Run Around

A student came to see me for advising today, and that's all good and well.  Unfortunately, zie came to see me about a problem that requires pretty extensive specialized knowledge handled by a special office on campus.  But the special office on campus had sent hir to me, saying that I was supposed to be the one to know.

Seriously, people?

We talked, and I provided what help I could, and then I called the special office, and voila, I got put through to someone, and then I handed the phone to the student, and then the someone (it seemed) explained the issues so that the student could make an informed decision and gave the student another person's name in another office with a specific request to make for that person for further help.


Why is it that the special office gave the student a run around?  And thank goodness, they didn't give me the same run around?  But really, students are supposed to be important to us, so they should treat students at least as well as they treat faculty folks. 

For what it's worth, I know nothing terribly useful about drug counseling, rental housing laws, financial aid, autism or other disabilities, alcoholism, admissions procedures, MCATs, or a ton of other things for which we have special offices that are supposed to help students.  And they know nothing much about Shakespeare.  That's fair, but I don't send them Shakespeare students looking for help understanding metadrama or quarto construction, do I?