Robertson College : Online
Robertson College : Online is a established in (unknown). The campus is located in and hosts students with an endowment of .
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Be careful….the money you provide them does not even give you a tangible book that you paid for after you complete program.
You end up walking out…an 8×10 diploma and no job.
Save your money and attend a school such as RED RIVER COLLEGE.
Run..don’t walk.
Further conversations with Rita Kroeker and Wayne Palendat . . . . I learned that a Grade 12 wasn’t “always” required; however, they brushed me off so I called and made a formal complaint with the office of Manitoba Private Vocational Institutions.
Unfortunately, my complaint was made with the office of Manitoba Private Vocational Institutions after the statue of limitations (which is 12 months). I continued my pleading directly with Robertson College; however, this pleading fell on deaf ears. They stand by their initial decision that a person with a barely-passing Grade 8 education qualifies for admission to this post-secondary educational program. As this is their standard, one can imagine the quality of the program.
I am advocating for a young person who was deceived into taking this program. This person – arguably for foreseeable reasons – wasn’t able to complete the program. After being granted admission to this post-secondary education, this young person used the admission letter to gain government student loans and student credit with RBC. All this with a piece of paper from Robertson college.
To grant admission to a person with a barely-passing Grade 8 education was incredibly I.R.R.E.S.P.O.N.S.I.B.L.E. There are only 2 ways to reconcile this in my mind. Either Robertson College knows that this Vet Office Assistant program is a laughable sub-par education and will admit anyone without any hope of success. Or, worse yet, they knew she’d fail and didn’t care. Government student loans were doled out as fail-safe profit for Robertson College. Now this young person is stuck paying student loans. And, doesn’t have an education . . . . .and doesn’t have a job.
I found out directly from telephone conversations I engaged in with potential employers that they do not respect them or want their students. They began to offer an online option for students because they are a small educational institution and needed to find a way to compete with the larger educational institutions that do offer excellent training. Robertson College rents small areas inside buildings, usually only three or four floors, as opposed to the larger educational institutions that have large campuses, with multiple buildings, parking, some even with on campus housing for their students. Unfortunately, while Robertson College has been successful in increasing the financial amount they yearly acquire from their online programs it is the online students who pay the price by not having adequate training. Do your homework. Research online what other students are saying about this institution. You will find that most of it is negative. Why take a chance with your education. Make sure the school can deliver! Remember its your future that is at stake, not theirs. If you make the wrong choice, you will be the one to suffer, as I, as others have. I still continue to suffer for the wrong choice that I made. Please read my first review which is located below for additional info about my experience with this college.
In regard to the individual who left the review directly below this one, which is dated on March 7, 2016 I have these comments to make. Why didn’t you identify yourself by name? Why don’t you want others to know who you are? Are you hiding something, perhaps? Most of the students who attend Robertson College do not get jobs! Yes, how is one to get employed? A good question. By attending a school that delivers high quality education. Education that employers demand, that how.
The online program does not meet the needs of employers in the veterinary field. The following is a listing of the program, its content, and it’s deficiences.
1. You will not be able to begin study on the first day that your program begins. You will have to wait for someone from the college to contact you. After they have contacted you which can take up to three weeks, they will give you the necessary information to login into your online account.
2. You will not receive all of your textbooks for the program at once. You will have to wait for them to be sent to you. You may not receive all of the textbooks you require.
(Even though you have paid for them)
3. There is limited support. Should have a problem you will have solve it for yourself.
4. A Veterinary Office Assistant Program trains students in the role of a receptionist in a veterinary clinic. The program is suppose to focus primarily on the skills that a receptionist is required to perform. Robertson College does not teach most of these skills. Instead they focus on advanced medical information and no applied application of this information. Only a licensed Animal Health Tech is legally allowed to perform these things. A receptionist needs to know how to use office equipment. From telephones to fax machines. They don’t teach you how to use them. You are not taught how to answer telephone calls, how to manage calls, how to put clients on hold, how transfer them to a vet’s voice mail, how the page a staff member. If you have previous experience using phones then you will have no problems. However, if you don’t have these skills you will have problems on your practicum. You will have rely on the the other receptionists to help you. When I was on my practicum I received no proper training from the receptionists. Instead they laughed at me. So I did not receive a passing mark for this skill set. Next, they do not teach you how to file patient files. You will read a few paragraphs in one the assigned textbooks. I was at a clinic where the filing was alphabetical. But some of the veterinary clinics file using the digit method. If this method is the one used, you will have rely on the other receptionist to help you. That is of course if they want to.The same rules apply for all other office equipment.
5. The program has an online computer learning component to it. It consists of the following: learning to type, introduction to the computer and Microsoft Word, Excel, etc. The computer modules consist of watching a tutorial and then you are given a simple test. There is no applied application of these skills in the way of practical assignments. This methodology is not the most effective way to be trained in the application of Microsoft.
6. The Animal Restraint course is inadequate. It consists of reading and looking at pictures in the modules and in a textbook. They do not use, nor do they provide live animals for you practice animal restraint positions. When I was doing my practicum I became aware of the fact that I needed to practice on live animals prior to helping staff restrain the patients at a clinic. I did not get adequate training.
7. They lost one of my exams. I wrote the exam online and they lost it. I had to restudy the course again, and then rewrite the exam. If they lose one of your exams you will have to do the same thing. They will not give you the option of choosing to rewrite or automatically give you a passing grade of 70%.
8. Their program uses a software called Cornerstone. This software program is used to make appointments, bill clients, collect payments etc. They will only instruct you how to do a few tasks using this software. Most the veterinary clinics do not use Cornerstone software. When you are at your practicum site you will have to spend time trying to learn another software program. Once again you will be a mercy of other receptionist. They will decide whether they want to help you or not. Secondly, all information considered to be of legal importance must entered into each clients electronic file. Notes must be made on what you discussed with them, why they wanted to see the vet, what problems their pet is experiencing, etc. Robertson College does not teach you how to record this information in the computer course. You will have learn that by yourself on the practicum site.
Now for the horrors of my practicum experience. The field of veterinary medicine is not a people friendly profession. It consists of “animal lovers and people haters”. Lets start with the veterinarians themselves. The veterinarians that I encountered act like dictators in their clinics. They are the boss and you are subordinate to them. They do not have an open door policy towards their staff. You cannot go to them if you have a problem or concern and talk to them one on one. And they have ways of enforcing their position. There was one technique they usually use. It goes like this: they will temporary remove you from your place at the reception desk and give you other tasks to perform which are subordinate. For example, you will have to clean out a fridge, or perhaps a cupboard, clean a floor with a toothbrush, water the plants, and when they think you have learned your lesson on who is in charge, you may be reinstated at the reception desk. This behavior is not a form of disciple, but a form of dominance and abuse. And it is the norm in this business. No employer has the right treat me or you like this. It takes away your human dignity and self worth and reduces you or me to nothing but an object. I experienced this type of wrongful treatment on my practicum site. The receptionist that was suppose to help to me did the exact opposite. One of the veterinarians instructed her to teach me the software program so I could begin to make appointments, bill clients, etc. Instead, she got upset about the instructions she had received from the vet, and decided not to follow them. She ordered me to answer the telephones, and then purposely left me alone. When I phone rang I answered and a client at the other end of line wanted to make an appointment, so I began to schedule an appointment for her. The receptionist next races back to the front desk and yells at me. I tried to complete the scheduling. As it turned out I made an appointment with the vet of her choice on a day when that vet did not work. (How was I suppose to know that vet didn’t work that day! I was new at this clinic.) I emailed Robertson College about this problem. They contacted the veterinary clinic and before I knew it, I was treated like crap from the vet and assigned to clean the fridge and the cupboards in the facility. It gets even better. The receptionist that treated me this way, laughed. She knew I had failed the program and all my hard work, and all my hopes were destroyed. And two of the Animal Health Technologists that worked in the clinic also started to treat me very negatively. I found myself being abused by a vet, and three staff members at that clinic. I immediately left the vet clinic, removing myself from further abuse. I used public transit to go home, crying all the way. Other passengers just looked at me, some sympathetically, and some in indifference. Because I had left the clinic, to remove myself from further abuse Robertson College failed me from the program. And I later found out that the vet that treated me like crap had called my present employer and harassed them.
Please do not enroll in this program or at this school. I have submitted with review with the hope that it help other students. I don’t want you to go through what I went through.
Finally, if you do want to enter this field of employment, do your homework. Not all schools are created equal. I recommend that you attend Olds College, in Olds Alberta.
Their Veterinary Office program and Animal Health Technologist programs are one of the best in Alberta. Secondly, get to know the veterinarians. Not all veterinarians are bad. There are some who are good. I recommend you volunteer at various clinics in your spare time. Find out how they treat their employees. How do they disciple them. Do they have an open door policy whereby you can go to them and talk, or do they treat you in an inferior manner and bully and degrade their employees?
Finally, if you are in the city of Calgary, and are looking for a clinic to complete your practicum, please do not consider using the following clinics: Western Veterinary Specialist and Emergency Center and Rocky Ridge Pet Hospital.
Thank you for your time. Good luck, and take care.
School started and all was good. I attended the Medical office assistant program. The first couple weeks with the teachers and class was ok. Work was realtively easy. It wasn’t until 3 weeks in when I decided that the MOA program was not for me. So I called the school and asked to be transferred into another program. They said ok and they would give me a call on the following Monday. I waited and sent emails but heard nothing back. Then my first payment was suppose to come out and there was a glitch in the system which instead of coming out on the March 30th it came out April 9th. Then another payment came out the same month which put me in a bind for money and I could not afford two payments in one month. I called the finance department and the man bascially stated it was all my fault and that I should figure it out, on top of that they took out more money in May when they weren’t suppose to and did not tell me about it. I had enough and said that I could not do it anymore I want out or put me into the new program that I had previously wanted before. They said ok and put me inn contact with the finance department and student office. Not once did they tell me about the reprocussions about changing programs. A month after I started my new program they called me up to inform me that my account was overdue and that I owed them well over $5800. I told them I had no idea which is true, I never read the fine print. But people always read the fine print!!!! SO as livid as I was, I got out of the other program which I was only in for 2 weeks and they told me I now owed another $3000 for leaving the course I was in for 14 days. I basically lost it and my file was brought to the main guy in finance he ended up giving me a final cost for both accounts of $4300. So now, here I am writing a review, no college diploma but so grateful I got out before I ended up paying $12000 for something that would be totally useless.
I also recieved no help from teachers, you are litterally on your own in doing this. They have “teachers” that only mark and give you an update on how your doing. To some this is genius to others who want a real education that is worth paying for. Do not go here. Do not look back and think oh well its just “one” negative review. But trust me it is not worth it. Community colleges that aren’t private are cheaper just a bit longer.
Please people do not attend here. You will be just as upset as I was and still am less then 3 months in.
This school has fully and completely negatively affected my career and employment status.
I attended this school 1988 to 1989 and completed all classes with A & B grades however had a challenge with the typing portion. At time of completion of the program I only achieved 53 wpm and 55 wpm was needed, needless to say I now type at 80 wpm. Because I was 2 wpm short of what was expected and was still trying to successfully complete after completion date discovered the school in Regina closed January 1990 and my completion date was near the end of November 1990. During December 1989 and with Christmas holidays I continued to struggle with achieving the typing rate. Following this struggle and school closure and inability to pursue any longer I was able to achieve employment so let it slide. Granted this is 25 years ago and have taken various coursework through the university upgrading since. During this time I was just trying to keep a roof over my head working 2 jobs being a single parent. In today’s economy they want to see an actual completed diploma and degree and I have not gotten that far until now. This college cost me a job I was declined with because as all companies nowadays they want proof and evidence and I’m humiliated with what has happened to me. In an attempt I called the location in Calgary and spoke to the school administrator who escalated the concern to the powers that be in their head office in Winnipeg who declined even with all of my suggestions that I could bring in my supporting paperwork, the fact that of the school’s closure at that specific time and they turned everything down, even my suggestion I could come in when was a good time for them and pay for something that said/confirmed my typing rate as that was the only thing they declined my diploma. A very shallow heartless school, don’t waste your time or money.