ACTR and their program in Moscow

[Candice A McDougall]

As a recent student participant in a year-long ACTR program in St. 
Petersburg, I would like to add that my experience was also very 
positive, from a student's point of view. The support we got from ACTR 
was well-balanced and very high-quality. We had a similar experience 
with our passports, and we ended up getting them back just in time. I'm 
pretty sure this was not the fault of the resident director nor the 
Washington office; something or another had changed with the visa 
policies, I think, and ACTR had to react to that, which thankfully they 
did and we students just had to concentrate on learning Russian.

Regarding auditing, I think the idea is that if you are comfortable 
enough with your Russian that you think you want to audit a class in a 
Russian university, you should probably be prepared to do a little 
exploration on your own. There are a lot of different kinds of study 
abroad options out there. Some hold the students' hand from the time 
they board the plane to the time they get off their return flight in the 
US; these programs don't usually allow the students much freedom to do 
anything much on their own, like auditing courses or traveling 
independently in-country. Other students enroll independently in Russian 
universities and have almost complete freedom, but very little support 
if they get in a bind. I found ACTR provided the optimal (for me) 
balance of freedom and support. Our resident director would point us in 
the right direction when we needed help, but we still had to do things 
ourselves; that's how we learned for ourselves how things work in 
Russia. Going to the university to find out about the course schedule is 
great language practice.

As far as job applicants, I can't say I have any experience with that 
aspect of ACTR. I might mention, however, that if your acquaintance 
didn't have a great deal of patience and persistence, perhaps they 
weren't so "highly qualified" to do the sort of work that ACTR does, 
after all.

Candice McDougall

Dustin H. wrote:
> Dear SEELANGers,
>
> I am not exactly sure how to address it, so I wanted to discuss it in the
> open since it concerns all who are interested in ACTR and their program in
> Moscow.
>
> I have several acquaintanes, friends, and colleagues who have dealt with
> ACTR from within the past few years up until the present.  I have only heard
> negative comments about ACTR and their program in both Moscow and St.
> Petersburg from my close sources – again friends and acquaintances.  People
> have constantly mentioned (complained about) how unprofessional and untimely
> the ACTR often responds to requests – from those students on ACTR Moscow
> program and even to those even requesting information.
>
> My questions are these:
>
> 1) Why were students told to take a long Thanksgiving break, but not told
> until approximately one week before Thanksgiving that their visas would have
> to be extended (or renewed?) and therefore they would not have their
> passports, which are necessary for travel within Russia?
>
> Some students made travel arrangements, bought tickets, and then were not
> able to go because the resident director had contradicted him/herself and
> misinformed the students, taking their passports at the last possible
> minute.
>
> 2) Why were students told that they could audit courses with Russian
> university students, but at the same time the students were not given
> information on exactly how to do this?
>
> An answer from the resident director to the effect of "There's a schedule
> somewhere in the university.... and you have to look at it yourself" is
> ineffective and will only confuse American students, who generally do not
> know how Russian universities function.
>
> 3) In regard to job applicants, ACTR has persistently dragged out the
> application process and not given timely answers to their applicants.  This
> reflects negatively upon ACTR as a potential employer and as an organization
> in general.  Giving an especially highly qualified applicant a positive
> answer and then not responding is outright rude and unprofessional.
>
> Why does the ACTR allow this?
>
> Again, these are concerns which I feel should be addressed by the community
> that the ACTR serves.  This is why I have chosen to mention these issues
> here.
>
>   

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------