2008 Occasional Papers - AUK

other in the pursuit of higher grades. As one student putit in a conversation, referring to her cool relations withher fellow female classmates, “They don’t like me becauseI don’t help them cheat.”By contrast, the four items most frequently rankedbelow average include: administration/registration(62%), sports (56%), extra-curricular activities (49%) andstudent advising (46%). The main feedback concernsregistration activities and its personnel. (Low rankingsfor sports, extracurricular activities and student advisingreflect their absence; this point is revisited under studentrecommendations.) Some students felt that certainstudents receive preferential treatment owing to wasta thatis used on their behalf. Among the identified forms ofpreferential treatment attributed to wasta were: registrationafter the add/drop period has closed, access to classeswhen registration has closed, choice of instructor, removalof attendance warnings, matriculation with low GPAs andgrade changes. It is important to clarify that whether thissituation actually exists, the perception is that it does. In onestudent’s assessment:I think wasta does exist…, but truthfully I haven’t seen it first hand,but it is obvious with some of the students and the (privileges)they have, especially with the registration department.The presence of wasta, defined in the survey as gettingillegal or illicit favors through connections, is ranked asbeing high or very high by 46% among those surveyed. Itis noteworthy that over twice as many students identifiedwasta issues with registration (35%) as compared tofaculty (15%) in the survey comments. Some commentsabout faculty mention instructors exchanging grades forservices or being influenced by wasta. One student aptlysummarized the concern in the following:Wasta exists everywhere not only at (this university), butthe question (is) why is it at (this university) …and itprovides an education. All students should be equal…only their grades and hard (work) should determine whatthey should get…At the end, survey respondents were asked: If you wereappointed to improve anything you want at (this university) whatwould you do? Responses were categorized by subject. Themain suggestions for administration and registration,courses, policies, faculty and students that emerged are:• Improving registration procedures and upgrade theirstaff qualifications.• Offering more courses with greater section availability.• Implementing grade policies ensuring fairness.• Integrating classes for males and females.• Employing more and better qualified faculty.• Demonstrating greater concern and fairness towardstudent educational needs.Given the students’ perception that wasta exists as anunofficial practice and that it influences grade assignments,students are reinforced into viewing grades as negotiablecommodities instead of benchmarks for achievement. Asthe student profile emerging from the survey suggests,there are more incentives to negotiate grades if the studenthas extensive time in school, a faltering GPA, a low coursecompletion rate and there is limited oversight of studentprogress and needs by counselors and advisors.By the same token, it is also easier for student counselorsand instructors to become remiss in their obligationsas standard bearers for quality work in learning. Eveninexperienced ones soon come to realize that they willbe besieged by students (if not their wasta intercessors),seeking to negotiate grades if their charges are not passingat acceptable levels. It becomes expedient to devisegrading schemes that permit the largest number to passor overlook plagiarized content in papers. As one studentnotes about grading: “If the professor is mostly afraid ofthe position of the student’s background he will let himpass and even with good grade. Not all professors do this,but there are existing professors who really use ‘wasta’.”(Spelling and grammatical errors kept for emphasis.)This study and the literature seem to suggest that wastathrives where accountability is lacking; lines of authorityare unclear; and there is no organizational learning. Amongfirst impressions of newcomers to this university is thatthere are no institutionalized procedures (partly becauseby-laws and written rules are inaccessible); decisionmakingand planning processes are not transparent;and communication is inadequate. In sum, wasta issymptomatic of an organization whose existing rules arebeing un-enforced and structures that are being by-passed.Wasta is, as one student put it, the “back door” to gettingthings done. It continues because whatever formal alternativesare not functioning for the student, faculty or the university.What goes un-remarked is that while intercessory wastamay solve the individual problems of today for a few, itcomes at the price of organizational gains at this privateGulf University and others for the many, tomorrow.29