who did not file the paperwork on time. You want to talk about detail oriented? Make sure your writing is unambiguous.

It is only your opinion that you are being "denied a degree solely because they don't like that perosn or that person complained about a specific professor". How do you propose to prove that in a court

My initial post made it clear that it was the department that didn't file on time... Due to vacations and personal issues in the MBA department, the paperwork wasn't filed by the department until July 25th is just what that means that the department didn't file on time. Try reading before spewing out judgments.

I'm currently not suing anyone or contemplating it. I just want acknowledgment of the situation and a written letter stating that this was an admin error. I also just want to know if the school has the right to deny me my degree because I argued about certain aspects of the program...basically because they don't like me.

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Quoting Mr. Knowitall

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How do you know that the problem processing your paperwork resulted from their not liking you, rather than their simply making a clerical error? What actual evidence do you have to support that contention?

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It is a personal assumption based on how weird they've been acting on the whole thing. If it was a clerical error, then a letter stating I will graduate in Dec. and acknowledging the error seems like a perfectly acceptable request.

You may think that your initial post made it clear that the department filed the paperwork late. My degree is in Writing. I am here to tell you that it did not. Not to someone who was not there and has no bias one way or the other.