Thursday, August 10, 2006

Doctoral Applications and Email

Just a few minutes ago I was pondering what today's entry would discuss. I have had an unusually fun-filled day complete with redoing 35 web pages where an image had gone mysteriously wonky (yes, a real word), updated the main library web page with a very cool catalog search widget, updated several handouts for a children's literature professor, and perused the newest edition of School Library Journal to make another list of books to purchase. Since collection development for the juvenile collection is a favorite to-do things, I considered making it my afternoon topic. Then, I decided to check my Bloglines account and see what might be new in the blogosphere. Viola, something to write about jumped up and said hello.

A recent post in The Chronicle's Wired Campus, The Etiquette of E-Rejection, by Mitch Frye at Costal Carolina University, caught my attention. In it, Frye discusses a recent email rejection from a prestigious East Coast University. Apparently it has become the norm for doctoral programs to send out email rejection letters instead of form rejection letters. Either way, the news is not something a potential doctoral student would like to hear. Since I am on the fence about applying to a doctoral program near me, this particular instance of email rejection was appalling. In part, Frye said:

"The otherwise polite letter was rather impolitely sent to the e-mail in boxes of approximately 300 rejected candidates. Nor was it distributed through the use of the discreet "blind carbon copy" function. Instead, the sender simply copied and pasted the e-mail addresses of all 300 applicants into the "cc" box -- thereby making public all of our names." - Mitch Frye 8-10-06

In whose academic world is this brilliant (insert fully intentioned sarcasm here ) policy a good thing? Frye does not mention the name of the University, but with the distinction of it being a big East Coast college/university I can only begin to imagine.

Where is academic standard and or integrity?

What about confidentiality?

Is an institution ever large enough or prestigious enough to be exempt from exhibiting common courtesy?

I am currently at a loss for words descriptive enough to express my extreme distaste.



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