CCI was all about "asses in classes" and putting unrealistic pressure on academics to push people through and keep them attending to keep getting the Title IV dollars. I believe that the ECMC deal is "legit" in that ECMC is buying the campuses and intends to continue them as career schools. They are also buying the business model, though. ECMC is known for unethical and aggressive business tactics and has a natural affinity for how CCI does business. The Dept of Ed is under pressure to prevent CCI from going kaput since it will then be forced to forgive hundreds of millions in loans. The deal will keep ED off Zenith's back for awhile, at least for a couple of years as a "honeymoon phase" to let them get up to speed. By then, they will be up to speed alright - on the CCI way and all the tricks that go with it. They are hoping that the heat will have died off and they can fly under the radar. Will Zenith be worse than CCI? Doubtful. Better? Maybe a little, but don't hope for much. I don't expect any meaningful changes in management or practices after the transition. If you're not happy in your job now - whether it's because of abusive management, concern over the ethics of what we do, etc, then you should still plan on getting out. This is a shuffling of names and ownership. Nothing more.
8 replies (most recent on top)
Offer letter out. High school educated admissions reps STILL making more than academics with grad degrees. Nope, nothing's gonna change.
107 -- Give it up. SLS was miserable the whole time she was here. She will never, ever come back to this hell-hole. We just need to get up off our asses and try harder to find new jobs. Even if ECMC intends to reform this shit-hole, the managers aren't going to go easily. They will be a kickin' and a fussin'... a lyin' and a blamin'! It's going to get even worse and may not even get any better. ED and the AGs and every other regulator that was trying to shut CCI down was the least of our worries. We are in a dying industry and the other players do everything better. Just compare our pitiful ads with UOP's. It's been obvious for a looonnnngg time that CCI had stooped to trying to pick up the losers that nobody else wanted to be bothered with. We are the bottom-feeders of a bottom-feeding industry. Do you need proof? Our stock went from a high of $33 in 2004, to $20 in 2009, to $5 by 2011, to $2 in 2013, to $0.06 right now! Before any of this regulatory shit was announced, the stock had already fallen to below $1.50 due to absolute crap management from the top down. See the big picture!
62100 : Yay! That means that Socle will finally get new managers!!! Out with The Raving Douche-Bag (DS), Mr "Nothing in Writing" (MH), and their Useless leader, Kim Jong-Dean. God, can you imagine if we could somehow get some of the good guys that these clowns drove off back? Especially SLS! God, how I miss her!
Expect meaningful changes. OP, you're a bit jaded about how the Department of Ed and Congress works, not to mention all of the states who are furious about CCi and its ethical abuses. Make no mistake, ECMC is 100% aware that there will need to be major changes, starting as soon as they take over. You will see the hand-off, followed by highly increased scrutiny, followed by new procedures (especially for HR), followed by a total gutting of management. Those are ED's expectations and they've been made clear. Zenith is going to be subject to program reviews, IG audits, etc, etc. They will need to prove that they have purged the company of the unethical individuals and processes.
Well, I was late to the job search game. I guess everything was so awful I was in shock and just couldn't get my act together. I finally made it my New Year's resolution to find a new job and I've been working hard at it. A few call backs and an interview scheduled already. I'm glad CCI didn't go bankrupt, but it's probably not going to be much better with Zenith, especially if they're keeping the managers. 2015 is going to be a better year than 2014 for me, I can promise you that!
Anonymous62077: I know this company isn't going to turn into a place that I feel comfortable working at. All I know right now is I got my offer letter so everything's okay for now. I'll keep looking and I'm sure I'll find a better job with the economy picking up, but I'm not going to worry about that this weekend. I'm just going to be glad we FINALLY got offer letters and have some fun!
Glad you guys got your offer letters so you're not stressed over the weekend. The deal will go through and it will be the same-old same-old for awhile. Please try to use that time to keep looking for work. The economy is really good right now and there are a lot of jobs out there if you had previously given up hope. The long term prognosis for Zenith isn't good at all. I'm pretty sure that most of you reading this know that.
There's another problem. It's been 9 months since the SHTF. We've had lots of posters on here who have moved on to other companies in Tampa Bay and report that the same managers at EUO and Socle apply for EVERY job they advertise. Well, I was looking too and so was everyone I knew. The economy is strong and the area has added a lot of jobs. If anyone is still left working for CCi, they really almost have to be unemployable elsewhere. So, ECMC will have fewer whistleblowers probably, but a totally crap staff. It's going to be pretty sad...