Thoughts about Tuition Refunds and
Personal Responsibilities
We Agreed on The Price
I used to make my living as a fashion and advertising photographer. When I began seminary, I kept doing photography to make ends meet. The leader of a Christian band approached me and asked if I would do promo photos of his group. I gave him a good deal which was substantially lower than my usual day rate. We agreed on the price and set a time for the photo session.
Even though I had given him my day-rate (at a substantial discount), he wanted to do the shoot in a location that we could not use until late in the evening.
When we had completed the shoot and I had given him the photos, he said that he did not want to pay the agreed price because the shoot did not take as long as he had expected.
I had priced the shoot according to professional protocols, including setup time, which was a couple of hours. Not only had I given him a discounted rate because he was a Christian, I did not charge for the travel time which is usually added into the mix.
So, even though he had received the session and photos at less than half of my normal rate, he refused to pay the amount we agreed on. His reasoning, among other things, was that his band does not charge for set up time, so apparently I should not charge for set up time either.
These are two different professions with different billing practices. The point here is not the billing or the time or the discount: The point is that we had agreed upon a price, and he would not honor that agreement. By the time it was all done, it actually cost me money to do the shoot!
I am sad to say that I have been cheated a number of times in business. Certainly there have been times when someone could not come through with a commitment due to business failure or other uncontrollable problems and while that is still difficult, it is at least understandable. But just deciding not to follow through with a commitment is wrong.
When I was working on my Master of Divinity, I unwisely overloaded myself one semester and could not keep up the work. I had to drop a class, but it was beyond the “drop date.” I still dropped the class, but I had to forfeit the six-hundred dollars in tuition. Then, later, I had to take the class again to be able to graduate, and once more I paid the tuitionw for it.
This situation, however, was my error. I never asked for (or, worse, demanded) any of the money back, and money for a struggling student was very hard to come by (not that things have changed much these days). I knew that the refund rules were in the Student Handbook, and I agreed to them and followed them without complaint. I could have complained that health problems were making my studies more difficult, which was true. Even though my health problems got worse, I continued to be responsible to the commitments which I agreed to.
Finger Pointing
I am both fascinated and disturbed by how often grown adults who call themselves Christians are not willing to be responsible for their own actions. Over the years I have dealt with people who have not taken responsibility for their actions, mistakes, and sins. I have met some who always seemed to be pointing the finger at someone else.
Of course, not "owning" one's personal responsibility and good old-fashioned finger pointing came with the first sin of mankind:
But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate" (Genesis 3:9-13).
Adam said that it was THAT woman that you gave to me. I've never been quite sure exactly who Adam was blaming. Was it Eve, or was it God?
Was it: "THE WOMAN you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
Or, was it: "The woman YOU PUT HERE with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
While the first one is bad enough, the second one is downright scary. Yet, I have met people who blame God for all of their troubles. Never mind that they have a free-will with which they make poor choices, and then suffer the consequences. Some people feel that as long as they are Christians, then God should not hold them accountable for their present situations. In fact, I have counseled many people who were angry at God! Go figure.
Next, after Adam makes his statement, Eve jumps into the finger-pointing act and says, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . but notice the outcome. The serpent is cursed by God, but God also holds both Adam and Eve responsible for their actions. You can point your finger at others all you want, but God knows the score. And, he knows exactly what your part is, and He will hold you responsible for your part in the situation.
Jonah
You know, I like Jonah on this point. In the midst of a great storm, the sailors in the boat with Jonah had cast lots to find out who was responsible for there present calamity, and the lot fell on Jonah.
So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?" He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land." This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?" "Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you" (Jonah 1:8-12).
Wow! Yes, he was out of God's will. Yes, he was running from God. But, when it came down to putting others in jeopardy, he "owned up" and took responsibility.
Too often Christians are out of God's will and running from God, but when the "storms" come, they blame everyone except themselves.
The CES Refund Policy and Procedure of Withdrawal As a Board Member of CES, I have been involved in assessing some student complaints in which they had gone beyond the Refund timeline and yet either requested or demanded their money back.
One of the areas that simply amazes me is lack of personal responsibility of some of the people who withdraw from their studies with CES. CES has always made very clear its Refund Policy and Procedure of Withdrawal [see Refund Policy and Procedure of Withdrawal].
When students go through the application process, there is a statement that they must sign. On the application form, under STUDENT'S DECLARATION, it states in part: "I have read, understand, and agree with the Refund Policy." Then, just below that, the student must sign his/her name and date the application. No student is accepted into CES without a positive response to that statement.
Yet, some students do not take the responsibility to truly engage in their selected program of study. When they do not "own" their responsibility as students, they often withdraw from the program. And, almost without fail, they do not follow the guidelines of the Procedure of Withdrawal, and they take no responsibility for having explicitly agreed to the Refund Policy. In other words, without following the protocol that they agreed to, they simply "demand" their money back.
Now, let me quickly add that not all who withdraw take no responsibility for their situation. Some students who have withdrawn over the years have openly stated that they made an informed decision when enrolling, and though they were now withdrawing from the program, they knew that there would be no refunds for them because they had gone beyond the time of refunds. They "owned" their personal responsibility before God and man.
However, some who have withdrawn have blamed everyone but themselves. One student didn't complete a single class during his entire time as a student with us, and then he wanted a refund. Citing financial problems and difficulties that he was then going through, he attempted to make CES responsible for his present situation. He said that if we would refunded his money, then he'd be able to pay his bills (bills which he had gotten himself into--bills unrelated to his educational pursuits).
Playing the "Christian-Card" Another student had a difficult time with his studies. He was passing, but just barely. And, no matter how much time his mentor dedicated to him and instructed him on proper research and the proper writing of academic papers, his work simply was not improving. Squeaking by with the lowest GPA possible, he decided to drop out. Well past the time for any refunds, he demanded his tuition back. He played the "Christian-card" and said, "Well, if you were really a Christian organization, you'd give me my money back."
I could go on and on with various other situations in which students have not owned up to their personal responsibilities, but I think that the point has been made.
Jesus makes an interesting statement about assessing the job that you are about to do. He says,
Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish (Luke 14:28-30).
Notice that the man who wanted to build the tower was the one who will be ridiculed. It wasn't the "mortar company" who was ridiculed. It won't be Bricks R Us that is ridiculed. The person who is responsible will be the one held responsible.
Interestingly, just this week as I was working on this Coffee Talk, I received an email from Dr. Ric Walston saying that he was pleased with the responsibility of one man who was just then going through a withdrawal from the program. The student, Steven, had followed the proper PROCEDURE OF WITHDRAWAL, and he requested what was actually due him. This was Dr. Walston's letter in response to his request:
Dear Steven,
We received your letter [in the mail, not email] of withdrawal today, April 5, 2004, which is 14 days since your enrollment. You are entitled to an 80% refund of your tuition. Thank you for following the proper withdrawal procedure.
80% of $336 is $268.80 -- We will be mailing you a check for $268.80 in a couple of weeks as we adjust our records.
We are sorry that you will not be going forward with your program.
We pray that you will fulfill your calling that God has on your life, and we hope that we have developed a friendship with you.
If you have questions in the future about distance learning or whatever, please know that you can always email me and communicate with me.
Blessings to you and yours.
In His grace,
Ric Walston, Ph.D.
Certainly this Coffee Talk is about more than simply student withdrawals and tuition refund policies, but recent events have made these issues foremost in my mind lately.
In every area of our lives, we must "own" our responsibilities and be willing to accept both the successes of our choices and the failures.
