I faced discrimination, abuse and persecution at the University of Northern British Columbia when I was studying there towards my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. This happened because I am an immigrant English Second Language student and a single mother.
These
UNBC faculty members are primarily guilty in my case:
Martha MacLeod, the chair of UNBC nursing program; Sarah Hanson, my
instructor for NURS 315 (mental health nursing - practicum); Lyle Grant, the
lead instructor for my mental health nursing (NURS 312 theory and NURS 315
practicum); and Khaldoun Aldiabat, my instructor for my community health
nursing (NURS 420 theory and NURS 440 practicum).
This focus on community health nursing was something
which I wanted to avoid but was forced to take. Even though I was one of the
top nursing students, the instructor in this course (Nursing 440) failed me
with the direction and support of the chair of UNBC's School of Nursing.
What UNBC does to some of its nursing students is
horrible. Much of it seems to be
attributable to personal dislike by particular UNBC faculty members.
UNBC consistently supports the chair of UNBC’s School of Nursing,
Martha MacLeod, no matter what she and some of her faculty members do to
nursing students. UNBC officials turn a
deaf ear to the student's complaints unless the student's lawyer is involved.
Since 2011 UNBC has forbidden students from employing
lawyers during the appeal process. Yet hiring a lawyer at one’s own expense was the
only means by which students could try to defend their rights at UNBC.
In 2012, even before I submitted my documents
for the appeal of my failing grade in NURS 440, I was informed that they would
fail me. Yet failure in this
course, NURS 440, meant that I could not graduate with my Bachelor of Science
in Nursing.
Failure prohibited me from writing my Registered Nurse
exam and receiving my license allowing me to work as a registered nurse.
In turn, that caused me to lose the registered nurse job I had been promised in
one part of the hospital.
Now,
instead, I owe a huge student debt with no means of repaying it -- or of
supporting myself and my child.
A
lawyer told me that I definitely need to hire my own lawyer in order to defend
my rights against UNBC in court and that mine is a human rights case. But
I cannot afford a lawyer or the other legal expenses which would be associated
with a court case against UNBC. Without legal representation, I am unable to defend
my rights against UNBC and obtain my registered nurse degree.
UNBC waited until the end of my nursing training program to fail me in the last course, leaving me and my child in poverty with a huge student debt hanging over my head.
UNBC waited until the end of my nursing training program to fail me in the last course, leaving me and my child in poverty with a huge student debt hanging over my head.
In
Canada provincial governments granted a privilege to universities which allowed chairs of nursing schools
to fail students for “personal unsuitability” -- which can rarely if ever be
objectively distinguished from personal dislike of a nursing student.
Should
not
personal suitability be an employer’s judgment call -- even more so
when many nursing faculty members do not share the chair’s jaundiced view?
Governments
have privileged universities but failed to protect students’ rights and interests. The result continues to be many ruined lives.
Please help me get my nursing degree from UNBC, so I
can find a job and pay back my student debt.
You can sign my petition by clicking here.
Thank you for your support, and please pass this petition on to others to sign.
You can sign my petition by clicking here.
Thank you for your support, and please pass this petition on to others to sign.
To know more about
how UNBC has mistreated me, follow this link
