Quote:
Originally posted by
Ansley
Your post insinuates that your time is too valuable to wait around for people who aren't holding up their end of the bargain. And you're absolutely right, it is too valuable.
Which is why the mentor program allows for cancellations
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Your post insinuates that your time is too valuable to wait around for people who aren't holding up their end of the bargain. And you're absolutely right, it is too valuable.
Which is why the mentor program allows for cancellations by both the student and the mentor. There have been mentors who have life smack them down for a bit with responsibilities and unforeseen/unplanned events; it happens.
If they haven't submitted any reviews and you haven't heard from them, then cancel the class. It's okay to just pull the trigger after the deadline you've set and say what's done is done. You can't reach every person.
By being a mentor for EF's review program, you are not automatically accepting the responsibility of answering for your student. They have to account for themselves, just as would be the case if it were a real-life student/teacher situation. If they don't adhere to your requirements, that's fine. Fail them or cancel the class. Be fair, but be mindful that everyone has varying degrees of commitment to EF.
Because my mentors offered me a free product to review, I turned around and placed a fairly large order. They were friendly, welcoming and determined I would have the best reviewing experience possible. They also offered to show me around the site and pointed out additional ways for me to participate.
I think the biggest disservice a mentor can do to both the student and themselves is to approach it with a negative outlook from the very beginning. I am a mentor. I've had people who just refused to make the changes I asked of them, refused to ask questions, and never communicated with me outside of just submitting a review to me. I've also had some really great students who are still active on the site.
As far as the limit of students; you can accept 5 new students every 30 days. It doesn't mean you have to graduate all 5 of your students so you can accept 5 more. In regards to the cancellations, the system automatically cancels the request if you have accepted 5 students within 30 days. This may have confused the contributor and they resubmitted their request.
Offering a student a chance to review a new toy they don't already own guarantees two things: excitement and eagerness to write a review, and a chance to experience something new. That just doesn't seem very fair to me; to deny them something you have access to - I mean in truth, we all could come upon times in our lives where we just get too busy and have outstanding assignments but don't log in for six months. Hell, I work here and I'm occasionally late on my assignments. It happens. But it doesn't mean someone is trying to get one over on EF.
We appreciate the concern, really we do. We appreciate those who are so involved and champion EF that it really chaps their hides when people don't exceed the expectations set for them. It's not a perfect system, but nothing is. We're more than happy to hear suggestions.
I'm just really curious to hear the argument out on why a mentor should receive points for canceling a class when they receive 20 points for accepting a student? If a user hasn't submitted any reviews, what work has the mentor put in to warrant receiving points? I'm not being snarky, I'm genuinely curious. If you can make the argument for it, we just might be able to justify it and make the proposal.
In the meantime, I think it would be really great if we could take a step back and realize that maybe posting to the forum in moments of frustration really isn't a great way to communicate our needs. Without intending to, the word choices can be a bit more harsh than needed. The forum is a permanent record of our thoughts and we need to be mindful of our tone when we post them.
I'm not asking for the forum to be filled with rainbows and unicorns farting EF-colored glitter, okay. There are things that need to be fixed, that will always be the case.
If a potential student of yours read this post and was genuinely interested in reviewing for EF with you as their mentor, do you think they would still want to sign up for your class, or any other class?
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I wasn't trying to be rude at all. It was more of a PSA... like, 'Hey, we can only accept so many students a month, so if you sign up, you are taking a spot from someone else that might want to work with me.' On the other hand, I wasn't really sure if this was something that other mentors were dealing with, or not, because I haven't been a mentor for all that long. So, I'm sorry for the way it came across, but that wasn't my intention.
I really agree with what Beck said. I go to school online, and if my class starts, and I'm struggling with an assignment, or just forget to do my homework, I get failed. The only other option I have, is to contact my advisor, and withdraw from the class, and start it again when I have time.
My main frustration lies within the area where, of the last group of students I've accepted, only ONE has done anything, and they graduated. One of them got a push assignment, which I probably spent a total of two hours arranging, and explaining to them how to choose, and messaging back and forth, because they just didn't understand. Another one messaged back and forth a few times, and then did nothing. I've sent each of them messages, asking if they are waiting for products to review, or if they still want to be part of the mentor program, and have gotten nothing back.
I actually wasn't aware of the fact that we got points for accepting them. I don't know if I click off of the page too fast, or what, but I've never noticed the pop up for it.
Maybe there should be 3 options available: Pass (which would be available after two reviews are written), Fail (which would be available after one review is written, in the case that they never submitted another one), and Inactive Student (which would be available from the beginning). Because it does take time to try and communicate with the student. I don't want to cancel on someone if they just can't get to it right now. I have a student that I've had for MONTHS, that did one review, and she's dealing with a lot right now, and I told her to just get to her next one when she can. I'm an understanding person. I tend to bite off more than I can chew. I know how it goes. But when I spend hours dealing with setting things up, or trying to get ahold of people to figure out where they stand, it sucks to just cancel the class and get nothing for it. I've checked all of them to see if they've published reviews outside of the program, and they haven't (although, I think I read somewhere that option was eliminated). So, for the mentors that put an effort towards the communication, it's a little more than just accepting the student. Because even if I message them, or put in my little area where they read what I do, that I have expectations, it doesn't prevent me from ending up in this situation.
And maybe if they read this, and realize that it sucks when this happens to us, they won't sign up until they are as willing to commit the time to work on their reviews as we are.
I highly encourage people to sign up for the mentor program. It really helps you to learn what a quality review is, and in turn, helps with getting your rank up so that you can get better products to review. It helps with making EF a better place overall, for the people that want to purchase things, because the reviews are insightful, and detailed, and truly help to make a purchasing decision. So, I love doing it because it makes EF a better place to shop because you can truly understand what you are getting before you buy it.
But people need to understand that on the other side of the computer, there are people, and we don't do this for a living. It's a hobby. A little respect and communication go a long way.
