DMACC Ankeny Campus — Local services in Ankeny

Going to teach for DMACC was the worst decision I made in my professional career. This is a deplorable, mediocre, and downright mean institution. If you are looking for integrity, professional growth, or a pleasant work or study atmosphere, DMACC is not for you. DMACC should stand for Don’t Make A Catastrophic Choice. This school is barely able to teach some trades, but it is vastly unprepared to support and educate students in the arts and sciences, because faculty here are reduced to rubble. No one is engaged in any sort of academic research, professional development, or collaboration with peers. In fact, those things are highly discouraged. Since there appears to be no state authority to which the college must respond to or seek accreditation from, administrators carry on with their rogue practices, with complete contempt for faculty, students, and academic integrity. There is no shared governance, no Faculty Senate, and no organized faculty or student body under Roberts Rules of order. Administrators have carte blanche to run over faculty and students as they please and break every rule concerning academics, student welfare and finances, decency, or dignity in education. No one asks or cares about what you do. Faculty never receive praise; they are only employees who must abide by and never question orders coming from an absent body of abusive administrators. The faculty evaluation system is not a tool for improvement but only used against faculty. Instructors carry heavy teaching loads and must endure an overpowering supervisor. You are hired to teach and preferably ignore everything else, including the deplorable office and classroom facilities. Faculty do not have offices; they share cubicles with other faculty. The only attractive spaces are occupied by administrators, while faculty and students must endure old buildings with no windows and dilapidated classrooms. Health and safety are major concerns. There is no promotion system, no program of study or professional development opportunities, and nothing for faculty or students to look forward to. This outfit is not an academic institution but only a poorly run business. Respectable 4-year colleges should never accept science credits from DMACC. This school represents everything that is wrong with community colleges throughout the nation. It’s very...

•The school will randomly put you in either first second or whatever courses without informing you ahead of time or giving you any notice once it's decided. (When you apply for a class it will place you based on whatever they decide or whatever ends up being available...even if you signed up day one of open enrollment and it CLEARLY LABELS IT AS STARTING ON DAY 1 OF THE SEMESTER!)

•I had fully planned on for both the semesters I had enrolled in being in full semester courses. Instead I find myself this summer being in second 8-week courses. This means I have an even shorter amount of time then is normal to complete the courses. The same thing happened last fall without any notice or approval on my part. I MEAN COME ON! How hard is it to email you or call someone to tell a person that the start of your classes has been changed due to whatever reason?!?!

•I'm also dealing with an issue with my financial aid/student loans THAT I HAD ALREADY BEEN APPROVED FOR AND ACCEPTED! Mid semester they decided that they would require me to submit further documentation, once again without sending me any kind of notice to let me know my funds were now in limbo. $3,908 that I need for my move are now being held pending a doctor's note stating that I'm able to attend college because I'm marked as being permanently disabled. Apparently I need something stating I'm allowed to go to school even though I'm unable to work. I was able to get my Fall funds perfectly fine and I was able to get a portion of my funds fine for Summer but they were randomly RETRACTED!

(((*NOTE - I'm in FULL compliance with grades and attendance and was APPROVED & ACCEPTED my offers and my aid/grants/loans were FULLY available all semester until they all of a sudden weren't. This is ludicrous as it is through FAFSA and the fed loan program...)))

• Lastly, every single time you call into the financial aid office, you get a different answer or solution from every single person you talk to. One person will tell you that a disbursement will come out on this date for this amount and another person will tell you a completely different answer or option. Ultimately for the summer semester, none of it was correct. After 5 phone calls I finally found out that I was needing to upload a document as my funds were now on hold in the MIDDLE of a semester and...

I just go to DMACC in Ankeny for Aqua therapy at Unity point. It is located inside DMACC Building 5. It's a real nice facility and they offer both physical and Aqua Therapy. I'm older and find that the Aqua therapy suits me for building up my muscles, learning to get and keep my balance again. What they say is true " If you don't use it, you will lose it! Shelby is my therapist and she is wonderful at her job and also has a personality is the same. I recommend her if you're looking for a good person & place to get back in shape. You can also get a membership to use their facility. I don't have any information on this though. You would have to call or stop by to inquire about it....