Musings on Giving People the Boot

I thought that might get your attention. Now to our regularly-scheduled programming . . .

 
BECA does a monthly newsletter. Actually two of them. One in English. Another in Spanish.

Occasionally I attempt to write something more on the serious side.

That was the case in the June edition.

The BECA newsletter doesn't reach too many people -- direct to SPAM anyone? -- so I thought I'd reprint my "Dear Loyal Supporter" note here.
 

June 2011 Update

Dear (Your Name Goes Here),

May was tough.

We were faced with some difficult decisions.

What to do when a scholarship recipient consistently refuses to live up to their obligations with the BECA program?

The way I see it -- and saw it -- there are a few options.

One is to do nothing and accept that in any program some people will refuse to follow the rules.

Another is to continue to try to change their behaviour through a combination of incentives and penalties.

A third way is expulsion.

I really don't think BECA asks for a lot. We want our students to write 4 blogs a month, attend 6 meetings a year, and send in a monthly report. (All students receive payments to cover these expenses.)

The other side of the coin is that for some (many?) of these people, their lives are incredibly complicated and challenging. Understandably, their BECA tasks are low on their priority totem poles.

But also at stake is the credibility of the BECA program. What kind of message are we sending if we tolerate, and ultimately accept, non-compliant behaviour?

Ultimately, I "approved" the recommendation of the Masaya Coordinator to expel six students.

I'm not happy about it, but I thought you should know about it.

Sincerely,
Walter Hunchak
Founder, BECA.org