Intro case handling: “I flunked several exams through fear of being kicked out of CBS. That’s not okay”
Every August, new students enrolled at CBS get the chance to join a two-week intro program. The picture is from intro 2017. (Photo: Anne M. Lykkegaard)
Two students share their experiences of being scrutinized by CBS Legal for cases related to intro 2019. They criticize the process, which put them under intense mental pressure and made them hesitant to work as intro guides again.
News | 10. Jun 2020
Christoffer Balck Rasmussen and Frederikke Melchior Hansen, students of the BSc in Business, Language and Culture (BLC) program, are in the midst of planning the intro program for the coming BLC students – but if it were not for a great deal of persuasion, they would not have accepted the job, they explain.
In the fall of 2019, both of them were intro guides together and helped hosting the intro program for the new BLC students. However, two comments in the subsequent intro program evaluation triggered a letter from CBS Legal accompanied by a request for the group of intro guides and coordinators to evaluate their performance. The students were promised an answer to the case by the end of January, but did not hear anything before March.
The two students will not describe the specific case in detail. However, the case is similar to other cases that CBS WIRE is acquainted with involving new students arranging drinking games, but with participants being offered water or soft drinks instead of alcohol.
The waiting time and uncertainty about the case process had its consequences.
“I flunked two exams last semester because I couldn’t concentrate and was afraid of being kicked out of CBS. That’s not okay. The deadline was ‘by the end of January’, but we didn’t get an answer until March, and incidentally it cleared us of any wrongdoing,” says Christoffer Balck Rasmussen and continues:
“Both Frederikke and I have been in doubt about whether to apply for the positions as intro coordinators after this process with CBS Legal. The process has been in no way okay, and we are very annoyed with CBS. But we ended up doing it because we feel a responsibility for the new students and want to give them a great start to life at CBS.”
To Frederikke Melchior Hansen, the process felt like an empty threat.“One thing is that we got the letter from CBS Legal right in the middle of an exam period, which was really uncomfortable. Another thing is that we were nervous for such a long time. We started our fourth semester not knowing whether we would be expelled all of a sudden,” she says and continues:
“Of course, CBS has to take cases seriously, but our case was nothing serious, so it felt like an empty treat, which is so irresponsible.”
In collaboration, the coordinators and intro guides from BLC wrote and sent a letter to CBS Legal on April 13 2020. In the letter, they explain how the process has affected them individually and ask for an apology for the process.
According to Frederikke Melchior Hansen, CBS Legal has responded to the students’ letter by asking for student numbers, e-mails and names, which have all been supplied to CBS Legal.
Comments