Appropriate behavior for university professors? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Martel · 02-28-2007, 05:47 AM

So I'm taking a 200-level psychology course this semester as one of my two final courses in my psych degree... My professor is new at the school, having transferred from William and Mary I believe. Now I've been to four different universities in my life, and I've never had a professor that acted like this one.

On the first day of class, he read us the syllabus and emphasized certain things we have to do, such as: email him with proof that we have satisfied the prerequisite courses (course title, instructor, school if taken somewhere else, date, and final grade), not ever share lecture notes or handouts with students not taking the class, email him if we are ever absent (to let him know after the fact), etc. Now I thought it was a bit weird, but I figured everyone's a bit weird, right?

A couple of weeks ago I missed turning in a minor assignment (our class meets once a week, at night). Beyond that I have attended every class and did well on the only test we've had so far. I haven't heard anything about it, nor did I expect to.

Yesterday, I get a call on my cell phone while I'm at work. I didn't answer it, because I didn't recognize the caller ID (it was some fake ID like 000-012-3456 which usually means telemarketers or something). I got another call while Sage and I were at dinner, another call while we were watching a movie, and another call at 10pm when we were both at home. I picked it up just so that I could tell the marketer to leave me alone, and it was my professor!

Now I have never gotten a phone call from any of my professors ever, and I don't think that any of them would have assumed it was okay to call me, especially not repeatedly or at 10pm. He never left a voicemail and never sent me any email or anything (which he obviously is capable of). I told him that I couldn't take his call right then and that I would call him back the next day. He said he would email me with his phone number. Today I have an email instructing me to call him at so-and-so number between 10 and 3. I work from 9 to 4, and I'm not about to take break time just to call this guy for whatever it is he wants but can't be bothered to email me about. I replied to his email saying I could call him after 4pm, or just talk to him tonight at class (tonight is our weekly meeting).

So basically my question is: have any of you ever had professors act like this? It seems highly bizarre and abnormal to me, and I'm considering complaining to the department chair, who is my advisor. I'm on fairly buddy-buddy terms with him. I just want to make sure I'm not overreacting.

JustJess · 02-28-2007, 05:57 AM

You're probably not overreacting, however, give the prof the benefit of the doubt and talk to him tonight. Until you know what was so urgent to him, you don't know if he's just being a freak. However, if it's just about the one minor missed assignment, yes, talk to the dean.

As for his beginning stuff, he sounds like he's used to high schoolers, not college students.

I've never had a prof be that ... involved.

Dilbert1234567 · 02-28-2007, 06:28 AM

tell your professor that he should leave a voice message, and shouldn't spoof his phone number. i get calls and emails from some of my professors. last week i got a call saying class was canceled.

Ourcrazymodern? · 02-28-2007, 08:53 AM

If you don't think he's god, tell him so. Otherwise, toeing the line is what some of these () require. Since they have the power, suck up!

pig · 02-28-2007, 10:18 AM

martel,

quickly, i do think that's pretty odd. i've never had a professor pull that on me, nor have i had many people pull that on me. he sounds like your typical "eccentric" professor, who may or may not have serious problems. i'd wait and see a little bit how things progress, but i'd document what is happening; in the event that some sort of capricious grading bs goes down. hope it works out.

smooth · 02-28-2007, 11:12 AM

The odd number isn't something he was in control of, that's a network issue. He probably has an out of area phone. But if he didn't leave a message and you didn't answer the calls, how do you even know it was him?

Anyway, why didn't you just talk to him when you finally did answer?
I dunno if you're overreacting, but from your description it sure sounds like there are other issues going on between the two of you that probably should be resolved just for the sake of your mental health for the rest of the time you're in the department. Power plays between professors and students aren't usually going to resolve in the student's favor, but if you think your relationship with your advisor is going to give you a lot of flex then go for it I guess.

What exactly do you want the chair or dean to do?
ask the professor not to call you after 10pm? just ask your teacher yourself...

jorgelito · 02-28-2007, 11:37 AM

I think you are overreacting. It is fairly standard (in my experience) that the professors read and go over the syllabus and class expectations with the class on the first day. I think it might even be a requirement by law or something, so no, nothing unusual about that. It is to prevent students from saying stupid stuff like, "oh, I didn't know we had a paper due" or "I thought it was ok to cheat cause the professor never told us otherwise". So from the beginning, the professor has to make things perfectly clear.

Secondly, as you don't know what the call is about, it is impossible to gauge the "urgency" of the matter. I always appreciate correspondence from my professors. Like Smooth said, how do you know the first calls were from him and why didn't you just talk to him then when you answered?

If it was important enough for him to call you instead of email, then the least you could have done was hear him out or respond in kind by calling him back during the allotted time.

I'm not sure why exactly you want to escalate this to the department chair. What complaint are you lodging? Most complaints at my school are for non-responsive professors. You should consider yourself lucky.

Don't be too hasty. Just find out first what this is all about before you rush to judgment and action.

guthmund · 02-28-2007, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorgelito

I think you are overreacting. It is fairly standard (in my experience) that the professors read and go over the syllabus and class expectations with the class on the first day. I think it might even be a requirement by law or something, so no, nothing unusual about that. It is to prevent students from saying stupid stuff like, "oh, I didn't know we had a paper due" or "I thought it was ok to cheat cause the professor never told us otherwise". So from the beginning, the professor has to make things perfectly clear.

Absolutely. I don't know if it's a requirement by law, but here the administration requires the professors/instructors to go over the syllabus the first day of classes for just that reason.

I'm with jorgelito, I think you may be jumping the gun a bit. All that's sure is that he called you later than you like, which is irritating, but hardly anything you need to flex anything about. While we're on the subject, what do you think going dean/chair/advisor/whoever-this-eventually-gets-to is going to do? Do you think they're going to side with you--at student on his way out the door--or a work colleague--that they could be stuck with for years and years?

I'd just talk to the guy and tell him the easiest way to get in touch is via e-mail rather than the phone. I use that excuse for everybody I don't want calling me on the phone, hasn't let me down yet.

Rekna · 02-28-2007, 12:36 PM

let us know what he wanted please. I wouldn't worry about anything until after you find out what it is about. Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill.

Gilda · 02-28-2007, 05:56 PM

My first class usually involves going over important elements of the syllabus, the reading list, paper requirements, attendance and grading policies, and so forth. I'm not overly concerned with prerequisites--most of my classes have only freshman comp as a prerequisite.

Not sharing lecture notes or handouts seems a little strange, and it certainly doesn't bother me when my students do that (I think of that as "studying together").

The only time I'd call a student's home contact number would be for something very important; so far that's been to ask a student who plaigarized or who had missed a lot of classes without dropping to come see me. When I do, I call only once, and do so from the school.

Calling that many times, and that late is, I think, inappropriate, especially if it's over something small like missing one minor assignment.

Astrocloud · 02-28-2007, 06:46 PM

I remember there was one teacher I had in community college he taught an entry level Philosophy course. He was a former catholic priest and was well known for grading based on who he liked.

The grading was based on open book, open note essay test. We also had an informative question and answer session before our major tests.

This one female who was in my class actually asked a question that was on the final. She recorded his answer on a portable tape recorder. She wrote down his exact answer and answered it on the final exam.

Apparantly he didn't like her because he gave her partial credit on this and other questions. She answered with exactly his answer and he objected to some idea which he originally answered.

She challenged her grade on this final exam using this and other evidence. HE LOST the challenge but the result:

NEXT SEMESTER NO RECORDING DEVICES WERE ALLOWED IN THE CLASSROOM.

Luckily my experiences with this guy didn't forever spoil my interest in philosophy.

Oh and how this relates... Perhaps your "anal retentive" nutty psychology teacher has similar experiences with not allowing notes to be shared... Or perhaps he wants to check everyone's background and monitor their behavior in the class to make sure they are not Alien imposters.

shakran · 02-28-2007, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilda

My first class usually involves going over important elements of the syllabus, the reading list, paper requirements, attendance and grading policies, and so forth. I'm not overly concerned with prerequisites--most of my classes have only freshman comp as a prerequisite.

I'd say it's VERY strange to be concerned about prereqs nowadays - - -most universities now have computerized class enrollment systems that automatically reject any attempt to register for a class that you haven't taken the prereqs for.

amonkie · 02-28-2007, 08:19 PM

I've recieved numerous calls from a Dept Head/advisor on a saturday before, and she had crossed the line in finally attempting to contact me after I went to the Dean about her lack of response and assistance with my grad requirements.

For the most part, a faculty member calling outside of class hours would need to warrant an emergency, in my opinion. Cancelling class, and update on assignments or location, or something of the nature of what Gilda mentioned would fit that in my book.

Hard to say when you don't really know the reason for his call at this point.

Gilda · 02-28-2007, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shakran

I'd say it's VERY strange to be concerned about prereqs nowadays - - -most universities now have computerized class enrollment systems that automatically reject any attempt to register for a class that you haven't taken the prereqs for.

Yep. That's how it works here.

For a 200 level course, it really seems strange. Most of our 200 level courses don't have prerequisites.

snowy · 02-28-2007, 09:04 PM

I think your professor is a nutball.

I have had some personally concerned professors, but they saw students as adults and therefore able to handle our own lives. I have never received a call from a professor. That would be creepy. Email is usually how people get ahold of me for school-related stuff.

Both of my employers are college professors, and I could never see them doing something like that.

smooth · 02-28-2007, 09:06 PM

a word on the pre-reqs: numbering systems vary by institution. this doesn't appear to be a gen ed class, unless Martel saved them for some odd reason for the very last. aside from that, I haven't been at a school yet that's used computer registration (all of them) and been able to maintain pre-req integrity. This in addition to different ideas at the faculty level of what is deemed appropriate requirements before taking certain classes.

in my small undergrad university it wasn't a problem. even if pre-reqs hadn't been met, the professor usually turned a blind eye if the student was willing to put some extra work. worked out for everyone in those cases, but doesn't make it proper, though. and I never heard any of my profs from those days arguing pre-reqs weren't important considerations at the end of the day.

but at our large university, where I'm currently working as a TA and doing my phd, making sure people have the lower division classes is critical. we routinely have class sizes over 100 and lines of people needing certain classes for graduation. pre-reqs, class standing, and necessity of the course are all fair game.

if Martel needs this class to graduate, and students were taking the only available seats forcing him to attend an extra quarter, we'd be reading a post complaining that his professor wasn't weeding out ineligable students from the classroom.

RE: sharing student notes
it looks like some posters skipped over some relevant info.
the teacher doesn't prevent students from sharing class notes with one another...he told them not to share with students who aren't taking the class.

I can think of a number of reasons why he might do this, but the most recent one that comes to mind (that I've had personal experience with) is the very real fear of students sharing notes/tests/whatever into a common pool for their frats/sororities/etc members.

or it could be that his lectures are original material that he takes seriously, perhaps pending publication. it's certainly fair to ask that students not share his material with students and others who aren't paying for his class.

the ONLY thing that even comes close to odd is the phone call at 10PM, although I personally don't think 10PM is very late at all and it's hard for me to think that anyone else does...especially given that most night classes go up to and past 10PM. and this is a night class, right? so from his perspective, he probably thought that was your availability and from your description he was correct.

and this is all based of martel's description of the issue. we have no idea what this assignment was. it's claimed to be minor, but from the description it appears the prof doesn't think that much of anything in his class should be taken seriously. I got the impression you were supposed to call if you missed anything, even after the fact, and your description sounds like you blew off the assignment and didn't mention you emailed/contacted him about it. it just looks like you thought it wasn't any thing to be concerned about from how you wrote it.

Martel · 03-01-2007, 05:50 AM

So it turns out that the phone call(s) were to schedule an appointment to meet with him to discuss a paper that we have to turn in at the end of the semester. I have absolutely no idea why it warranted repeated phone calls with no voice messages left or couldn't have just been done over email, since this guy really likes email.

I guess I feel like when he asked for our phone numbers at the beginning of the year along with all the usual student information and stuff we placed a trust in him not to abuse the privilege of having our phone numbers. I use my phone mainly for emergencies or getting in touch with my friends, so I found it to be particularly obnoxious for him to call and call and call and not leave any messages or indications of who he was, especially when he was calling over something so minor that could have been just as easily handled over email or in class (it turns out that we did handle it in class last night, and I wasn't the only one he had been calling all day two days ago).

warrrreagl · 03-01-2007, 05:57 AM

Speaking to you as a department coordinator, I advise that you do not contemplate - go IMMEDIATELY to the department chair. If there's no satisfaction there, go to the Dean of Students and the Dean of Instruction (or whatever their appropriate titles are at your college).

At the beginning of the semester, did he have the class sign "student contracts" in which you agreed to the terms in the syllabus? If not, then he will not be able to enforce any course requirements that are unusually beyond the standard course syllabus.

Grasshopper Green · 03-01-2007, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smooth

the ONLY thing that even comes close to odd is the phone call at 10PM, although I personally don't think 10PM is very late at all and it's hard for me to think that anyone else does...especially given that most night classes go up to and past 10PM. and this is a night class, right? so from his perspective, he probably thought that was your availability and from your description he was correct.

I am a college student. I am in bed by 8 pm every night. I work very early in the morning in order to go to school in the afternoon because I don't like night classes. I would be pissed beyond words if a professor called me at 10 pm and woke me up.

For another perspective, I used to take night classes, and did have one that lasted until 10 pm. I was also living with my father and stepmother at the time, and they did NOT appreciate calls after 9 pm, as they were both in bed then. Unless a student tells a professor, "Yes, it is ok to call me late in the evening", a professor has no idea of the student's living arrangements and a call that late is rude, inconsiderate, and innappropriate.

smooth · 03-01-2007, 06:50 AM

yeah, medusa, from the looks of it everyone in this thread is either a student or professor...so I don't think anyone is claiming any special validity to their answers.

I guess you quoted me to disagree with me, but that's the portion I thought was odd. albeit, given that it's a night class martel is in and given that the professor called his cell phone, I just can't go along with your assessment of the situation being "rude, inconsiderate, and inappropriate."

If you take that much issue with calls on your cell phone at night, a) don't give the number out and b) turn it off when you go to bed

I have no idea what warrrreagl is advising you to complain about...what sort of "satisfaction" do you think you're going to get by complaining about a professor calling you to discuss meeting over a final paper?

The whole complaint seems even more bizarre now that you've explained what he wanted. If it really bothered you that much to have an odd number calling you a few times during the day, it's a simple solution to ignore the thing. which is what you did...still never answered us why you didn't just resolve it when you answered it and found out it was your professor. it looks to me like you're having power issues with your professor, perhaps due to something else. if there's anything to be resolved, it's that issue alone before it swells into something larger.

Grasshopper Green · 03-01-2007, 06:56 AM

smooth...I was thinking of receiving a call on my home phone and not a cell phone. Since I don't give my cell phone number to anyone but family and close friends, I should have made that more clear.

JustJess · 03-01-2007, 07:02 AM

The point is... this guy is Martel's professor. Not his family, friend, or confidante. It's weird in this day and age for a professor to call you several times, not leave any message (which is a pet peeve - if it's important enough to call, leave a #@$@#$ message!!), and generally abuse the privilege of having your students' contact info. Unless I was in a show that required contact outside of school, never in my *cough* several years of college has any professor even asked for my phone number.

Syllabus stuff and notes stuff... a bit anal retentive, but not too unusual. Combine it with the calling, and he's weird and intrusive. Especially since it's just class business that everyone needed to hear - why would you do that any way but email or in class?

I would follow warrrrreagl's advice, because I've heard his irritations with students - he's not prone to just assume the teacher is wrong, in fact, as a department head, he's more likely to assume the student is (at least I'd think so). You don't need to make it very official since you have a relationship with the Dept. Head, but do bring it up, and ask.

smooth · 03-01-2007, 07:06 AM

Martel,

Before you consider complaining about anything...consider this:

What you keep raising as an issue is that the professor called rather than emailed you (and the entire class) to schedule an appointment.

Now, how do you suppose him emailing everyone would have worked out?
Do you think that he is sitting there with a schedule and attempting to coordinate everyone's schedule? And that by some broad stroke of luck, everyone who replies would have no conflicts with one another?

Or do you think that perhaps he would actually need to talk with each one of you to determine what works best for you, him, and each other?

Assuming you have as little as 20 people in your class, and that's assuming an assload, can you even consider the logistical nightmare that would have ensued had your professor sent out a general request for available appointment times...just think how it would have turned out if just half of you (10 in this example) wrote back, "I'm available Tuesday at 1pm." Unless you all were literally sitting in front of your computers receiving and replying to a series of emails after that, there's no practical way anything would have been accomplished.

Emails are great for static conversations, not dynamic ones.
That's one of the reasons I refuse to answer substantive questions via email.

Now, perhaps he could have resolved those issues in class. But then he'd be taking valuable instruction time away from the entire class. Something that would have been entirely avoided had people discussed the details outside of class time. But if you are of the opinion that administrative affairs are better resolved during instruction time, by all means attack his method. It's your money, after all.

Sultana · 03-01-2007, 07:35 AM

The issue raised is that the professor called repeatedly, and to no useful or effective end (leaving a message). To me that would not indicate a desire to simply communicate information, or to accomplish a goal.

I would like to imagine that a college professor has better things to do with their time.

I highly recommend documenting this incident, but hold back on bringing it up to anyone's attention yet, as you have not asked the prof. to alter his behavior. Document, then email him (the better for documentation purposes) and tell him what you've told us about you use your phone for emergencies, you're not available during what hours, in order to effectively contact you consider using email or at least leaving a message, etc. Maybe that will correct everything. If it doesn't, continue to document and after a significant period of time consider going to the Dept. head.

Dilbert1234567 · 03-01-2007, 08:28 AM

I'd wait a day or 2, then visit either the devision chair, or a dean of students. calmly, explain your concerns. I don't think there is a problem with the proff calling you, once, and leaving a message, however, he called repeatedly, all all hours, with a spoofed phone number, and refused to leave a message, that sounds like harassment to me, not that it was intended as hurrassment.

Gilda · 03-01-2007, 08:50 AM

I'd suggest clearing it up with the professor directly and not going over his head for something like this. Tell him you'd prefer he not call that late and that he leave a message regarding his business when he does call. It's better to work out problems directly with the person with whom they are occurring than to automatically take it to the next level.

Gilda, who never answers an unknown number either.

Ourcrazymodern? · 03-01-2007, 08:57 AM

...there's always the possibility, martel, that the prof wants something else.

roachboy · 03-01-2007, 09:04 AM

well, as yet another academic...

i think you're overreacting, martel

i dont frankly see much of anything to sweat in all this--the syllabus and prereq matters are fairly routine, particularly on the first day of class. different universities have particular policies--which are often informal--about the syllabus run-through: some ask that you be VERY EXPLICIT ABOUT THE REQUIREMENTS because they function as terms of an implicit contract and by being VERY EXPLICIT you lock the students into them. others are not that way. these differences have to do with assumptions about the students, obviously.

the note-sharing issue is separate--on that, i think smooth already said what should be said. i'd only add a mention of these note-taking services that enable students to not show up to class: instead, they can buy the notes. that way, busy schedules of being a fratboy do not get too adversely affected by this whole being-in-school thing. for example.

the phonecalls are a bit curious, but no more than that.
i wouldn't do it, but that is mostly because i am fine with email for scheduling stuff and, like smooth, prefer face-to-face convos over either email or phone. actually, i wouldnt call because i dont like talking on the phone very much--bloody cellphones....so it is a matter of personal preference more than of principle.

calling at 10pm would be out for me in any event: but that's only because i remember the "curb your enthusiasm" episode in which debating the "cut-off" was a central motor in the plot.

thinking about this more: often a successful class seems to lean on fabricating a sense of community--while this cat seems to have a kind of aggressive understanding of how one would go about it, i am not sure that i see in the calling anything beyond his working with/through a particular set of assumptions about community-building.

if these assumptions and/or their effects offend you (for whatever reason)--i would just drop the class.

i dont see anything involving issues of appropriateness in an official sense in it, so i am not at all sure that i would go the route that warrreagle suggests personally: it sets up a different kind of situation, and i am not sure that i see the need for it.
but then again, i wouldn't have called you.

on the other hand, i have had students call me at odd hours.
that seems ok with everyone: generally, i don't hear the cellringer so dont answer the phone....i dont understand why they call, but they do. i dont get all snippy about it: i just am baffled.
but hey, that's just me.

Frosstbyte · 03-01-2007, 12:40 PM

As far as the strict classroom expectations go, I think it's just his feelings about how he wants his class to go. Certainly a little stronger than most teachers, but nothing insanely out there. I've had a few teachers who wanted to know about absences, even if it's only after the fact. The whole sharing notes thing is kind of an empty threat. He probably feels better about saying it, but 1) why would you ever share notes on a class with people not taking a class and 2) how would he possibly show that you used your notes from the class as the source, unless you copy what he says verbatim? I guess maybe he's concerned about students taking his ideas to other people or trying to get them published themselves? Seems pretty silly and not really very important.

I don't give my phone number to teachers unless I'm working with them on a specific small-group project where they have good reason to be contacting me by phone to schedule things. I am also very wary about ever calling a teacher. I don't know that I ever have, actually, at least, not as a teacher. I had a few college professors with whom I became very close and I called and was called in the capacity of friendship, not in the capacity of teacher/student.

Calling someone about something trivial past 9 PM unless you know their sleep/evening habits is exceptionally rude, in my book. Calling a student at home about really anything except for an emergency, I think, is simply outside the scope of appropriate conduct for a teacher. E-mail exists for a reason, and for almost all student/teacher purposes, it is by far the most effective means of communication. There's something overly personal about receiving a phone call from a teacher at home, and I would be unhappy about it. I'd do what Gilda and warrrr suggested and talk to the department chair or the dean. He seems a little touchy as it is, so talking to him personally might set him off. Better to speak with his superiors.

Sweetpea · 03-01-2007, 01:03 PM

It's annoying and I admit slightly odd.

and WOW! what college are you in that has proff's. that involved! I would have killed to have a proff. that involved in my studies. Most of ours you had to pull teeth and waiting only for office hours to get any kind of questions answered.

I'd write it off as a person who obviously has way too much invested in his job and may be bored in his off hours, so he likes to call people. That's the impression I got.
he also might be obsessive compulsive and just likes to get things done on his schedule.

it's a bit odd, but not something I'd get up in arms about unless this was happening repeatedly every single week.

sweetpea

Gilda · 03-01-2007, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frosstbyte

I'd do what Gilda and warrrr suggested and talk to the department chair or the dean. He seems a little touchy as it is, so talking to him personally might set him off. Better to speak with his superiors.

My suggestion was to talk to the professor directly first and try to clear things up with him before going over his head. Some universities are very strict about the chain of command. If a student has a problem here, at least in the English department, and goes to the department head, she will routinely get sent back to the professor in question to try to work things out on that level first.

This is going to vary by institution and department, but I think it's usually best to try to work things out directly with the person you're having difficulty with before involving other authorities.

Not being the assertive type, I've never been much good at that myself, but I do think it's a good rule of thumb.

Frosstbyte · 03-01-2007, 02:01 PM

I apparently can't read. Sorry about that, Gilda. Dunno what I thought I read. Either way, professors sometimes react quite poorly to criticism from students, especially ones who think highly of themselves. This guy seems to be on a bit of a high horse and doesn't necessarily know limits. Especially if the class isn't graded blind, taking it up with him can be a great way to get your grade arbitrarily lowered and have a miserable experience for the rest of the class, even if it's taken up appropriately and reasonably.

Teachers are in a unique position of authority over students. Taking the issue to the teacher's superior-who doesn't have that specific classroom and grading authority-can make the situation more manageable and comfortable.

Gilda · 03-01-2007, 02:05 PM

It's OK. No harm no . . . ohhh, shiny.

Martel · 03-01-2007, 07:02 PM

To further clarify a bit (I was on the way out the door for work when I posted earlier):

The night class ends at 8:30pm.

My cell phone is my Phone. I don't have any other phone, so it is always on in case of emergency.

Last night at class the appointment issue was settled with a simple sign-up sheet.

I didn't talk to him at 10pm because I was a) offended that he would call me for something not important enough to leave a message about and b) right in the middle of something I wasn't about to stop to talk to my professor. When I answered I was expecting to tell off some obnoxious marketer or political campaigner (had to do this a lot this past election) but instead I get "Hey there, Martel... How's it going?" to which I answered with a confused "um.. hi". He then said something to the effect of "You have the sound of someone who recognizes the voice he hears but can't quite place it! This is Steve *last name* from *college name*." (note that he normally goes by DOCTOR STEVEN J. *last name*, PH.D) At this point it became clear that he wasn't trying to call me to say "OH NO YOU'RE FAILING AND NEED TO DROP" or "would you please come teach the class for me tomorrow?", but was intending to have some sort of conversation. At the time, to me, this was about equivalent to him stopping by unannounced to hang out, or something.

Most of the professors I have had are very friendly and have extended invitations to the students to call them if they need or want to talk. In such cases I have not found it odd to also fill in my phone number on the student info sheet, but it is because I am assuming that the information will not be misused, just as the professor is assuming we will not misuse his or hers. To get random calls about something unimportant while I am at work and late at night is, in my opinion, a misuse of my personal info.

Combining this with his other general weirdness such as paranoia about people stealing his class notes and students committing plagiarism (we have to sign and initial and date the university honor code on every assignment... something that's not out of place at somewhere like Washington and Lee, but is VERY out of place at my small state school.), strict control over who is a class member (having to produce evidence of prerequisites, something the school computer does automatically, and refusing to allow ANY extra students whatsoever, which is very unusual at my school), smarmy in-class demeanor including smirking at wrong answers, and absolute insistence on using every last minute of a 2.5 hour class period (also unusual at my school), the guy is just pretty unpleasant. He is not like any of the professors I have had at my school, and I guess I was considering talking to the department head just because this guy is a first-time adjunct teaching this one class and I wonder if some feedback wouldn't be appreciated.

Also, having never had any other experiences like this in my six years of university, I was wondering if everyone else would find it as strange as I did.

Sweetpea · 03-01-2007, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilda

It's OK. No harm no . . . ohhh, shiny.

hehehe Gilda, you crack me up

Martel:

this dude just sounds odd and I am sincerely sorry you're having to ponder/deal with it.
That being said, if this is the worst of your troubles in life that you're letting it upset you this much, I would say you're a very lucky person.

however, the guy does sound unstable, so i'd be careful about how I played it.

sweetpea

Martel · 03-01-2007, 07:11 PM

I don't want to give the impression that I'm upset. It was more just a sort of "wow this guy is obnoxious, I wonder if I should talk to my friend the department chair about it" kind of thing.

Sweetpea · 03-01-2007, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martel

I don't want to give the impression that I'm upset. It was more just a sort of "wow this guy is obnoxious, I wonder if I should talk to my friend the department chair about it" kind of thing.

oh

well, my bad. that's why the internet sucks sometimes, hard to know the connotation of one's words.

and yeah, I do actually feel sorry you for. the guy sounds kinda creepy.

sweetpea

Gilda · 03-01-2007, 07:26 PM

Do you do end of class teacher evaluations? My school has that as standard for all non-tenured (assistant) and associate professors. That would be a good place to bring this up.

ratbastid · 03-01-2007, 07:37 PM

I agree (as I so often do) with Gilda: those professor evaluations are really taken to heart. I have prof friends who live and die by those things. Don't use the evaluation to punish him, but use it as an opportunity to communicate something important.

The only time in my whole college career a professor ever called me, it was to let me know I was sleeping through his final. I appreciated that call!

jorgelito · 03-01-2007, 07:38 PM

So what happened Martel? We need more info from you. How did you "resolve" it?

Was this really a big deal?

02-28-2007, 05:47 AM	#1 (permalink)
Martel Insane Location: Sage's bed	Appropriate behavior for university professors? So I'm taking a 200-level psychology course this semester as one of my two final courses in my psych degree... My professor is new at the school, having transferred from William and Mary I believe. Now I've been to four different universities in my life, and I've never had a professor that acted like this one. On the first day of class, he read us the syllabus and emphasized certain things we have to do, such as: email him with proof that we have satisfied the prerequisite courses (course title, instructor, school if taken somewhere else, date, and final grade), not ever share lecture notes or handouts with students not taking the class, email him if we are ever absent (to let him know after the fact), etc. Now I thought it was a bit weird, but I figured everyone's a bit weird, right? A couple of weeks ago I missed turning in a minor assignment (our class meets once a week, at night). Beyond that I have attended every class and did well on the only test we've had so far. I haven't heard anything about it, nor did I expect to. Yesterday, I get a call on my cell phone while I'm at work. I didn't answer it, because I didn't recognize the caller ID (it was some fake ID like 000-012-3456 which usually means telemarketers or something). I got another call while Sage and I were at dinner, another call while we were watching a movie, and another call at 10pm when we were both at home. I picked it up just so that I could tell the marketer to leave me alone, and it was my professor! Now I have never gotten a phone call from any of my professors ever, and I don't think that any of them would have assumed it was okay to call me, especially not repeatedly or at 10pm. He never left a voicemail and never sent me any email or anything (which he obviously is capable of). I told him that I couldn't take his call right then and that I would call him back the next day. He said he would email me with his phone number. Today I have an email instructing me to call him at so-and-so number between 10 and 3. I work from 9 to 4, and I'm not about to take break time just to call this guy for whatever it is he wants but can't be bothered to email me about. I replied to his email saying I could call him after 4pm, or just talk to him tonight at class (tonight is our weekly meeting). So basically my question is: have any of you ever had professors act like this? It seems highly bizarre and abnormal to me, and I'm considering complaining to the department chair, who is my advisor. I'm on fairly buddy-buddy terms with him. I just want to make sure I'm not overreacting. __________________ Anamnesis

02-28-2007, 05:57 AM	#2 (permalink)
JustJess Unencapsulated Location: Kittyville	You're probably not overreacting, however, give the prof the benefit of the doubt and talk to him tonight. Until you know what was so urgent to him, you don't know if he's just being a freak. However, if it's just about the one minor missed assignment, yes, talk to the dean. As for his beginning stuff, he sounds like he's used to high schoolers, not college students. I've never had a prof be that ... involved. __________________ My heart knows me better than I know myself, so I'm gonna let it do all the talkin'.

02-28-2007, 06:28 AM	#3 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	tell your professor that he should leave a voice message, and shouldn't spoof his phone number. i get calls and emails from some of my professors. last week i got a call saying class was canceled. __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

02-28-2007, 08:53 AM	#4 (permalink)
Ourcrazymodern? still, wondering. Location: South Minneapolis, somewhere near the gorgeous gorge	If you don't think he's god, tell him so. Otherwise, toeing the line is what some of these () require. Since they have the power, suck up! __________________ BE JUST AND FEAR NOT

02-28-2007, 10:18 AM	#5 (permalink)
pig pigglet pigglet Location: Locash	martel, quickly, i do think that's pretty odd. i've never had a professor pull that on me, nor have i had many people pull that on me. he sounds like your typical "eccentric" professor, who may or may not have serious problems. i'd wait and see a little bit how things progress, but i'd document what is happening; in the event that some sort of capricious grading bs goes down. hope it works out. __________________ You don't love me, you just love my piggy style

02-28-2007, 11:12 AM	#6 (permalink)
smooth Junkie Location: Right here	The odd number isn't something he was in control of, that's a network issue. He probably has an out of area phone. But if he didn't leave a message and you didn't answer the calls, how do you even know it was him? Anyway, why didn't you just talk to him when you finally did answer? I dunno if you're overreacting, but from your description it sure sounds like there are other issues going on between the two of you that probably should be resolved just for the sake of your mental health for the rest of the time you're in the department. Power plays between professors and students aren't usually going to resolve in the student's favor, but if you think your relationship with your advisor is going to give you a lot of flex then go for it I guess. What exactly do you want the chair or dean to do? ask the professor not to call you after 10pm? just ask your teacher yourself... __________________ "The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann "You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman

02-28-2007, 11:37 AM	#7 (permalink)
jorgelito All important elusive independent swing voter... Location: People's Republic of KKKalifornia	I think you are overreacting. It is fairly standard (in my experience) that the professors read and go over the syllabus and class expectations with the class on the first day. I think it might even be a requirement by law or something, so no, nothing unusual about that. It is to prevent students from saying stupid stuff like, "oh, I didn't know we had a paper due" or "I thought it was ok to cheat cause the professor never told us otherwise". So from the beginning, the professor has to make things perfectly clear. Secondly, as you don't know what the call is about, it is impossible to gauge the "urgency" of the matter. I always appreciate correspondence from my professors. Like Smooth said, how do you know the first calls were from him and why didn't you just talk to him then when you answered? If it was important enough for him to call you instead of email, then the least you could have done was hear him out or respond in kind by calling him back during the allotted time. I'm not sure why exactly you want to escalate this to the department chair. What complaint are you lodging? Most complaints at my school are for non-responsive professors. You should consider yourself lucky. Don't be too hasty. Just find out first what this is all about before you rush to judgment and action.

02-28-2007, 12:36 PM	#9 (permalink)
Rekna Junkie	let us know what he wanted please. I wouldn't worry about anything until after you find out what it is about. Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill.

02-28-2007, 05:56 PM	#10 (permalink)
Gilda 32 flavors and then some Location: Out on a wire.	My first class usually involves going over important elements of the syllabus, the reading list, paper requirements, attendance and grading policies, and so forth. I'm not overly concerned with prerequisites--most of my classes have only freshman comp as a prerequisite. Not sharing lecture notes or handouts seems a little strange, and it certainly doesn't bother me when my students do that (I think of that as "studying together"). The only time I'd call a student's home contact number would be for something very important; so far that's been to ask a student who plaigarized or who had missed a lot of classes without dropping to come see me. When I do, I call only once, and do so from the school. Calling that many times, and that late is, I think, inappropriate, especially if it's over something small like missing one minor assignment. __________________ I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that. ~Steven Colbert Last edited by Gilda; 02-28-2007 at 08:31 PM..

02-28-2007, 06:46 PM	#11 (permalink)
Astrocloud Apocalypse Nerd	I remember there was one teacher I had in community college he taught an entry level Philosophy course. He was a former catholic priest and was well known for grading based on who he liked. The grading was based on open book, open note essay test. We also had an informative question and answer session before our major tests. This one female who was in my class actually asked a question that was on the final. She recorded his answer on a portable tape recorder. She wrote down his exact answer and answered it on the final exam. Apparantly he didn't like her because he gave her partial credit on this and other questions. She answered with exactly his answer and he objected to some idea which he originally answered. She challenged her grade on this final exam using this and other evidence. HE LOST the challenge but the result: NEXT SEMESTER NO RECORDING DEVICES WERE ALLOWED IN THE CLASSROOM. Luckily my experiences with this guy didn't forever spoil my interest in philosophy. Oh and how this relates... Perhaps your "anal retentive" nutty psychology teacher has similar experiences with not allowing notes to be shared... Or perhaps he wants to check everyone's background and monitor their behavior in the class to make sure they are not Alien imposters. Last edited by Astrocloud; 02-28-2007 at 06:49 PM..

02-28-2007, 08:19 PM	#13 (permalink)
amonkie Drifting Administrator Location: Windy City	I've recieved numerous calls from a Dept Head/advisor on a saturday before, and she had crossed the line in finally attempting to contact me after I went to the Dean about her lack of response and assistance with my grad requirements. For the most part, a faculty member calling outside of class hours would need to warrant an emergency, in my opinion. Cancelling class, and update on assignments or location, or something of the nature of what Gilda mentioned would fit that in my book. Hard to say when you don't really know the reason for his call at this point. __________________ Calling from deep in the heart, from where the eyes can't see and the ears can't hear, from where the mountain trails end and only love can go... ~~~ Three Rivers Hare Krishna

02-28-2007, 09:04 PM	#15 (permalink)
snowy Kick Ass Kunoichi Location: Oregon	I think your professor is a nutball. I have had some personally concerned professors, but they saw students as adults and therefore able to handle our own lives. I have never received a call from a professor. That would be creepy. Email is usually how people get ahold of me for school-related stuff. Both of my employers are college professors, and I could never see them doing something like that. __________________ If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

02-28-2007, 09:06 PM	#16 (permalink)
smooth Junkie Location: Right here	a word on the pre-reqs: numbering systems vary by institution. this doesn't appear to be a gen ed class, unless Martel saved them for some odd reason for the very last. aside from that, I haven't been at a school yet that's used computer registration (all of them) and been able to maintain pre-req integrity. This in addition to different ideas at the faculty level of what is deemed appropriate requirements before taking certain classes. in my small undergrad university it wasn't a problem. even if pre-reqs hadn't been met, the professor usually turned a blind eye if the student was willing to put some extra work. worked out for everyone in those cases, but doesn't make it proper, though. and I never heard any of my profs from those days arguing pre-reqs weren't important considerations at the end of the day. but at our large university, where I'm currently working as a TA and doing my phd, making sure people have the lower division classes is critical. we routinely have class sizes over 100 and lines of people needing certain classes for graduation. pre-reqs, class standing, and necessity of the course are all fair game. if Martel needs this class to graduate, and students were taking the only available seats forcing him to attend an extra quarter, we'd be reading a post complaining that his professor wasn't weeding out ineligable students from the classroom. RE: sharing student notes it looks like some posters skipped over some relevant info. the teacher doesn't prevent students from sharing class notes with one another...he told them not to share with students who aren't taking the class. I can think of a number of reasons why he might do this, but the most recent one that comes to mind (that I've had personal experience with) is the very real fear of students sharing notes/tests/whatever into a common pool for their frats/sororities/etc members. or it could be that his lectures are original material that he takes seriously, perhaps pending publication. it's certainly fair to ask that students not share his material with students and others who aren't paying for his class. the ONLY thing that even comes close to odd is the phone call at 10PM, although I personally don't think 10PM is very late at all and it's hard for me to think that anyone else does...especially given that most night classes go up to and past 10PM. and this is a night class, right? so from his perspective, he probably thought that was your availability and from your description he was correct. and this is all based of martel's description of the issue. we have no idea what this assignment was. it's claimed to be minor, but from the description it appears the prof doesn't think that much of anything in his class should be taken seriously. I got the impression you were supposed to call if you missed anything, even after the fact, and your description sounds like you blew off the assignment and didn't mention you emailed/contacted him about it. it just looks like you thought it wasn't any thing to be concerned about from how you wrote it. __________________ "The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann "You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman

03-01-2007, 05:50 AM	#17 (permalink)
Martel Insane Location: Sage's bed	So it turns out that the phone call(s) were to schedule an appointment to meet with him to discuss a paper that we have to turn in at the end of the semester. I have absolutely no idea why it warranted repeated phone calls with no voice messages left or couldn't have just been done over email, since this guy really likes email. I guess I feel like when he asked for our phone numbers at the beginning of the year along with all the usual student information and stuff we placed a trust in him not to abuse the privilege of having our phone numbers. I use my phone mainly for emergencies or getting in touch with my friends, so I found it to be particularly obnoxious for him to call and call and call and not leave any messages or indications of who he was, especially when he was calling over something so minor that could have been just as easily handled over email or in class (it turns out that we did handle it in class last night, and I wasn't the only one he had been calling all day two days ago). __________________ Anamnesis

03-01-2007, 05:57 AM	#18 (permalink)
warrrreagl pinche vato Location: backwater, Third World, land of cotton	Speaking to you as a department coordinator, I advise that you do not contemplate - go IMMEDIATELY to the department chair. If there's no satisfaction there, go to the Dean of Students and the Dean of Instruction (or whatever their appropriate titles are at your college). At the beginning of the semester, did he have the class sign "student contracts" in which you agreed to the terms in the syllabus? If not, then he will not be able to enforce any course requirements that are unusually beyond the standard course syllabus. __________________ Living is easy with eyes closed.

03-01-2007, 06:50 AM	#20 (permalink)
smooth Junkie Location: Right here	yeah, medusa, from the looks of it everyone in this thread is either a student or professor...so I don't think anyone is claiming any special validity to their answers. I guess you quoted me to disagree with me, but that's the portion I thought was odd. albeit, given that it's a night class martel is in and given that the professor called his cell phone, I just can't go along with your assessment of the situation being "rude, inconsiderate, and inappropriate." If you take that much issue with calls on your cell phone at night, a) don't give the number out and b) turn it off when you go to bed I have no idea what warrrreagl is advising you to complain about...what sort of "satisfaction" do you think you're going to get by complaining about a professor calling you to discuss meeting over a final paper? The whole complaint seems even more bizarre now that you've explained what he wanted. If it really bothered you that much to have an odd number calling you a few times during the day, it's a simple solution to ignore the thing. which is what you did...still never answered us why you didn't just resolve it when you answered it and found out it was your professor. it looks to me like you're having power issues with your professor, perhaps due to something else. if there's anything to be resolved, it's that issue alone before it swells into something larger. __________________ "The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann "You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman

03-01-2007, 06:56 AM	#21 (permalink)
Grasshopper Green ...is a comical chap Location: Where morons reign supreme	smooth...I was thinking of receiving a call on my home phone and not a cell phone. Since I don't give my cell phone number to anyone but family and close friends, I should have made that more clear. __________________ "They say that patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings; steal a little and they throw you in jail, steal a lot and they make you king" Formerly Medusa

03-01-2007, 07:02 AM	#22 (permalink)
JustJess Unencapsulated Location: Kittyville	The point is... this guy is Martel's professor. Not his family, friend, or confidante. It's weird in this day and age for a professor to call you several times, not leave any message (which is a pet peeve - if it's important enough to call, leave a #@$@#$ message!!), and generally abuse the privilege of having your students' contact info. Unless I was in a show that required contact outside of school, never in my cough several years of college has any professor even asked for my phone number. Syllabus stuff and notes stuff... a bit anal retentive, but not too unusual. Combine it with the calling, and he's weird and intrusive. Especially since it's just class business that everyone needed to hear - why would you do that any way but email or in class? I would follow warrrrreagl's advice, because I've heard his irritations with students - he's not prone to just assume the teacher is wrong, in fact, as a department head, he's more likely to assume the student is (at least I'd think so). You don't need to make it very official since you have a relationship with the Dept. Head, but do bring it up, and ask. __________________ My heart knows me better than I know myself, so I'm gonna let it do all the talkin'.

03-01-2007, 07:06 AM	#23 (permalink)
smooth Junkie Location: Right here	Martel, Before you consider complaining about anything...consider this: What you keep raising as an issue is that the professor called rather than emailed you (and the entire class) to schedule an appointment. Now, how do you suppose him emailing everyone would have worked out? Do you think that he is sitting there with a schedule and attempting to coordinate everyone's schedule? And that by some broad stroke of luck, everyone who replies would have no conflicts with one another? Or do you think that perhaps he would actually need to talk with each one of you to determine what works best for you, him, and each other? Assuming you have as little as 20 people in your class, and that's assuming an assload, can you even consider the logistical nightmare that would have ensued had your professor sent out a general request for available appointment times...just think how it would have turned out if just half of you (10 in this example) wrote back, "I'm available Tuesday at 1pm." Unless you all were literally sitting in front of your computers receiving and replying to a series of emails after that, there's no practical way anything would have been accomplished. Emails are great for static conversations, not dynamic ones. That's one of the reasons I refuse to answer substantive questions via email. Now, perhaps he could have resolved those issues in class. But then he'd be taking valuable instruction time away from the entire class. Something that would have been entirely avoided had people discussed the details outside of class time. But if you are of the opinion that administrative affairs are better resolved during instruction time, by all means attack his method. It's your money, after all. __________________ "The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account." -- Walter Lippmann "You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman

03-01-2007, 07:35 AM	#24 (permalink)
Sultana Falling Angel Location: L.A. L.A. land	The issue raised is that the professor called repeatedly, and to no useful or effective end (leaving a message). To me that would not indicate a desire to simply communicate information, or to accomplish a goal. I would like to imagine that a college professor has better things to do with their time. I highly recommend documenting this incident, but hold back on bringing it up to anyone's attention yet, as you have not asked the prof. to alter his behavior. Document, then email him (the better for documentation purposes) and tell him what you've told us about you use your phone for emergencies, you're not available during what hours, in order to effectively contact you consider using email or at least leaving a message, etc. Maybe that will correct everything. If it doesn't, continue to document and after a significant period of time consider going to the Dept. head. __________________ "Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." - Matt Groening My goal? To fulfill my potential.

03-01-2007, 08:28 AM	#25 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	I'd wait a day or 2, then visit either the devision chair, or a dean of students. calmly, explain your concerns. I don't think there is a problem with the proff calling you, once, and leaving a message, however, he called repeatedly, all all hours, with a spoofed phone number, and refused to leave a message, that sounds like harassment to me, not that it was intended as hurrassment. __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

03-01-2007, 08:50 AM	#26 (permalink)
Gilda 32 flavors and then some Location: Out on a wire.	I'd suggest clearing it up with the professor directly and not going over his head for something like this. Tell him you'd prefer he not call that late and that he leave a message regarding his business when he does call. It's better to work out problems directly with the person with whom they are occurring than to automatically take it to the next level. Gilda, who never answers an unknown number either. __________________ I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that. ~Steven Colbert

03-01-2007, 08:57 AM	#27 (permalink)
Ourcrazymodern? still, wondering. Location: South Minneapolis, somewhere near the gorgeous gorge	...there's always the possibility, martel, that the prof wants something else. __________________ BE JUST AND FEAR NOT

03-01-2007, 09:04 AM	#28 (permalink)
roachboy Super Moderator Location: essex ma	well, as yet another academic... i think you're overreacting, martel i dont frankly see much of anything to sweat in all this--the syllabus and prereq matters are fairly routine, particularly on the first day of class. different universities have particular policies--which are often informal--about the syllabus run-through: some ask that you be VERY EXPLICIT ABOUT THE REQUIREMENTS because they function as terms of an implicit contract and by being VERY EXPLICIT you lock the students into them. others are not that way. these differences have to do with assumptions about the students, obviously. the note-sharing issue is separate--on that, i think smooth already said what should be said. i'd only add a mention of these note-taking services that enable students to not show up to class: instead, they can buy the notes. that way, busy schedules of being a fratboy do not get too adversely affected by this whole being-in-school thing. for example. the phonecalls are a bit curious, but no more than that. i wouldn't do it, but that is mostly because i am fine with email for scheduling stuff and, like smooth, prefer face-to-face convos over either email or phone. actually, i wouldnt call because i dont like talking on the phone very much--bloody cellphones....so it is a matter of personal preference more than of principle. calling at 10pm would be out for me in any event: but that's only because i remember the "curb your enthusiasm" episode in which debating the "cut-off" was a central motor in the plot. thinking about this more: often a successful class seems to lean on fabricating a sense of community--while this cat seems to have a kind of aggressive understanding of how one would go about it, i am not sure that i see in the calling anything beyond his working with/through a particular set of assumptions about community-building. if these assumptions and/or their effects offend you (for whatever reason)--i would just drop the class. i dont see anything involving issues of appropriateness in an official sense in it, so i am not at all sure that i would go the route that warrreagle suggests personally: it sets up a different kind of situation, and i am not sure that i see the need for it. but then again, i wouldn't have called you. on the other hand, i have had students call me at odd hours. that seems ok with everyone: generally, i don't hear the cellringer so dont answer the phone....i dont understand why they call, but they do. i dont get all snippy about it: i just am baffled. but hey, that's just me. __________________ a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear it make you sick. -kamau brathwaite

03-01-2007, 12:40 PM	#29 (permalink)
Frosstbyte Winter is Coming Location: The North	As far as the strict classroom expectations go, I think it's just his feelings about how he wants his class to go. Certainly a little stronger than most teachers, but nothing insanely out there. I've had a few teachers who wanted to know about absences, even if it's only after the fact. The whole sharing notes thing is kind of an empty threat. He probably feels better about saying it, but 1) why would you ever share notes on a class with people not taking a class and 2) how would he possibly show that you used your notes from the class as the source, unless you copy what he says verbatim? I guess maybe he's concerned about students taking his ideas to other people or trying to get them published themselves? Seems pretty silly and not really very important. I don't give my phone number to teachers unless I'm working with them on a specific small-group project where they have good reason to be contacting me by phone to schedule things. I am also very wary about ever calling a teacher. I don't know that I ever have, actually, at least, not as a teacher. I had a few college professors with whom I became very close and I called and was called in the capacity of friendship, not in the capacity of teacher/student. Calling someone about something trivial past 9 PM unless you know their sleep/evening habits is exceptionally rude, in my book. Calling a student at home about really anything except for an emergency, I think, is simply outside the scope of appropriate conduct for a teacher. E-mail exists for a reason, and for almost all student/teacher purposes, it is by far the most effective means of communication. There's something overly personal about receiving a phone call from a teacher at home, and I would be unhappy about it. I'd do what Gilda and warrrr suggested and talk to the department chair or the dean. He seems a little touchy as it is, so talking to him personally might set him off. Better to speak with his superiors.

03-01-2007, 01:03 PM	#30 (permalink)
Sweetpea Fade out Location: in love	It's annoying and I admit slightly odd. and WOW! what college are you in that has proff's. that involved! I would have killed to have a proff. that involved in my studies. Most of ours you had to pull teeth and waiting only for office hours to get any kind of questions answered. I'd write it off as a person who obviously has way too much invested in his job and may be bored in his off hours, so he likes to call people. That's the impression I got. he also might be obsessive compulsive and just likes to get things done on his schedule. it's a bit odd, but not something I'd get up in arms about unless this was happening repeatedly every single week. sweetpea __________________ Having a Pet Will Change Your Life! Looking for a great pet?! Click Here! "I am the Type of Person Who Can Get Away With A lot, Simply Because I Don't Ask Permission for the Privilege of Being Myself"

03-01-2007, 02:01 PM	#32 (permalink)
Frosstbyte Winter is Coming Location: The North	I apparently can't read. Sorry about that, Gilda. Dunno what I thought I read. Either way, professors sometimes react quite poorly to criticism from students, especially ones who think highly of themselves. This guy seems to be on a bit of a high horse and doesn't necessarily know limits. Especially if the class isn't graded blind, taking it up with him can be a great way to get your grade arbitrarily lowered and have a miserable experience for the rest of the class, even if it's taken up appropriately and reasonably. Teachers are in a unique position of authority over students. Taking the issue to the teacher's superior-who doesn't have that specific classroom and grading authority-can make the situation more manageable and comfortable. Last edited by Frosstbyte; 03-01-2007 at 02:08 PM..

03-01-2007, 02:05 PM	#33 (permalink)
Gilda 32 flavors and then some Location: Out on a wire.	It's OK. No harm no . . . ohhh, shiny. __________________ I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that. ~Steven Colbert

03-01-2007, 07:02 PM	#34 (permalink)
Martel Insane Location: Sage's bed	To further clarify a bit (I was on the way out the door for work when I posted earlier): The night class ends at 8:30pm. My cell phone is my Phone. I don't have any other phone, so it is always on in case of emergency. Last night at class the appointment issue was settled with a simple sign-up sheet. I didn't talk to him at 10pm because I was a) offended that he would call me for something not important enough to leave a message about and b) right in the middle of something I wasn't about to stop to talk to my professor. When I answered I was expecting to tell off some obnoxious marketer or political campaigner (had to do this a lot this past election) but instead I get "Hey there, Martel... How's it going?" to which I answered with a confused "um.. hi". He then said something to the effect of "You have the sound of someone who recognizes the voice he hears but can't quite place it! This is Steve last name from college name." (note that he normally goes by DOCTOR STEVEN J. last name, PH.D) At this point it became clear that he wasn't trying to call me to say "OH NO YOU'RE FAILING AND NEED TO DROP" or "would you please come teach the class for me tomorrow?", but was intending to have some sort of conversation. At the time, to me, this was about equivalent to him stopping by unannounced to hang out, or something. Most of the professors I have had are very friendly and have extended invitations to the students to call them if they need or want to talk. In such cases I have not found it odd to also fill in my phone number on the student info sheet, but it is because I am assuming that the information will not be misused, just as the professor is assuming we will not misuse his or hers. To get random calls about something unimportant while I am at work and late at night is, in my opinion, a misuse of my personal info. Combining this with his other general weirdness such as paranoia about people stealing his class notes and students committing plagiarism (we have to sign and initial and date the university honor code on every assignment... something that's not out of place at somewhere like Washington and Lee, but is VERY out of place at my small state school.), strict control over who is a class member (having to produce evidence of prerequisites, something the school computer does automatically, and refusing to allow ANY extra students whatsoever, which is very unusual at my school), smarmy in-class demeanor including smirking at wrong answers, and absolute insistence on using every last minute of a 2.5 hour class period (also unusual at my school), the guy is just pretty unpleasant. He is not like any of the professors I have had at my school, and I guess I was considering talking to the department head just because this guy is a first-time adjunct teaching this one class and I wonder if some feedback wouldn't be appreciated. Also, having never had any other experiences like this in my six years of university, I was wondering if everyone else would find it as strange as I did. __________________ Anamnesis Last edited by Martel; 03-01-2007 at 07:08 PM..

03-01-2007, 07:11 PM	#36 (permalink)
Martel Insane Location: Sage's bed	I don't want to give the impression that I'm upset. It was more just a sort of "wow this guy is obnoxious, I wonder if I should talk to my friend the department chair about it" kind of thing. __________________ Anamnesis

03-01-2007, 07:26 PM	#38 (permalink)
Gilda 32 flavors and then some Location: Out on a wire.	Do you do end of class teacher evaluations? My school has that as standard for all non-tenured (assistant) and associate professors. That would be a good place to bring this up. __________________ I'm against ending blackness. I believe that everyone has a right to be black, it's a choice, and I support that. ~Steven Colbert Last edited by Gilda; 03-01-2007 at 07:30 PM..

03-01-2007, 07:37 PM	#39 (permalink)
ratbastid Darth Papa Location: Yonder	I agree (as I so often do) with Gilda: those professor evaluations are really taken to heart. I have prof friends who live and die by those things. Don't use the evaluation to punish him, but use it as an opportunity to communicate something important. The only time in my whole college career a professor ever called me, it was to let me know I was sleeping through his final. I appreciated that call!

03-01-2007, 07:38 PM	#40 (permalink)
jorgelito All important elusive independent swing voter... Location: People's Republic of KKKalifornia	So what happened Martel? We need more info from you. How did you "resolve" it? Was this really a big deal?