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I won scholarship but dean won't sign check. Possible Lawsuit?

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I'd talk to her boss first.

Don't take it to the papers unless you're ready to have your ass raked over the coals.

A lawsuit might be appropriate, but make sure the school doesn't have an excuse to expel you first.

Political issues like this can get REALLY nasty.
 
Welcome to the real world where petty jealousies, bruised egos, and ne'er do wells can cost you money!

Even if you are right, she will still take that victory over some snot nosed teenager away to her new job.

<devils_advocate>
1) She may have some ground to stand on since your charter states:
SECTION 3: CONFLICT OF INTEREST
No member should vote on a question in which he/she has a direct personal or financial interest and said director shall disclose such an interest if it exists.

While you didn't personally vote yourself the money directly, you did indeed vote for the creation of the scholarship fund. While no direct correlation can be inferred between you and the scholarship committee, who can say that you did not utlimately influence the voting group by being the creator of this group. And too, are you the only Director that won a scholarship?

2) The Dean of Student Life - Dr. ****** *****, is there upon the designation of the President of SMC. He is her boss; she has no peers. To override her position is to undermine her authority. He won't step in to do her job.

3)You look a bit smug in your photos.
</devils_advocate>


With that being said, find a friend at your paper, The Corsair. A little story about how you think you are right. Never, never, as a student say that you know you are right. Play up the angle of poor little student, following the rules just trying to get by. With the copy done and printed in the paper, forward it to the editorial office (a specific person, not just the office!) of your local paper.




I had trouble with my student activities board during my college years, too. See link.
 
Originally posted by: MaxDepth
Welcome to the real world where petty jealousies, bruised egos, and ne'er do wells can cost you money!

Even if you are right, she will still take that victory over some snot nosed teenager away to her new job.

<devils_advocate>
1) She may have some ground to stand on since your charter states:
SECTION 3: CONFLICT OF INTEREST
No member should vote on a question in which he/she has a direct personal or financial interest and said director shall disclose such an interest if it exists.

While you didn't personally vote yourself the money directly, you did indeed vote for the creation of the scholarship fund. While no direct correlation can be inferred between you and the scholarship committee, who can say that you did not utlimately influence the voting group by being the creator of this group. And too, are you the only Director that won a scholarship?

2) The Dean of Student Life - Dr. ****** *****, is there upon the designation of the President of SMC. He is her boss; she has no peers. To override her position is to undermine her authority. He won't step in to do her job.

3)You look a bit smug in your photos.
</devils_advocate>


With that being said, find a friend at your paper, The Corsair. A little story about how you think you are right. Never, never, as a student say that you know you are right. Play up the angle of poor little student, following the rules just trying to get by. With the copy done and printed in the paper, forward it to the editorial office (a specific person, not just the office!) of your local paper.




I had trouble with my student activities board during my college years, too. See link.
Click to expand...

Nice to see some political acumen on ATOT! 🙂
 
Its about basic decorum, conflict of interest, and the appearance of impropriety. I agree that it should have been in writing.

But what you have done is tantamount to getting elected as a prominent member of a local zoning/development board, helped implement a new program which awards grants to businesses who want to develop certain areas, then applying for those grants yourself.

It not only strains, it blatantly crosses, ethical standards and most people with an ounce of integrity would never have applied in the first place let alone actually believe they are entitled to this award.

This is a textbook example of why these things must be put in writing, because you cannot count on everyone having basic levels of ethics and decency.
 
I had no part in creating the project except simply by a "yes" vote during that fateful board meeting. My interest as a Director versus my interest as a club member just happened to agree with each other without conflict on this issue. Take note that this project was such a good idea for the student body that the decision was unanimous. Certainly my interests as a public volunteer and an individual did not conflict and a conflict of interest did not exist.

As a former Director, I would never have said "no" to this even if I knew I would not apply. The questions here is: "is this highly-involved, highly-motivated club member well-deserving of such a scholarship?" The Scholarship Committee certainly thinks so. Being a director certainly didn't help me at all since they were basing their decision not on what I did outside of the club (ASSMC) but what I did FOR the club.

Before I was a Director, I was a club member. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: tcsenter
Its about basic decorum, conflict of interest, and the appearance of impropriety. I agree that it should have been in writing.

But what you have done is tantamount to getting elected as a prominent member of a local zoning/development board, helped implement a new program which awards grants to businesses who want to develop certain areas, then applying for those grants yourself.

It not only strains, it blatantly crosses, ethical standards and most people with an ounce of integrity would never have applied in the first place let alone actually believe they are entitled to this award.

This is a textbook example of why these things must be put in writing, because you cannot count on everyone having basic levels of ethics and decency.
Click to expand...

Although the idea of tipping the papers to it seems juicy, TCCENTER's reply is most right on.
The mere appearance of impropriety is to be avoided while in the public eye.
If who was and who wasn't allowed to apply wasn't specifically addressed in the Scholarships requirements, it should've been.
The Dean's boss is PROBABly not going to undermine her authority on something like this.
I think you're unfortunately screwed.....
:disgust: sorry to hear about this.
 
I had no part in creating the project except simply by a "yes" vote during that fateful board meeting. My interest as a Director versus my interest as a club member just happened to agree with each other without conflict on this issue. Take note that this project was such a good idea for the student body that the decision was unanimous. Certainly my interests as a public volunteer and an individual did not conflict and a conflict of interest did not exist.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I mean, zoning/development boards have been known to unanimously approve the application of their former board members, too. I mean, that's kinda the whole point of applying, because you have a favorable relationship with everyone doing the voting. That is what a conflict of interest means.

Your "excuse" is what I would also expect from the guy applying for the grants: "Well, I didn't 'create' this program, I was just on the board which approved it. I just voted yes, that's all. I didn't know at the time that I would start a business and apply for the grant myself."
rolleye.gif


Had you been nominated for some kind of award, that might be different. But Jeezus you applied for the scholarship yourself.

I like your AT Forums member name. With this kind of mentality, you should be a millionaire in no time at all...if you manage to stay out of prison.
 
it's the image and the pride that these scholarships bring.
Click to expand...

get over it...suing the school you go to is a really dumb idea...that's gonna screw you over big time. you want friends, not enemies at this stage of your life.

this is a fight that can only hurt you (regardless of the outcome)

drop it and move on.
 
If you want to take this further, you HAVE to get rid of the whiff of impropriety, but that is easy. Announce to one and all that you are donating the money to some scholarship program for very young, disabled kids, and that you are horribly upset that these poor deserving children are being deprived of their rightful money.

Look, dude, this is a game, and this is the way the game is played. The Dean, since she made it to dean, is obviously a very good player. You have a lot to learn.

First, you are going about this the wrong way. Your goal is revenge, and she earned it. Who are your allies? Who else has she wronged? (There are always other people.) What documentation do you have? Next, who are your enemies? Not just her . . . who would be on her side in a confrontation?

Now, what do all these people want? What can you do for them? So, she's leaving? Do a little research into the new place she's going. Who will she be working for? Does her new college have an "official" charity? Is the new college president widely identified with a charity? Aha, announce that your "scholarship money" was going to be donated to that charity - you can tie it in with the purpose of the scholarships very easily. (i.e. hospital: it goes to the hospital for educating a sick kid)

Then, you find a media person who needs something. Ask around. Give them the story. Make it easy for them.

If nothing else, it will make her think twice if there's a next time.

But watch out, you aren't good at this, and she's better.
 
I would try to give your dean bad publicity (if there is such a thing) for this dishonorable act. I'm sure that through media channels something will get done. I wouldn't go as far as suing the school over money since no real damage was done, you would be wasting your time in court.
 
[RANT]

As I have stated before, this is not about the amount. $350? Would it make sense for me to be wasting my valuable time on a mere $350 when I received scholarships and grants worth over $3000 from outside organizations and my new university who truly believe I deserve it for my work? No it does not. $350? Might as well use that on the students. But that's besides the point.

What is really the point is: is the dean really so interested in conflict of interest? Why, so many of what she has done as a dean and as advisor to the ASSMC involved blatant conflicts of interests. Since when did the dean become interested in a conflict of interest issue? Was it when she illegally used student money, essentially betraying the students' trust, for a friend's baby shower? Was it when she had every thank you letter from students and organizations benefitted by ASSMC sent to her in her name to pad her resume? Was it when she intentionally, maliciously walked out of an ASSMC board meeting when an action item was to reduce administrators' involvement in the beloved Constitution of the ASSMC, causing a loss of quorum since the advisor (her) must be present? Was it when she vetoed one $1,000 club scholarship a club proposed because she spoke out against it and didn't want to look bad, even though the ASSMC board unanimously passed it afterwards when the club appealed because there was no rule forbidding that?

And NOW, she's interested in a conflict of interest issue involving me because I spent more than 2 years of my life looking out for the cause of the students and the clubs, not afraid to speak out against any mismanagement of funds or abuses of power even if the offender is someone on top, that being against her interests? No, it isn't about conflict of interest. She's out "to get" me and she will stop at nothing, including getting her friends up top to join in a ploy, to get an honest student, me.

I am not from Los Angeles. I moved into this strange land three years ago as a stranger to attend UCLA, eventually going to SMC instead. I live out near where the farms are north of Elk Grove. I will be going back and living there for the next several years, in a week. But my passion does not stop in Elk Grove when it comes to students because I know what it's like to be a student being tossed around by administrators who just don't care about the students but rather their jobs. These administrators are not the same types as teachers, no. At least teachers meet with students everyday, continually teaching them to become eventually better than them. Administrators like this dean gets paid almost six figures in salary and bonuses, plus the benefits she steals from the ASSMC. Each year she is given an award, as is the rest of her staff, for doing what they were paid to do, sometimes less. Us Directors, students with no salary, no benefits, who quit our jobs (I quit working for Best Buy's PCHO to work for ASSMC) for the benefit of students, do not even get an award at the end, not even a card or a notice. It's the Directors who get nothing these days; those who would risk lower GPAs so that other students would get better campus lifestyles, better GPAs, and a better experience through activities, scholarships, and political representation.

Even if it was a question of conflict of interest, which it isn't, doesn't that clause in our beloved Constitution say:
"SECTION 3: CONFLICT OF INTEREST
No member should vote on a question in which he/she has a direct personal or financial interest and said director shall disclose such an interest if it exists. "?
Doesn't the bolded part merely suggests that in order to prevent even the slightest suspicion of conflict of interest, no one should vote if any personal or financial interest exists? I tell you the truth that it is Directors in a Constitution committee who come up with these words in this Constitution. Most of these Directors are not in law or anything pertaining to political science. Our ASSMC president is a film major, our Dir. of Student Service, an International Relations major, our Secretary, a Linguistics major, our Dir. of Financial Support, a Sociology major, and some others undecided. We students would much rather have a shortcut than to go into detail over what is and what isn't a conflict of interest; and that shortcut comes as the word "should". It is my direct personal interest to help the students because I see other students as myself at one point; is it a conflict of interest to vote on anything that would help students? I say nay; that's just ludicrous. Only if my interest as a Dir. of Budget Mngt. and as Mr. MillionaireNextDoor conflicts with each other is there an actual Conflict of Interest. In this case, there is no such conflict.

Let me tell you, and let me say what is so, If you help the dean in getting what she wants; a final resounding revenge for my looking out for the students' interests rather than her own selfish ones, so be it. But until she stops her behavior in putting herself first, second, and third on her priority list, and to wise up, issues like this will pop up over and over again, just in another school. They will come as the earthquakes in LA. They will come as the hurricanes come in the East, and sometimes the West. When they come, we as a people will be responsible for our acquiescing in condoning her actions, and we will be forced to look at ourselves as human beings of morality, honor, truth, and integrity.

This is about the principle of it all and am I not a student too? A paying ASSMC sticker holder officially signifying that I am an ASSMC member? There are sell-outs like the dean, and the ASSMC president (flatterer) who would love to see me fail. There are also those students, club officers and members, and members of next year's ASSMC board who agree with the merits of my case regarding this issue. If this case turns in her favor, there will be people who will congratulate her on her success. However, if this case turns the other way, towards justice, there will even be more people who will thank all those involved on this side for providing justice where one doth not exist, til someone speaks out.

[/RANT]
 
Originally posted by: psianime
I would try to give your dean bad publicity (if there is such a thing) for this dishonorable act. I'm sure that through media channels something will get done. I wouldn't go as far as suing the school over money since no real damage was done, you would be wasting your time in court.
Click to expand...

Hmm sounds like a plan.
 
A lawsuit isn;t worth it really. You'd only end up being able to sue the school, not the person. Basically get as much media attention, I agree with that advice, and at this point you should know you aren't gonna get the money no matter what so change you tactics slightly. Demand that the scholarships are disbursed to someone else. you know that $350 is just going to get pocketed by an administrator if it doesn't go out.

I actually had a similar experience oddly enough. Change a few of the details and have the president side with the dean and you got my story. I ended up getting her fired through a completely unrelated event. Sometimes karma seems to work. <g>
 
Drop it and move on. You don't want the professors and students to know you as "the punk who sued the school" or something. Starting from college you begin to network, and this has to be among the worst ways to get to know people(in this case, they get to know you). No one's going to care about the details. They're just going to know that you got the scholarship you helped create.
 
grow up and move on...this is ridiculous

you need to learn that the world isn't fair and just...
on a scale of 1 - 10, this evil deed rates a 0.

so what if your right?

your going to lose a lot more if you keep pursuing this issue...cut your loses
 
[RANT]As I have stated before, this is not about the amount....blah blah blah[/RANT]
Click to expand...
You're right, this is about you, and someone having the audacity to deny you something you believe you're entitled to. Notice a recurring theme in that statement?

The thing about ethics is, you'll never in a million years be able to explain them to someone who just doesn't 'get it'. Just wasting your breath. People who don't understand ethics are all about why they are or should be the exception.

So here you are, our future zoning/development board member, failing to get any satisfaction by pleading your case, and now you're angry about it. It went from pleading this:

"But I'm special and deserve this, don't you see? Its me, that's why I deserve an exception. Look at how special I am; I did all this community service and volunteer work because it would look good on my record."

To this:

"ME GODDAMNIT ME! YOU WILL NOT DENY ME GODDAMN YOU! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO DENY ME!"

Are you familiar at all with the term extreme narcissism?

And the more you attempt to discredit the decision of your dean by ad hominem, the more badly it reflects on you. Your dean is absolutely right, and any side-issues involving her own alleged breaches of ethics does not detract from the correctness of her position on this matter. The best that this can accomplish is to further reinforce your narcissism in that you expect her to overlook this violation because she might have crossed the line herself, which really is an implicit confession that you know it would strain ethics for you to receive this award but you quite frankly don't give a damn (ME GODDAMNIT ME!).

But I'm sure that's all Greek to you, as I'm sure it would be to our hypothetical zoning/development board friend.

As I stated earlier, you really chose a good member name. With this kind of narcissistic element permeating your thinking, you should be a millionaire in no time. Provided that you can stay out of jail long enough, that is.
 
Originally posted by: tcsenter
[RANT]As I have stated before, this is not about the amount....blah blah blah[/RANT]
Click to expand...
You're right, this is about you, and someone having the audacity to deny you something you believe you're entitled to. Notice a recurring theme in that statement?

The thing about ethics is, you'll never in a million years be able to explain them to someone who just doesn't 'get it'. Just wasting your breath. People who don't understand ethics are all about why they are or should be the exception.

So here you are, our future zoning/development board member, failing to get any satisfaction by pleading your case, and now you're angry about it. It went from pleading this:

"But I'm special and deserve this, don't you see? Its me, that's why I deserve an exception. Look at how special I am; I did all this community service and volunteer work because it would look good on my record."

To this:

"ME GODDAMNIT ME! YOU WILL NOT DENY ME GODDAMN YOU! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO DENY ME!"

Are you familiar at all with the term extreme narcissism?

And the more you attempt to discredit the decision of your dean by ad hominem, the more badly it reflects on you. Your dean is absolutely right, and any side-issues involving her own alleged breaches of ethics does not detract from the correctness of her position on this matter. The best that this can accomplish is to further reinforce your narcissim in that you expect her to overlook this violation because she might have crossed the line herself, which really is an implicit confession that you know it would strain ethics for you to receive this award but you quite frankly don't care (ME GODDAMNIT ME!)

But I'm sure that's all Greek to you, as I'm sure it would be to our hypothetical zoning/development board friend.
Click to expand...
No really, tell him what you actually think LOL😀
 
I can't believe no one else has suggested, as I did, that you take it to your schools judicial commity. That is basically what it is set up to do, settle disputes between school members be they administration or students. Furthur more, I think they will side with you, and embarass the dean. It aslo won't cost you anything.
 
If the money isn't anything, then go to the Dean and tell her that you want your name on the list of people that "won" the scholarship so you get the recognition for your "service" but you will not claim the money.

I never would have applied for such an award as it is far over the ethical line.

Michael
 
youre in for a long hard ride in life if you think you will get things just because you deserve/earn them. life dont work like that, and if you want to be the millionairenextdoor, you better learn that quick. the higher up you go, the more its about who you jerk-off, not how well you do or how much you earn it. so you think she screwed you over....get used to it. wont be the last time. if you cant handle something like this, that is a conflict of interest, intended or not, then youre going to get "screwed" every day of your life. get over yourself, drop it, and move on.
 
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