<p>Since my D has graduated from Millikin, I feel that I am now safe to tell of her experiences-especially since I paid the bill!
She had a very bad experience and I’m just glad she is out of there. I won’t repeat the things I cited in my earlier post, but to those who try to comment when you haven’t experienced it…well…you’re uninformed.
Yes, the crime around Decatur and campus was just as bad when she graduated, and seemed to be getting worse. I disagree with the previous poster that the campus isn’t attractive. Yes, it’s on a smaller piece of land, so the buildings are close, but with the weather being cold and snowy most of the school year, this is a good thing! There have been recent renovations and upgrades and the cemetery the above student referenced is on a back corner of the campus that most student’s never see! Yes, this campus has many old buildings, but some people find that very charming-including me!
I still stand by my comment that most students that begin the program do not graduate with an MT degree, and a simple fact finding mission can prove that. If they are honest, you will be shocked. For the years D was there, it was never more than a handful, and one year it was two. These classes began with 25-30. Don’t let them tell you that people “choose” to leave, blah blah blah as some have here. They “redirect/kick out” most of them and it’s not always for missing class or failure to work hard as some on here have suggested. It’s usually better for these “redirected” students to stay and graduate in four years than to go to another school and lose credits and have to pay more, so I’m sure the department numbers don’t reflect what is actually taking place within. A few students do leave. My last info was that this trend was still continuing.
It’s easy to find a freshman and sometimes a sophomore who will defend Millikin. I know. When many of my daughter’s class got “redirected” her freshman year and she didn’t, I admit (to my shame, now) that I felt relieved she “made it” and I would have defended Millikin at that point. My daughter’s class began with 30 enthusiastic, talented kids and ended with most of them graduating in other majors, deflated and crushed. (I think there were less than five.) One bad teacher in particular teaches a few required classes so there is no way to avoid her. It seems she has the power to single-handedly redirect students from the program. This person treats the students horribly and is very angry at life in general and I say that because of the following experience.
I was visiting my D and we were at a local store. D noticed the teacher and pointed her out, but did not want to see this woman and went to another part of the store to avoid her. Of course this woman did not recognize me. I was approaching her and another shopper with a cart was in front of her. She got so annoyed when the other shopper did not move her cart fast enough, that she yanked her cart, made a really nasty comment to the woman as she passed her, (complete with profanity) glared at her and sped past with her cart as if this person deliberately did something wrong! I was really appalled. The lady looked at me and I just shook my head. D had relayed stories in the past of how this woman treated students so rudely, that seemed pretty unbelievable. I thought she might have been being overly dramatic- evidently, not so.
The worst thing that ever happened and led to D’s departure from the program was her being given drugs at the health center to which she was allergic. She got sick, and went to the health center and was asked if she had any allergies. D said “Yes, I’m very allergic to sulfa drugs.” This nurse said, “OK, here you go” and handed D some pills in a bottle. When l called her, she was lethargic, her whole body was extremely swollen (including her tongue), and she told me she was in extreme pain. She was barely able to talk to me. The last time I had talked to her I knew she had a sore throat/virus. I was thinking her throat hurt and that is why she sounded so bad.
I asked her if she was taking medicine and she said she had gone to the health center and just now taken the second dose. I told her to get the bottle and read it to me, and yes, it was a sulfa drug. The name did not make it obvious, but I knew. (Later, when we discussed it, D said she never even thought to question it because they had literally JUST discussed the fact she was allergic and the nurse handed over the medicine. She was so sick she just took one and got into bed-lesson learned.) I called the nurse at the health center and told her my D had been given and had taken drugs to which she was allergic. Well, this nurse said she would physically go check on her, (because she had messed up) I couldn’t reach D for the next few hours, and I thought maybe the nurse had had her admitted to the hospital. The health center was now closed and I couldn’t reach anyone. I called the local hospital but she had not been admitted.
I finally reached D six hours later, (it was the longest six hours of my life) only to find that nobody had checked on her and that she had passed out on the floor trying to get to the bathroom, spent several hours on the floor, and had just now made it back to her bed. I was so angry at this point and too many hours away to do anything. I reached the nurse the following morning and she lied and lied. She told me she was on her way out the door right then with new medicine “in her hand” for my daughter. Hours later I learned no medicine had YET been delivered because actually they did not have anymore of the medicine in stock and had ended up calling a local pharmacy! She informed me that I wouldn’t be charged though. OH gee, thanks. I ended up talking to the Dean of Students because this was only one of many lies this “nurse” had told in the next few days. She lied about what my daughter had said, and got caught in her lies. The Dean actually caught her in a few, apologized to me and told me that he would take proper action. (She still works there.) She actually wrote lies in my daughter’s chart and then tried to say someone else had written them. This woman is really dangerous, and many other students later told my daughter that they “stay away from that place.”
D had arthritis as a complication from the allergic reaction and literally could not walk for a week. The nurse also failed to call her teachers as she said she would, so many teachers thought D was a no show for class. A call to the Dean straightened all of this out, and he assured me that D would be excused for the missed classes and that he would take care of it. (And for those that might think it, this incident was my first and last contact with the Dean, and no, I do not normally get involved. D is a capable adult. She was so sick during this time and this situation was so dangerous that I had to get involved. I have NEVER spoken to any Professor.)
When D returned to class, this teacher would not give her ample time to make up her work. She was supposed to have a week to make up the work according to the Dean and Millikin policy, but this ended up not being the case. All the other professors (all non-department except one) were great, but this teacher said two days was plenty and that if D didn’t have her stuff in two days, she would fail her. D decided that it was just not worth it to be under so much stress with this woman. She actually ended up getting a “C” in this course, but was “reevaluated” later at the request of this teacher who cited “lack of commitment evidenced by poor attendance” as her reason for the redirect. Even though her only absences in this woman’s class were from this one incident, D graduated with a BA in theatre.
I am happy to report that she is doing VERY well. She is blessed to have worked professionally every summer while in school. and she recently auditioned for her “dream job” and was one of eight to make it through the final round of the entire audition. As she walked out the auditioner called her back and said “you did a great job, today, we’ll be in touch.” So although she doesn’t want to “jinx” it, I think she is expecting a “yes” answer when they call.
Why do I take the time to write this? Because I was once in the same position of many of you reading this. I spent so much money on her education and believe me, she is not getting jobs BECAUSE of Millikin. She is getting them despite her education at Millikin. Millikin needs to reexamine the department and the results they are getting. D told me that they do an exit survey and it was the talk of her department friends how they were going to be honest and give examples and quotes that certain teachers and professors had said. I hope the powers that be are listening.</p>