ACTR and their program in Moscow

[Alla Polyakova]

Dear Dustin,

I wanted to address the issue of auditing classes and visa extensions. I was
on a year long program with ACTR in 2006-2007 (meaning RECENT) in St.
Petersburg. I audited a class for an entire semester and I must tell you,
all the complaints come from students who unfortunately still don't
understand the Russian education system and the country itself. Things are
done very differently in Russia. Even the Russian students don't know the
class schedule until AFTER the classes have started. It is considered very
normal not to come to the first 2 classes of the semester because the
department has not made the class schedule public yet. Even when a schedule
is known, some departments will not let anyone "audit" a class since it is
not widely practiced in the country and if it is not directly required by an
ACTR program it is not a responsibility of the RD or ACTR to do the leg work
for the student if they want to audit a class. That is a choice that you
have and some programs actually discourage you from auditing classes, since
they're Russian is not on th level that it is supposed to be and you would
just be taking away from the rigirous language study that ACTR does provide
for you. (I passed the level 4 Russian Language exam and it was still a
challenge for me to audit a class in politics) My program required it, so
our wonderful RD over the years that he has spent in St. Petersburg
thankfully made friends with other department heads who welcomed American
students sometimes with not such open arms. I just want to make clear, my
program required auditing of classes therefore we were able to do it;
however, it was still our responsibility to find out where the class was
taking place and if there were any changes and since you are new to Russia,
let me introduce you to a very cultural difference....there are always
schedule changes, people don't show up or they're not willing to do anything
to help you.  This is where ACTR has done a wonderful job to at least make
the Russian university experience a bit more American, but nothing in Russia
will be given to you on a silver platter....you have to do it yourself,
there is part of the experience that ACTR tries to teach you. They will not
fight your battles for you because that is physically impossible in that
country.

The same argument goes for visa extensions. ACTR has a great staff who work
very hard to get everyone the visas that they need. I know of many of them
who stay at work past 8 or 9pm to get all the paper work done. If you ever
needed to get a visa yourself, you would understand how difficult it is to
do in an ever changing bureaucratic turmoil that is Russia.

My point is, Russia is not America and ACTR's job is to introduce you to
Russia and not make Russia like America.

Good luck in learning about Russia.
Alla Polyakova

On Dec 2, 2007 11:31 AM, Dustin H. <iamlearningenglish at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Dr. Rosset,
>
> I did not mean to appear to insult those people. The fact of the
> matter is, what the program was then does not necessarily mean that it
> is the same now.  I think that is fair enough to say.  Things change.
>
> No, I have not been on ACTR's programs; I have only had the chance to
> hear about other peoples' experiences who went on those programs.
>
> In what capacity am I doing this?  I will say this: I'm doing this
> since it concerns me that such an organization has caused enough
> complaints, and I've heard enough of them.  I have sent ACTR my
> concerns and do hope to hear from them.
>
> The students who are on the program also have sent their concerns, but
> those concerns appear to have fallen on deaf ears, from what I
> understand.  Another concern is simple: why should someone spend their
> money on a program if such problems exist, and are possibly not being
> resolved?
>
> Yes, there are always going to be some disgruntled students, but
> should their voices not be heard because they will potentially put a
> tinge on an organization?  Such academic programs are only supposed to
> become better and more effective in what they do, I think we'd all
> agree.
>
> As far as auditing, I disagree. When I studied abroad in Moscow, it
> was explained to the students how to attend classes with Russian
> students, because that is what students were provided with and
> expected.  Again, to my best knowledge, the students on the Moscow
> program were merely told to find the information out by themselves,
> and that there's a schedule somewhere in the university.  Yes, it is
> easier for American students to enroll and choose their classes,
> however, does this mean that those studying abroad should have to do
> everything themselves without support?  Again, I do not mean to go on
> the offensive, but students did attempt to find this information out;
> perhaps they just did not receive the answer they expected.
>
> I will ask that these students once again contact ACTR.  However, if
> little or no action is taken, what's to be done?
>
> Best,
>
> Dustin
>
> PS: Thanks!
>
>
> On Sun, 2 Dec 2007 00:03:34 +0300
>  "Dustin H." <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > Dear SEELANGers,
> >
> > I am not exactly sure how to address it, so I wanted to discuss it
> >in the
> > open
>
> Fair enough, but then please don't appear to insult the people who
> responded to your post by reducing our responses to claims that ACTR
> is "flawless" -- which nobody claimed, -- or dismissing us as ancients
> who went "15-20 years ago." At least two of your responders
> identified
> themselves as recent participants. I went in 2002, a good friend of
> mine
> in 2003, and my best student in spring 2007. Is that recent enough ???
> We all had experiences that were hardly flawless but nevertheless
> great.
>
> > I have several acquaintanes, friends, and colleagues who have dealt
> >with ACTR from within the past few years up until the present.
>
> You don't say whether you've been yourself. Are you speaking
> only for others, and in what capacity? Of course you can air this
> on SEELangs, but why shouldn't you address your comments
> to ACTR directly?
>
> > 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 of this may very well depend on the Russian end of things,
> and visa bureaucracy is notoriously haphazard. (As a one-time
> foreign student in the US, I can tell you hair-raising stories about
> the American visa people ...!). Students should expect such problems
> to arise, even unexpectedly.
> But yes, ACTR should address this issue and respond.
>
> > 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?
>
> Because if they audit courses they are being treated like Russian
> students, who do have to do the legwork themselves. The resident
> director is usually better equipped to handle the standard
> ACTR program offerings. A student who is planning to audit
> courses directly should probably (1) find out about procedures
> beforehand, from the US office; (2) ask their instructors for
> hints or help, which the instructors may or may not be able to
> provide; (3) ask Russian students they've met and (4) expect
> that this might -- or might not -- be a considerably more
> frustrating process than in the U.S.; American universities
> have turned registration into "matriculating for dummies."
> By the way, OUR group had a terrific RD who had been living
> in Russia, knew absolutely everything and took no prisoners,
> but not every one will get that.
>
> (I have no information on job applications).
>
> I do know that one frustration for the Faculty-Grad student
> summer programs was the uneven quality of the homestays.
> My student, however, got a terrific family four blocks from
> Dvortsovaia ploshchad'.
>
> I think people were trying to make the point that sending
> out the word that ALL is wrong in ACTR-land, perhaps
> based on second-hand information, is fine but completely
> ignores the good the organization has done or is doing.
> At any rate, you need to address these concerns to ACTR
> as well, and they need to come from your informants too.
>
> Great tag line!
> -FR
>
> Francoise Rosset
> Russian and Russian Studies
> Coordinator, German and Russian
> Wheaton College
> Norton, Massachusetts 02766
> Office: (508) 285-3696
> FAX: (508) 286-3640
>
>
>
>
> --
> Dustin Hosseini
>
> "Earth laughs in flowers."
> - Ralph Waldo Emerson
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>  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/
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
>

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 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/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------