The online petition demanding a refund for fall term’s ARTD250 lays out the story clearly.
“Please issue a refund for ARTD250 with Lindsay AuCoin,” the petition reads. “We have not received a substantial amount of class or content for what we paid.”
It’s difficult to imagine that at the beginning of the term, the course that inspired this petition looked promising, but that is the case according to student Hannah Baumann. When fall term started, Baumann was excited to begin ARTD250 — Print Media Digit Arts — which examines print media as a fine art and teaches digital drawing and photo editing. Baumann’s high expectations were met by the first day of class and her first impression of the professor, Lindsay AuCoin.
“After the first class I thought that this course was going to be fun and very interesting. I was excited,” Baumann said. “Lindsay seemed funny and knowledgeable.”
However, that impression quickly changed. According to Baumann, AuCoin became rude towards students, ridiculing them in class and refusing to answer questions directly.
The largest issue, though, was the lack of content in the class. Baumann said that, while labs were helpful, a typical lecture was the professor arriving late, then, taking 15 minutes to set up, showing the class a few pictures before letting them out early.
“I knew that lecture was a waste of time after a few lectures. We were learning nothing helpful or useful,” Baumann said.
During week 9 of the term, while waiting for the professor to arrive, a student proposed a solution: creating a petition for a refund of ARTD250.
“Those of us who were there thought it was a great idea,” Baumann said.
The UO art department could not comment on the petition, but has changed the course’s grading to focus mainly on labs. In addition, although the school is unable to refund the money from the course, short instructional videos are being created to substitute for lectures.
While Baumann said she appreciates the efforts of the art department, she doesn’t agree with the outcome.
“I paid to be taught during class time, not on my own time,” she said.
However, she stands by the complaints in the petition.
“I signed the petition because I feel like I had paid a lot of money to take this course and I got very little out of it,” she said. “I thought this class was going to be one of my favorite courses that I had taken at the UO but it turned out to be the worst class I have ever taken throughout my college career.”
