A Caring Professor May Be Key in How a Graduate Thrives

If you believe the new "Gallup-Purdue Index Report," a study of 30,000 graduates of American colleges on issues of employment, job ...

To read more:  http://chronicle.com/article/A-Caring-Professor-May-Be-Key/146409/ 

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Rick Upchurch

All of life can be reduced to relationships - so make yours count!

www.toolstolead.blogspot.com

Poor evaluation by students

There can be a variety of reasons why students give a poor evaluation which include but are not limited to:

• Professor teaches only or primarily using lecture format
• Professor is habitually late for class
• Professor doesn't take time to answer student questions
• Professor is not timely in returning graded homework
• Professor is not willing to discuss the rationale for grades given
• Professor...

Hopefully you can see where I'm going with this. I am a firm believer that everything rises and falls on leadership. If there are concerns on your evaluation the problem may actually lie with you, not the class. Defensiveness prevents many professors with wonderful potential from ever maturing into that potential. A mentor of mine once said the greates indicator of leadership potential is the ability to receive and learn from criticism without rancor. I think this probably applies to the instructor who leads her class. Set the pattern of excellence and then live up to the pattern yourself.

All the work has not been turned in . . . what do I do?

Recently I was discussing with a professor a concern they had regarding a specific student who was there for the class sessions but had fallen behind in turning in their assignments. The end of the class was approaching and it looked like the work would not be in, possibly even by the time the finals were due. The question is whether or not to turn in the grades on the contract date or wait an extra week or two to give the student time to get the work turned in.

There are at least three factors which weigh into this decision:

1. Unknown to most faculty, many of our students are turning their grades in to their employers for reimbursement - thus delaying turning in the grades actually punishes those who have been faithful to follow the guidelines for the course.
2. Instead of actually helping the student you might be enabling their lack of discipline by not taking into account the student's history of excuses and academic tardiness, and
3. You deprive yourself and your family of the timely payment for the services which you rendered.

The best choice is ALWAYS to turn in your grades in ON TIME giving those students who have missing work an 'I' and see if they have the will to catch up before the grade becomes an 'F.' Honestly there is a time to rescue, but more often there is a need to set a high standard and hold to it.

Instructor Sick

One evening an instructor called me from the car on the way to class, indicating that she had just been violently sick in the car and on herself, and that she didn't think she could be in class that evening. I agreed whole heartedly! The class was notified and the instructor made arrangements with the class to make up the seat time when they met the next week.

Canceling class in a case like this is a common sense decision, which was handled professionally, in spite of the illness:

1. The instructor attempted to attend the scheduled class, even though sick. This is commendable and even expected . . . as long as the illness will not significantly distract from the instruction OR the instruction can be re-thought to include more student led interaction.
2. When the illness became severe enough to significantly distract from the instruction, I was notified of the illness and arrangements made to cancel class. If this had occurred during the actual class, the instructor would dismiss the class and discuss make-up options the next week, and notify the administrative office the next day.
3. The class was notified at the earliest possible moment.
4. The same instructor completed the make-up through arrangements with the class and in keeping with the integrity to the material.