February 18, 2010
Student shares concern over professor accountability
We’ve all had that professor. Whether s/he is, said respectfully, blatantly arrogant, intolerably inadequate for educational instruction, or profoundly apathetic towards his/her personal career choice, we the students make our way to class day after day. How do we get out of this situation? Rearrange our schedules to get in with a different professor? I think that it’s safe to say that for many of us, that’s simply not plausible.
Do we file a formal complaint?
The first step of that process is to express your concern with the professor, which opens the door to a litany of problems:
Would you care to respectfully tell your professor s/he is inadequate for the job in your humble, non-Ph D opinion? I realize that the previous question does not represent the purpose of a meeting like this, but considering the relationship between professor and student, there exists a “no-go” zone.
Students don’t establish the criteria that makes a professor adequate, therefore, it is not our “place” to say whether s/he is or isn’t.
So, do we simply play with the hand we are dealt? As it is, students aren’t thrilled about the idea of adding a semester or two because of various issues that share a common denominator in general education requirements. In light of this, I don’t find it attractive that we receive this instruction from relatively small group of professors with previously mentioned characteristics.
And, I’m a natural number cruncher, so how about this: let’s put tuition at $2700 and you’re ambitious at 18 credits. That’s $150/credit, or for a three credit, Monday-Wednesday-Friday class, you can just leave $10 on the desk as you exit. For comparison, a while ago I paid for two McChicken sandwiches but received something totally different. The manager offered to fix the order or give me a refund.
Just like I would say to the aforementioned professor, I told her that I don’t want a refund; I just expect to receive what I paid for.
Jordan Harshman
Student
The article may be found online at http://uwrfvoice.com/index.php/views/article/2666/
© 2005-2012 Student Voice
The Student Voice is the student-run newspaper of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. It is published weekly during fall and spring semesters. Contact us at info@uwrfvoice.com or Student Voice, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 410 S. Third St., 304 North Hall, River Falls, WI 54022.