Night course nonsense

waxon-waxoff

I recently started an evening course in a vec college. The lecturer has made up his own notes but says we have to give him €15 to buy them! Is this normal or allowed? Is this not covered in the course fees ive paid? I wouldnt mind but the diagrams are barely legible after being photocopied so many times.

Theres a break half way through and he suggests we go to the canteen and get some tea or coffee. Ok, good idea. They charge €1.50 there for a tiny cup of coffee. What a rip off. Everyones on the take.

Pacing Mule

Is he offering them as an extension / additional help to the course or is he saying that you absolutely have to have these notes or you will be unable to continue with the course ? There's a subtle difference there.

As for the coffee bring a flask if you don't like the price.

whiterebel

Did the same on a web-design course here in Midleton. Had to buy the notes on top, then suggested we all take the "next level" course, which he was doing of course. To me it was only doing what he should have covered in the first one.

looksee

It is not always obvious, but there will be someone organising the night school. Go to that person and say that there was no mention of €15 for notes when you signed on. You might not get an immediate response but give it a week and see what happens.

Mr E

I did a night course recently, but we were told upfront that we'd be paying €60 for materials (by the end of the course we reckoned that the materials would have cost no more than €6). It was a good course, so I didn't feel too put out by the end of it.

I'll go one better on your coffee story - they charged €1.30 for a spoon of Gold Blend in a mug. First and last time I had a cup there.

macy9

Surely if the lecturer has printed them up he/she must have done so from a computer. Why not ask them to upload the file and you can simply download it. No need for expensive paper

dudara

If these are compulsory materials for the course, and there was no mention of this cost at the start, then tell them to go whistle. Make a complaint to the VEC management.

If however, these are optional materials, then do as you please. I'd suggest buying one copy between a group and sharing/photocopying at a cheaper location.

waxon-waxoff

OP here. This is a practical course where the lecturer demonstrates what he is talking about. He used an overhead projector also, but it is almost impossible to see the detail on the slides. This fellas material is too old and difficult to see clearly. For that reason his book of notes is necessary. This should be included in the course fees i feel, and the quality brought up to standard.

This money goes straight into his pocket and i feel he is abusing his position to make a few euros. I dont mind spending the money on the notes if they were any good but its been copied hundreds of times and i know ill never open them again once the course is over.

calex71

Mr E wrote: »

they charged €1.30 for a spoon of Gold Blend in a mug. First and last time I had a cup there.

This is a mistake right, you really meant they paid you 1.30 to drink didn't you

bagels

My Suggestion:
If anybody buys the Notes from the Lecturer, be sure to request a stamped Receipt on original College paper.
Tell him the receipt must also contain the Course Title, Module Number and the Name of the Lecturer.
If the Lecturer baulks, tell him its required for tax purposes so that the student can claim tax back on educational materials.
If he's legit he should have no problem issuing the receipt.

aN.Droid

bagels wrote: »

My Suggestion:
If anybody buys the Notes from the Lecturer, be sure to request a stamped Receipt on original College paper.
Tell him the receipt must also contain the Course Title, Module Number and the Name of the Lecturer.
If the Lecturer baulks, tell him its required for tax purposes so that the student can claim tax back on educational materials.
If he's legit he should have no problem issuing the receipt.

I agree. He should be paying VAT on each copy sold also. If he refuses take this to the highest body on campus. You will probably get satisfaction in the end!

Nonoperational

Happens all the time in College. Just pay the €15 euro and get on with the course. If you genuinely can't afford it have a quiet word with the lecturer.

I don't know where you are going with the €1.50 for coffee. Thats perfectly normal.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I have to agree with gpf101 in that you simply go to the lecturer and explain if you can't afford the material. All courses have costs over and above the course fees.

As for the €1.50 for coffee. Are you for real? That's cheap!

ttm

When did you last hear of a teacher/lecturer/instructor paying to use a photocopier?

waxon-waxoff

The lecturer here is well in the sixties and told us he has retired from teaching. It annoys me that he is trying to squeeze a couple of extra euro out of people when he already has a generous pension and golden handshake in the bank. He spent the first half hour on day one rambling on about his life story and the history of the college. Who gives a sh!t

During this extended intro he mentioned Pat or John or whoever who was making tea at half time. Then yer man knocks at the door to let us know he was serving it. I thought it was going to be free after the lecturer making such a big deal! The cups are three inches high max.

I started another evening course same week. This time the lecturer works in the private sector, got straight into it, and handed out photocopies of relevant newspaper articles.... for free.

By the way i have a job and money. Its about the principle and fairness, if you let someone rip you they walk all over you. If you pay for something you should get something in return.

MunsterCycling

Course materials if not clearly stated should be included in the fees paid, tbh the VEC system has no checks for standards in place at all so they are free to do as they please until reigned in by the college.

noodler

gpf101 wrote: »

Happens all the time in College. Just pay the €15 euro and get on with the course. If you genuinely can't afford it have a quiet word with the lecturer.

I don't know where you are going with the €1.50 for coffee. Thats perfectly normal.

Troy Curved Pug wrote: »

I have to agree with gpf101 in that you simply go to the lecturer and explain if you can't afford the material. All courses have costs over and above the course fees.

As for the €1.50 for coffee. Are you for real? That's cheap!

On the fence here. Very little in the way of notes was provided in college as an undergraduate or pastgraduate for me but this was mainly because you were either suppossed to do the reading and make your own notes in class (History) or the notes were available online (Economics).

If it is on a small scale I can vaguely understand why he can't upload them somewhere but why not just email you the notes? This really has to be a judgement call on the OP's part but isn't it a bigger problem if you can't even see the slides he puts up?

Maybe they are worth it, maybe the lecturer is underpaid (not your problem I agree), maybe there are additional costs or maybe you really could do the course without them. Its a tough call to decide whether or not you are literally blind without them or is he really spoonfeeding and saving you time with the notes. Lots of lecturers in Universities prefer you to do readings etc on your own but I appreciate you said this course was very practical.

Anyway, I really don't see how 1.50 for coffee is expensive in this day and age.

granturismo

I used to lecture a night course over 20 nights. The syllabus only provided 20 headings and 10 bullet points per topic. To keep students interest and give them value for money I typed my own notes, including diagrams which resulted in approx 400 pages. I also provided 100-200 pages per student of industry related brochures/articles.

The college did not provide photocopying on this scale so I had to pay for it myself and charged €15-€20. A minority of students were a bit surprised at being charged €15 on top of course fees.

I checked with the college if I could charge and the reply was that their terms and conditions specified that tutors/lecturers could charge additional fees for course material.

Every year I offered to give each student a free cd with pdf but no one ever took this option. I always gave a receipt from a standard receipt book and not college issued receipts, since the college didnt provide the copies and know that students used these to recoup costs from employers.