Non-Traditional Doctoral Students

I chose an on ground but non-traditional school for my doctoral program for a couple of reasons. Chief among the reasons were:

·         I needed to continue working

·         I wanted to finish on time

·         I did not want to be someone’s slave

There are horror stories on all these things within the “traditional” doctoral programs, even in the so-called more “prestigious” institutions. My personal thought with more named universities is that you are buying access, not necessarily a better education (leave it at that for today). Whenever I hear stories like the one I am about to share, I feel confident I made the right decision.

“Former Intern Wins Back Wages From University”

“A former doctoral student who worked as a psychology intern at the University of California at San Francisco was awarded more than $14,000 in back wages after filing a complaint with the California labor commissioner over uncompensated work, the International Business Times reported. While the internship was paid, Johanna Workman was only allowed to log 17 of 40 hours per week, she said, and although she had expected a stipend, she was paid hourly and did not make minimum wage. Workman was not a student during the six months for which she sought back wages – August 2012 through January 2013 – having graduated in 2011. But the case is unusual in that interns who have sued over violation of labor laws in recent months have worked in the private sector. In ruling against the university, the California Labor Commissioner cited the U.S. Department of Labor’s guidelines for unpaid internships, the same guidelines that were applied in the recent court victory of unpaid interns – also non-students – over Fox Searchlight Pictures”.

http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/08/09/former-intern-wins-back-wages-university

 

 

What are your thoughts and feelings about stories like this?

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III

The ETeam