Hello all,
My name is Christina Elvidge and I'm the senior English instructor at Penn Foster College. There are a few misconceptions here that I would like to clear up. I also invite you to reply or send a private message since many of the issues raised in this thread cannot be addressed in a public forum as they relate to students' privacy.
First, sharonbusiness, thank you for providing instructions to contact an instructor. Everyone should please note that Student Care representatives are NOT instructors. They can help you with enrollment, payments, shipments and many other important elements of your life as a student with Penn Foster. However, they cannot help you with your coursework. A Student Care representative will transfer you to speak with an instructor when you have questions about a course. Instructors are available by phone at 1-888-427-1000 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. eastern time. When you call, you may directly reach the instructor with whom you need to speak. But if that he or she is talking with another student, your call will be taken by another instructor in another department who will confirm your name, student ID and telephone number and send a message so that the teacher you need calls you back as soon as he or she is available. All of our transactions with students are noted, so we know when calls are transferred between departments, when requests for callbacks are sent, and what each conversation with a student entails. When a student's file does not include a record of contact with an instructor, transferred calls or messages, it indicates that a student did not attempt to contact us.
Students are also welcome to email their questions or concerns, and Sharon, this is where I need to correct you because we've recently implemented a new email system that changed the Help Center on the Student Portal. To contact an instructor, click on Help Center. Then click on Find Answers/Ask a Question. You will be prompted to first search for an answer in our database, since it is very extensive, you may find what you need simply by searching. If your search does not yield the answer you are looking for, you will see a new link allows you to ask a question - this generates an email to the instructor. Remember, the more information you include in your email, the better able we are to help you.
Finally, with regard to plagiarism, we do not accuse students. As instructors, it is our responsibility to ensure that students are meeting the objectives for an assignment and for the course. We do not believe in coincidence. When the content of a paper exactly matches information we find online, we point it out because it is our job to do so. There are times when a student will use information that cannot be considered common knowledge, so we will also comment on it. We do not consider the latter example plagiarism, although we do note that the information in question needs to be cited and we will return the essay to provide an opportunity for revision. If the content is not revised in the next draft, then it will be considered plagiarism because it was pointed out to the student, who then chose not address it.
A course like composition can be difficult when you have breezed through a semester or more full of multiple-choice exams, so we have tried to provide as much support as possible, including documents and supplemental instructions here on the Community and on your portal. We offer as much feedback as we can to help you revise, however, we also try to be conscious of the fact that providing too much can be discouraging. Composition is not a course that students "get through" or in which they "get stuck," and we do not purposely hold students back. We have a responsibility, which we take very seriously, to students to ensure that they acquire the skills necessary to help them succeed in their future course and in the digital workplace in which good writing skills are paramount. We hope that students will contact us and we are happy to answer any questions that come up or respond to concerns.
Once again, please do not hesitate to contact me or my colleague rianna.johns if you need help with an assignment.
Sincerely,
Christina Elvidge
Senior English Instructor